Page 64 of My Twin Sister's Ex

We got up and headed down the hall toward the auditorium doors. We opened the back doors and slipped in. I spotted a couple of empty seats on the back row near the aisle and led Jessilyn toward them.

We settled into our seats. I put my arm around her shoulders, and she snuggled up against me. Some of the performances were cringeworthy. A few were good, especially Reese’s, but that wasn’t much of a surprise. The final group presented their scene, and the house lights came up. Most of our class had joined us in the back of the auditorium. Mr. Brownley stood center stage with a microphone.

“Thank you so much for coming tonight. These students have worked hard. How about we all give them a hand?” Applause spread throughout the room. “Now to the good stuff. Our panel of judges have come to a decision. Our winners of the tenth annual Sweet Mountain High Drama Competition are Jessilyn Martin and Bennett Andrews.” He looked around the room. “Are you two in here?”

I stood, and Jessilyn got to her feet beside me. We walked to the front of the room, and I felt all eyes in the room on us. Mr. Brownley handed each of us a certificate. “I would have to say Bennett is the most improved here of all my students. He’s come a long way, and I can tell he’s worked really hard on this project. Jessilyn has been one of our top drama students. She was our stage manager for our most recent production and plans to study musical theater in college. Both of these students are being rewarded with an automatic A in our drama I class.”

When the meeting was over, Jessilyn’s family approached us. Her mom hugged her, and her dad said, “I knew you could do it.”

She hugged her dad next. “Thanks, Dad.”

“Good job, Jessi,” Jackilyn said.

“Thanks, Jacki.” The two sisters hugged. It was good to see Jackilyn being nice to her sister for once.

“You did pretty well too, Bennett,” Jackilyn said, catching me off guard. I was expecting her to shoot lasers out of her eyes or something.

“Thanks, Jackilyn.”

“You two really care about each other, don’t you?” I could hear a hint of sadness in her voice.

I put my arm around Jessilyn’s shoulders. “We do. Your sister is pretty important to me.”

“I could tell. You were dynamite on that stage together. I could tell that wasn’t all acting. It felt real.”

Did that mean she wasn’t going to try to sabotage our relationship anymore? “It was real,” I told her.

“I didn’t see that before,” she said. “But when I saw you two on that stage, it hit me how much you care about each other.” She looked at me with big sad eyes.

I couldn’t tell if she was sad that her sister had found happiness when she hadn’t or if she’d been regretting her actions, but I had a sneaky suspicion that it was the former. Jackilyn didn’t seem like the type to have regrets.

My dad and uncle came up to me with Sasha by my uncle’s side. “You did good, son,” my dad said. He looked like he was actually sober tonight.

“Thanks, Dad.”

“You killed it up there,” Uncle Ryan said. “I didn’t know you could act like that.”

“You sure he was acting the entire time?” Sasha said with a grin in my direction. “I don’t think you were paying close enough attention.”

I pulled Jessilyn close to me. “Jessilyn, this is my Uncle Ryan and his friend Sasha.”

They shook her hand.

“And this is my dad.”

She reached her hand out to him, and he shook it. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Andrews.”

“Well, I would say that you’re prettier than his last girlfriend, but considering you’re her twin . . .”

“Seriously, Dad!” Why did he always have to say something to embarrass me? This was why I’d never brought Jackilyn around to meet him.

“You two twins are pretty cute. Is your mom single?”

“No, sir, she’s happily married. My parents are right over there.” Jessilyn pointed over to where her parents stood. “Would you like to meet them?” She waved her parents over.

Was she nuts? Didn’t she know what a bad idea it was to introduce her parents to my dad? They were from completely opposite worlds.

“Mom, Dad, come over here.” Her parents walked over. “This is Mr. Andrews, Bennett’s dad.”

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