Page 26 of My Twin Sister's Ex

8

Jessilyn

Somehow a rumor was started that I was dating Bennett. At least three people had come up to me to ask me about it. I suspected that it had to do with Coco telling Jackilyn that we were partners and someone overhearing them talking about it. Before long, it had spread across the entire school.

It was ridiculous. People were partnered up for school projects all the time, and that didn’t mean they were going to start dating. Even if it did happen in all the teen romance books. But that wasn’t reality.

The truth was, Bennett was attracted to girls like Jackilyn. Not girls like me who didn’t wear short skirts or tons of makeup. It was a joke that people would think we were actually dating.

Had he heard the rumors too? If I found out he had, I would die of embarrassment. It was bad enough that we had to kiss. Would he think I started the rumors? Maybe I was being paranoid, but I didn’t want Bennett to think I was reading too much into our time at the park yesterday. It wasn’t like anything happened between us. We hadn’t even practiced our kissing scenes. He’d had the perfect opportunity to kiss me, and he’d skipped it.

That showed me right there that he wasn’t interested. I was being ridiculous for even thinking about this stuff. I needed to focus on my schoolwork and stop freaking out over stupid rumors.

I’d wanted to run lines with Bennett at lunch, but that would only reinforce the rumors as truth. In the end, it didn’t matter. We had to get our lines memorized, and the fastest way to do that was to meet up to get the work done. At least then, I’d know Bennett was getting memorized. The last thing we needed was to get on stage and have him blank out on his lines. If we had plenty of time to practice, my stress levels would drop significantly.

“Jessilyn.” I turned to see Jackilyn approaching me.

“Are you dating Bennett?”

I felt the blood draining from my face. “No.”

“I heard you two were together.”

“We’re just partnered up for the Drama Competition. That’s all.”

That seemed to calm her down. She uncrossed her arms, and her entire body seemed to relax. “Good. Because I’m pretty sure he’s still into me. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”

“What makes you say that?” I asked. I had seen him checking her out from time to time. Maybe she was right.

“He tried to get back together with me. He told me he thought Kellen was all wrong for me. Clearly, he thinks he’s the better guy.”

“He did?”

“Totally. When I heard that rumor, I was worried that you were getting involved with a guy whose heart is invested elsewhere. The last thing I want is for you to get hurt.”

Wow, Jackilyn really was watching out for me. Not that I thought Bennett would go for me anyway since I wasn’t his type. “Thanks, sister. The truth is we aren’t together. Just partnered up.”

“Okay. I was just worried. You know how people can talk.”

“There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Good. I’m going to go eat now.”

I waved goodbye to her.

I found him in the hall just before lunch, standing at his locker. “Hey, do you want to run lines during lunch?” We only had a couple of weeks until the competition.

“Sure.” He shoved a couple of books in his locker and shut the door. “Lead the way.”

We went outside to the boulder where he often liked to eat. “Can you meet up at the park again today?” I asked.

“I’m supposed to work, but I can call my uncle and let him know I’m going to be an hour late. He won’t mind. He knows I have to take off work for my grades.”

I pulled out my turkey sandwich. “That’s great that he’s so understanding. I know my boss wouldn’t be like that. She feels like the grocery store is my life, and she owns it.” I took a bite.

“That’s the problem with a lot of minimum wage jobs.”

“There’s nothing wrong with teaching me to be reliable and on time to my job, but does she have to be so mean about it?” I bit into my sandwich again.

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