Page 3 of My Twin Sister's Ex

“Not until the last half of class.”

I would have used the opportunity to skip as much of the class as I could.

Jessilyn clutched her books to her chest. “I don’t like missing drama.”

That made sense to me. Jessilyn was one of those people who took the class way too seriously. I just needed another elective.

We walked into the classroom together just before the bell rang, and I slid into one of the only open seats. After the bell rang, Mr. Brownley began passing out a sheet of paper.

“Your final project in this class will be the Drama Competition. As you may know, the competition will be open to the entire school, but all of you are required to participate. The winner of the competition, assuming that it will be one of you, will be guaranteed an automatic A for the entire course. I want you to fill out this sheet. It will give me an idea of the type of scene you’d like to perform. I’ll be assigning you partners for this project. Part of your grade will be how well you can work with someone else.”

He handed me the paper, and I looked it over.

“Go ahead and start filling it out now. When you’re done, put it on the table by the door.”

He wanted to know if we were okay with kissing. I shrugged. Why not? The rest of the questions were basic, and it didn’t take me long to fill out the form. When I had it completed, I put it on the table.

“Next class, I’ll let you all know who your assigned partners will be.”

Halfway through class, Jessilyn left for her dentist’s appointment. When the period ended, I decided to discuss my grade with Mr. Brownley. The room had cleared out, and I was glad for a moment of privacy. I didn’t need any more people knowing about how close I was to not graduating. Not that I expected Kellen or Jackilyn to keep it a secret.

“Mr. Brownley,” I started.

The teacher looked up from the stack of papers he’d collected. “What can I do for you?”

“I need to get my grade up so I can pass this class, or I won’t be able to graduate.”

Mr. Brownley rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I see.”

I knew he wasn’t used to me actually caring about my grade, but I didn’t care. “What do I need to do?”

“You’re going to need to put some serious effort into the final project. It’s a big percentage of your grade.”

“Graduating is really important to me. I’m willing to do what it takes.”

“You’re going to have to work hard to get your lines memorized. That’s the bare minimum required to pass the final project.”

“What if I’m partnered with someone who doesn’t bother memorizing their lines? Will that reflect badly on me?”

Mr. Brownley looked thoughtful for a moment. “How about this? I can pair you up with someone who I can trust will memorize their lines, but I need your word that you’ll do your best on your end. I don’t want to put you with one of my best students only to have you drop the ball on the project and mess things up for them.”

“You have my word.” I looked him in the eye so he knew I meant it. “I’ll take off work to get in all the practices if it helps.” I had no idea how I’d get the bills paid if I took off work. It wasn’t like Dad was going to back off his drinking habit to make sure the lights stayed on.

“You can do this, Bennett. I know you work long hours, but don’t forget how important your education is too. You’re a bright student. Don’t sell yourself short.”

“I appreciate that. And I won’t.” I didn’t know how I could make a promise like that, but I was going to try my hardest to keep my word.

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