58
I'm on the verge of declining the dinner invitation the next day, fearing it to have been a spur of the moment pity invite, when Izzy texts again, urging me to come along.
They're already seated, perusing the menu when I arrive.
"Hey!" Izzy smiles widely, and I'm finally convinced I wasn't an unwanted afterthought.
"Hi," I slide into the seat beside her and smile at the girl sitting across from her. She looks a lot like Izzy, but her hair is a few inches shorter and a couple of shades lighter and her eyes are a pretty blue-green.
"This is my cousin, Marie," Izzy introduces us. "Marie, this is Edward."
"Hi, pleased to meet you." She holds out her hand and I reach across to shake it.
"Hi, you too."
Her skin is soft as her hand slides out of grasp … and it's that thought right there that suddenly clues me in. I find this girl attractive. Not as an observation, turn your head on the street kind of attractive, but as a pit-of-the-stomach feeling. I rationalize it's because she looks so similar to Izzy, but the whole thing still sits uneasily with me.
Izzy and Marie keep the conversation flowing easily, while I eat quietly, offering answers and snippets of thought, but mainly trying to keep the fact I feel hyper-aware of Marie's presence, a tightly bound secret. I fight the urge to stare at her constantly, although I let myself look at her as she speaks and steal glances in between.
"Are you okay? You're pretty quiet," Izzy asks when Marie goes to the bathroom.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I insist. My best efforts to act normal, are clearly failing.
"You don't like Marie." Izzy says it as a statement, obvious disappointment clouding around the words.
"No! I do, she's nice," I throw back quickly.
"I'm sorry we haven't had a chance to speak alone yet." She's angled toward me and I take in the familiar features that seem better proportioned on Marie's face. I slap the thought away, hating myself for it. "We'll sort this out, I promise." She takes my hand and squeezes it as my eyes follow Marie back from the bathroom.
"Don't worry about it. It's fine." I offer a small smile that seems to appease her.
~S~