A friend?

~Erin POV~

"And that is why you should stay away from twins," Sean declared, crossing his arms with a hint of defiance.

I struggled to conceal my annoyance as he continued his rant about how twins were the worst people on the planet to date, insisting that I should avoid them at all costs if I didn't want to be labeled a cheater.

After his declaration, I shot him a deadpan expression. "You kissed your ex-girlfriend's twin sister," I pointed out, giving him a pointed look, but he seemed unfazed.

"How was I supposed to know it was her sister and not her," he insisted firmly.

Sighing, I looked down at my drink. "You said they were fraternal, and the twin sister dyed her hair light brown when your girlfriend left her hair black," I responded, but he just scoffed and looked away.

Suddenly, I remembered something Chris had told me and looked at him, trying to hide my smirk.

"Chris told me about another incident when you were dating his twin sister. He said you accidentally kissed him when you two were younger, mistaking him for her, and now she thinks you're gay. Is that true?" I asked, a sly smirk creeping onto my lips

After hearing that, he visibly twitched and looked at me shocked. "When did he tell you that?" he asked, clearly mortified that I knew.

"Last time we came here when you played against Grey. Anthony and Chris told me about her. They even shared more stories about you when you were younger," I explained, meeting his gaze squarely. "You really can't escape twins now, can you?" I added with a smirk, noticing his annoyed expression.

'I could get used to this,' I thought to myself as I watched Sean process what I had said.

"I'll be back," he said hurriedly as he stood up, started walking away, and took out his phone. The last thing I heard was Sean calling Chris a fucker. Whatever that meant.

Waiting for him to return, I stayed seated, sipping on the drink Sean had ordered, lost in my thoughts about the small matches we had been watching earlier.

"Can I sit here?" someone asked, pulling me out of my thinking. I looked up to see a slightly nervous-looking boy standing in front of me. The boy had light brown hair, blue eyes, chubby cheeks, and a pointed nose.

"Oh, uh, sure, go ahead," I replied, feeling a bit taken aback. As he sat down, he let out a gasp, causing me to look at him with confusion. 

"It's you!" he exclaimed, catching me off guard. Before I could respond, he continued excitedly. "Wow, you look just as good in person as you did online. How is your hair so white? Your eyes are really pretty, you know. You look so pale as well…"

I sat there frozen as the kid continued to chatter without pause. 'Does he not need to catch his breath or what? He's been talking for over five minutes already. When is Sean coming back?!'

After what felt like an eternity, I finally managed to interrupt him as he paused to take a breath. "Do I know you?" I asked, feeling a bit bewildered by his enthusiasm.

He blushed a little. "Sorry, I was going on a little rant. It happens a lot. And to answer your question, no, you don't. But do you know how famous you are becoming?" he replied excitedly.

I looked at him even more confused. "Famous?" I echoed.

"Yes, look!" he exclaimed, pulling out his phone and tapping on it before turning it towards me. On the screen were photos of Sean and me walking in and out of the training center.

I stared at the photos, surprised. "How did you get those pictures?" I asked, with a feeling of curiosity.

"They're all over social media, especially some of you and Sean," he explained, his excitement palpable.

"Social media? What's that?" I asked, feeling even more confused.

He looked at me in disbelief. "You don't know about social media? Wow, have you been living under a rock this whole time?" he exclaimed, and I couldn't help but feel a pang of embarrassment.

"W-well," I stammered, trying to hide my embarrassment.

"I can explain it to you if you want," he offered eagerly, and I nodded in agreement. He got up and sat next to me, then spent the next few minutes showing me different types of social media apps and explaining how they worked.

"Does anyone have access to those photos?" I inquired as he scrolled through one of them.

He nodded and then looked at me. "Yup, and right now you and Sean Ryans are the biggest things trending right now," he said.

"Why?" I asked him.

"Why? Because Sean Ryan was the best tennis player out there, he is practically a legend. But after he retired, he just fell off the face of the earth for years, and now he comes back with a kid. Everyone knows he never cared for anything other than tennis, so coming back with a kid would most definitely be big news," he explained, his voice filled with excitement.

I just sat there, listening to his explanation, feeling overwhelmed by the sudden attention.

Eventually, he started going on another rant about Sean's whole tennis career, and I just sat there not knowing what to do. Finally, Sean came back and stood there surprised.

"Oh, Erin, you're finally making friends," Sean remarked, glancing at me with a smile. The kid finally stopped talking and looked over at Sean, sitting there in shock.

'Now he decides to be speechless,' I thought wryly.

"S-Sean Ryans," the kid muttered, then suddenly started rummaging through the bag he had and took out a photo and pen. "C-Can you sign this please?" he asked, his eyes wide with admiration as he stared at Sean.

"Of course," Sean said warmly, taking the photo card and pen. He looked at the photo and then at the child, surprised. "Kid, how did you get this?" he asked, his smile growing.

"My dad is a photographer and took that after you won," the kid replied proudly, causing Sean's smile to widen even more.

After signing the photocard, he looked at the kid and said, "Tell your dad to call me. It's been a while since I've talked to him," adding a warm invitation. The kid looked at him surprised.

"You know my dad?" James asked excitedly.

"I guess you could say that," Sean replied with a smile, then took a seat on the other side in front of us. "So you must be James, huh?" he added, addressing the boy directly.

James nodded as he kept on looking at Sean with admiration."Wow, to think you would know my dad," James remarked, clearly impressed.

"Well, your dad always made it a habit to remind me that he was married and was expecting kids soon when I decided to retire," Sean chuckled, sharing a light-hearted memory.

"Pfffftt," I couldn't hold back a laugh, making both of them turn to look at me as I tried to suppress my amusement.

Sean's lip twitched as he looked at me, a hint of amusement in his eyes. "Erin, do you have something you want to say?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at me playfully.

"N-nothing, the drink was just too strong," I tried to defend myself, but I knew the damage was already done.

*****

'How did this happen' I thought to myself as I was being dragged by James to a private court room in disbelief.

After trying to defend myself for a while my dearest dad decided to send me off to hang out with James and now here I am being dragged by him. Apparently, he was here to meet some of his friends at a certain time and was waiting on the second floor for them.

'I swear I'll find a way to get back at him' I thought as I remembered the smug smile Sean showed me as I was staring at him in disbelief.

As James barged into the room without knocking, he announced his presence loudly, and I couldn't help but sigh in exasperation. 

"I'M HERE" He yelled and I just sighed and followed him inside.

Inside, four kids were seated around the room. Two guys stood out immediately as they were already standing: one was tall and skinny with blonde hair, black eyes, and freckles, while the other was shorter, with black hair and eyes, and a more robust build. My attention then shifted to the two girls in the room, and I couldn't suppress a sigh of annoyance.

The two girls were twins.

For some reason, I found myself blaming my dearest dad for this predicament.