'Favor'

Summer couldn't take her eyes off of the person in front of her.

Wondering, her heart beats normally... Though she felt a little enthusiastic when she saw her, she still feels different.

Usually, her chest turned into a rampage even though she just caught a glimpse of her face. But now, it's confusing her.

'Who is this I am with? Is this the real Trish or the other one?'

Summer looked at the server putting down the two drinks she ordered. She purposely chose the flavors of the drinks.

She wanted to confirm something since the real Trish hates the mocha flavor and the other one seems to like it.

The confused eyes of Trish gave a little hint to her...

"What's wrong?'

"Nothing... I'm just surprised you didn't order chocolate"

"Oh... I craved for something else today" Summer smiled.

"I know you hate Mocha, so obviously the Matcha is yours... You like it too, right?" She added.

"Yes" Trish responded then picked up her drink.

Reading her gazes, Summer gradually enlightened. Just a little push and she will be certain at everything.

"By the way, I want to ask you something."

"Go ahead."

"Will you never drink mocha?"

"Of course... You know how much I hate it"

Summer saw how Trish slightly flinched at her question, the confusion in her response and tone says it all.

She smirked in her thoughts. With that simple sentence, Summer confirmed who she was with.

But, wouldn't it be great to play along a bit more and tease her best friend?

"Really? Even if that's the only flavor left in the world?"

"Yes"

Summer chuckled at her immediate answer.

"I see..."

"Summer... I want to..."

"I know. I know." Summer cut her off.

Ah. Right... There is still something she needs to confirm. What is it? That... Is to confirm to whom she truly has feelings for... Was it her best friend or... The other one?

Summer averted her gaze, the sudden feeling of gloom ate her up. She wanted to shrug it off with an affiliative smile but unfortunately, it turned out weak.

"You will turn me down, right?"

"Summer... I'm sorry..."

"Don't be... I understand... Besides, I didn't ask you to reciprocate my feelings... I just wanted to let you know about it" Summer turned her gaze at Trish's.

"I want to tell you that but you keep on avoiding me... You literally didn't give me a chance to clarify everything"

Trish lowered her gaze. "I'm sorry"

Summer was indeed wondering. She tried any possible things to trigger herself to feel that rampage of her heart like before, but... She just couldn't...

Trish's unique eyes weren't beaming anymore, her almost perfect beauty seems normal in her eyes. Everything was normal... Plainly normal!

'Did... I... really move on?'

'No... No... You can't just sweep off your feelings overnight!'

"I'm sorry"

Summer was pulled back from her thoughts as she heard Trish's low tone. She saw her upset eyes, so she grinned to lighten her up.

"It's fine"

"But, Trish... Can we not ruin our friendship just because of my confession? I... Really felt the wall between us, and I hate that"

Trish smiled and held both of her hands.

"That's why I'm here... I also want to fix things with you."

There... As Summer felt her cold at the same time warm hands... Everything was clear to her... It was like the clouds were splitting up, revealing the bright sun ahead... Her jumbled thoughts earlier had been sorted out...

In short, she already had the answer that she was confused about. She looked at Trish, tears were slowly forming in front of her eyes...

'Yeah... Why I didn't notice it before? This person... In front of me... Wasn't the person... I fell in love with'

"Kidding." Trish was paused at what she said. She blankly stared at Summer's unexplainable expression on her face. Confusion swallowed her up.

Trish couldn't utter anything but, "Uh?"

Summer held Trish's hand tighter than her hold. "It's really you, Trish"

"O-Of course... It's me... "

"Yes... It's you... It is really you." Summer's tears streamed down her cheeks.

Trish was dumbfounded, definitely at sixes and sevens on what's happening.

"What ar—"

"It's really you..." Summer smiled with teary-eyed. "And not the other one"

Trish was stupefied and chills climb up to her spine. "W-What?"

Cold sweats on her forehead, nervousness throughout her body...That's what Trish was feeling right now.

She was just blankly staring at Summer, she couldn't say a word. Actually, she didn't know how to respond... What should she say?

Summer crackly chuckled at Trish's dumbfounded face, then wiped the tears on her cheeks.

"Why do you look so surprised?"

"H-How did... No... Did you s-see..."

"Yes. I did."

Trish lowered her head. "Then... Why you didn't tell me?"

"I'm not that stupid, I know it's something important that I should be excluded. That's your personal issue and I respect your privacy..."

"But, still... I should apologize both for deceiving you and unintentionally hurting your feelings... I didn't anticipate this to happen... If I knew it would involve you this much and complicate things, I should've told you from the start... I really owe you one..."

"I even promised I won't keep a secret from you but then I failed to fulfill that. Summer... Just... Let me make amends from reneging my words."

Summer sighed and massaged the bridge of her nose as her head ached a little. Trish was really persistent, aren't she?

"As I told you earlier, it's fine... You don't need to apologize because I understand... But, I know even if I'll tell you that a hundred times, you'll still never stop insisting." Summer sat properly and stared at Trish seriously.

"Alright... If that's what you really want, just tell me the reason for all this and that's enough."

"I... I had tendonitis so I had to rest first until I recovered. But, it would be a great loss for us if I rested without the certainty of when I would get better." Trish softly sighed.

"So, mom decided to use my twin since we're identical... I disagreed but I can't do anything about it because they both made up their mind... We chose to gamble not minding the risks... Well... We've got this far, so I think it's not also a bad idea, was it?"

Summer nodded, agreeing to Trish's question.

"I guess it helped you somehow... How are you now?"

"I just recovered... But, mom... Didn't know it yet."

Summer's brows furrowed. "Huh? Then tell her. That's good news."

"Uh... N-Not now... I ... I..."

Summer instantly understood Trish's expression, aside from unready, she's also uneasy. "Okay. Okay... Just tell me everything whenever you're ready... I can wait."

Trish's face brightened at what Summer said, she bowed twice with a vivid gladness in her eyes. "Thank you... Thank you..."

"Ghad, Trish! You're way too much in both apologizing and thanking me... I am your friend, of course, I must understand you the most... That's all I can do to help you."

Trish was touched at Summer's remark. She once again sweetly smiled.

"I'm so lucky to have a friend like you then"

"Yes! You should be... I'm a total package, you know." Summer told while waving her eyebrows.

Trish just chuckled. "Anyway. Earlier... You don't seem to know anything."

"Duh. What's the purpose of me being a top-notch actress if my acting isn't convincing?"

"Oh, right... Yeah... Curse your acting skills. Tsk." Trish rolled her eyes.

Summer just tee heed at her reaction.

"Honestly... I was uncertain at first... Since you were wearing a mask, I couldn't distinguish which is which right away... So, I played a bit... But, you know what... My eyes were deceived but not my heart"

Trish was paused. She stared at Summer for a moment... Her eyes were sparkling... No trace of sadness nor pain... Her face brightened up and her mood lightened.

Unsure of what's going on, Trish's brows furrowed and asked Summer, "What do you mean?"

"When I saw you... I didn't feel anything... Nothing at all... I almost thought... 'Did I move on? That fast?'... But after I talked to you up-close and I can clearly see your face... I realized..." Summer softly smiled.

"No... This is not the person I fell in love with"

Trish blinked and stared at Summer for a moment after what she said, then...

"Pfft–AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!"

Summer's eyes narrowed, unamused at Trish's sudden guffaw. "Hey. What's funny?"

"I—I can't—HAHAHAHAHA—I.... I can't im-imagine–pfft..."

"Okay. Laugh first... Go... Just laugh..."

"HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Sorry... I just.. C-Can't–HAHAHAHAH!"

"Yeah. Yeah." Summer rolled her eyes.

Trish instantly calmed herself and cleared her throat. "Sorry... The way you say those words is just quite amusing... So, you're saying that... You're in love with my brother and not with me?"

Summer was taken aback by her words.

"Wait. What? B-Brother?"

"Yes. Brother."

"Oh. Shit... I only knew you have an anonymous brother... So, I was really surprised when I found out you also have a twin... But... Damn. Are you serious?! I thought... I thought..."

"You thought he was a girl?... Impressive, right? My brother is better at acting than you" Trish teased.

Summer just pouted but she quickly took it back with a grin. "Is that really true?"

"Yes... Wait... Wait. Wait... What's that look, huh. What's that look... Even your eyes were smiling."

"So it means... I'm... I'm not... Ha... Ha-ha... HAHAHA! I'm ... I'm... HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA"

Trish's jaw slightly hanged as Summer laughed her lungs out. It was like she was having a chitchat with a runaway patient of a mental facility.

"Ghad. You're creeping me out."

"Trish! I'm not weird! I'm not weird! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Summer crazily laughed while clapping her hands.

"You're actually getting weird, now... What's wrong with you?"

Summer stopped laughing but she was still grinning. "Hey. Trish... Did... He has a girlfriend?"

"None."

"Really? Do you think he will like me?"

"He already does." Trish responded then took a sip of her drink. She paused when she didn't hear anything from Summer.

Trish glanced at her and caught her blankly staring... Actually, like a complete idiot.

"He did?"

"Yes... And you know... Your confession really affected him... Like, REALLY REALLY REALLY affected him!"

"Cut it out!" Summer averted her gaze in guilt. "Did I hurt him that much?"

"Yessss!" Trish smirked, literally enjoying herself in teasing her best friend.

"I wonder how difficult it was for him... He was called by someone's name and appreciated as someone else... He had enough, but then... I cruelly confessed... I piled up another burden. I was so reckless..."

Trish became serious, she lowered her head as she was struck by what she said. Summer may be talking to herself but she couldn't stop to assume it was for her as well.

She sighed and looked seriously at Summer.

"Don't worry about it... You didn't know, so don't blame yourself..."

"Yeah..." Summer softly told. "Trish... May I know his name?"

"Tristan... He's Tristan"

"Tristan..." Summer nodded with a smile plastered on her face. She then looked away and fidget her thumbs.

"Trish... I have a favor"

.

.

.

Trish arrived around 10 in the evening. Tristan immediately approaches her with a curious look on his face.

"How was it? What did she say? Did she know? Did you two talk about it?"

"Oi, Tristan. Let her come in first." Whifler—who was sitting on a couch—butted in. Tristan just glared at him and glanced back at Trish.

"So, How was it?"

Trish stared at him... Her eyes were conveying an unexplainable expression. She averted her gaze and landed on Whifler, her look sent a suspicious impression to him.

"No... She didn't see us" Trish answered Tristan. "And... I also rejected her..."

"What did she say? Was she okay?"

"She's fine... And she understood my reason... But she wants us back to what we used to... That time before she confessed. It's not like we will forget about it, but just to move forward. So, if you meet again, you already know what to do... Just act like you normally do around her."

Tristan's head lowered. He felt relieved at the same time disappointed... For what reason? He also didn't know...

"I'm glad she's fine..." He told then turned around. "I'll head first... Good night"

Trish's gaze followed Tristan until he was lost in her sight. She then flopped to the sofa and massaged her forehead.

"I thought you went home with Tanya"

Whifler glanced at Trish as she asked.

"I stayed, just in case your mother will visit."

"Ah... Thank you, then"

Whifler crossed his arms and seriously stared at Trish. "You lied, didn't you?"

"Mhm? Why do you think I lied?"

"I don't know? Just my guts saying."

Trish sat properly, she looked at Whifler's eyes and sighed.

"I indeed rejected her, but... I lied that she didn't see us."

"Why you didn't tell him?"

"I'm just fulfilling a favor... Summer wanted to keep it from him."

Whifler's eyebrow curled upward at what she told him. "What on Earth is she up to?"

Trish just smiled. "You'll know eventually... But for now, don't say anything to Tristan... Leave everything as it is and just let Summer be."

"What else can I do once you two have decided?"

Trish just chuckled. "You know... This is the first time that Tristan liked someone... And, gladly it's mutual..."

Whifler jolted. "Mutual?"

"Yes... Summer realized it wasn't me she fell in love with... But Tristan... She liked his inner beauty and was just confused by his appearance... I'm glad... I am really glad..." Trish's smile turned into a frown and lowered her gaze.

"But unfortunately... They can't be together."

"For now." Trish snapped her head as Whifler cut her off. "You're not planning on hiding yourself behind Tristan forever, right?"

"O-Of course!"

"Exactly... Everything has an end, including his impersonation as you... So why can't they be together?"

Trish was shut... She swiftly smiled at what Whifler said. "You're right..."

'I wish when that day come... Tristan will also return to being cheerful again... Hopefully, Summer will help him feel the real happiness.'