Free The Third Twin by Cj Omololu

would say that Alicia loves hot food. She carries a tiny bottle of Sriracha around in her bag. I can’t stand it. “I’m fine.”
    Eli looks concerned, then lifts his hand and wipes my cheek with his thumb. “You had a little … um …” He suddenly looks embarrassed by the gesture.
    I run my hands over my face. “I must look like a wreck.”
    He meets my eyes. “No, you don’t. You look beautiful.” The moment hangs heavily between us, and I wonder if he’s going to kiss me, when he suddenly stands up and gathers our empty plates. “Want anything else?”
    I look up at the trucks again, slightly disappointed that the moment passed. “No.” I look away, knowing that I have to stop this before it goes any further. Turns out I really like Eli. I have to tell him the truth. “Listen … there’s something we need to talk about.”
    “Okay.” He glances away from me. “But hey, the line’s gone down. How about another helping of Oreos for the road?”
    I swallow hard. Maybe this isn’t the right time anyway. I can only imagine the silence as we drive home if he gets pissed. “Sure. That would be great.”
    While I’m waiting for him to get back, I feel someone watching me, the way you do when the sense is physical, like a hand just brushing the skin on the back of your neck. I look around and see a familiar figure with dark hair and a light pink shirt vanish behind a parked car. What the hell is she doing here?
    “I’ll be right back,” I say as I pass Eli by the Oreo truck.The sun is low enough that it’s getting hard to see in the shadows. When I get to the car there’s no one behind it, but I glimpse a pink shirt vanishing behind one of the trucks. I’m a little pissed that she feels like she has to spy on me. Like I can’t even get this right. “Ava!” I shout, walking around the long line to the back of a truck, but there’s no one here. I walk back around to the front, looking quickly from side to side, but I don’t see her anywhere.
    I pull the phone from my tiny purse and punch a few buttons. “Where are you right now?” I demand as she answers. I brace myself, half waiting for her to jump out and scare the crap out of me any minute.
    “At home,” she says casually. “We’re getting ready to go out.” I hear Maya say something in the background. “Maya says hi.”
    “You sure you’re not screwing around?” I say, looking around the parking lot.
    “What are you talking about? I don’t even know where you are.”
    “You swear you’re not somewhere around here? You’re not lying to me?”
    “No! God. Hang on a second.” I hear some muffled rumblings on her end, and then my phone vibrates as Ava gets back on the line. “Check your phone. I just sent you a photo.”
    I pull the phone away from my ear and click over to see a photo of her and Maya flipping me off from what is clearly her bedroom. “Got it. Thanks,” I tell her.
    “So, what’s going on? Why the phone call in the middle of your hot date?”
    “Nothing,” I say, looking around, but whoever it was has disappeared. “I just could have sworn I saw you a couple of minutes ago.”
    “Not me,” Ava says. “How’s lover boy? Did he end up taking you to a fancy restaurant?”
    “He’s good,” I say, looking at the growing crowd in the parking lot. I realize that for the first time in days, my stomach isn’t in a knot. Eli walks over with a paper plate and sits on a parking barrier. “At this moment we’re sitting on the ground in a drive-in parking lot downtown eating deep-fried Oreos from a paper plate.”
    “Classy,” Ava says. “And a good argument for not dating band boys.”
    “Hmm,” I say noncommittally, sitting down next to Eli. “I have to go.”
    I shove the phone back into my bag as he hands me a hot, fried Oreo. “Everything okay?”
    “Fine,” I say.
    Eli grins at me, a tiny bit of batter on his upper lip. I have a sudden urge to reach out and touch him. He must see me staring,