Page 45 of My Twin Sister's Ex

“I don’t want to be around either one of you right now.”

I whirled around to escape. I pushed through the double doors and looked to the left and the right. There was a sign for the restrooms down the hall to the left. I turned in that direction and pushed open the door to the bathroom. The tears began to flow. I wiped at them with the back of my hand.

Why was I so stupid? I went into a stall and pulled out a wad of toilet paper, dabbing at my eyes. I sniffled, but then I heard the door push open.

“Jessilyn? Are you in here?” I recognized Reese’s voice.

I thought about ignoring her but then decided that Reese hadn’t done anything wrong. “I’m here.” I pushed open the stall.

“Are you okay? Bennett told me you were in here, and you were upset.”

I sniffled. “He did?”

“What’s going on?”

“I saw him kissing Jackilyn.”

“What? That can’t be right.”

“I know what I saw,” I said.

“Oh, honey. Come here.” She pulled me into a hug. “I’m so sorry.”

“Can you take me home? You can come back to the dance after, but I don’t think I can be here anymore, and I don’t want to call my parents.”

“Of course, I can. I’m pretty much done anyway. I can’t have fun here without you.”

I squeezed her around the shoulders. “You’re an amazing friend.”

“I think we should stop off at the grocery store and buy you a pint of ice cream. That’ll make everything better. You’ll see.”

I laughed through my tears. “Okay.”

“Ready to go?”

I tossed my tear-stained wad of toilet paper in the trash and washed my hands because everything in the bathroom felt gross even though I hadn’t officially used the toilet.

Reese drove me to the grocery store and listened to me rant the entire way.

“How could I have been so stupid? I was letting myself fall for him.”

“I don’t know. Guys are dumb.”

“They really are. I was doing fine as a strong, independent single woman before this. Why did I ever think I needed a guy to somehow complete me?”

“Don’t worry. Ice cream makes everything better.”

“What are my parents going to say when they see me coming home with a pint of ice cream and no guy?”

“You don’t have to tell them anything.”

I made a face. “They’ll want to know. My parents are super nosy.”

“I don’t know. Tell them you had a big craving for ice cream, and you want to go eat it alone in bed for the rest of the night.”

“Because every girl would rather do that than go to prom, right?” I moaned. “I’m such a loser.”

“You’re not a loser. You just got your heart broken. We all have to go through that. It’s part of life.”

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