“Well, I guess it does. My grandmother was also a twin” Lilly recalled. Unlike her though, her grandmother had an identical twin. She wondered if Ethan would have had a different personality if he was born a girl? What would her life would have been like if she had a sister?
“That’s amazing.” Logan gasped. Three generations of twins? Wow, that was something else!
“It is” Lilly nodded in emphasis.
“Why are you two taking so long?” Alex interrupted. Arms crossed, she leaned against the kitchen’s door frame. She already took the groceries out of the bag and tucked them away. During all of that, neither parties walked into the kitchen.
“Oh, Alex, don’t be rude” her aunt scolded, “I’m having a nice chat with Logan. You haven’t brought anyone here before. I’d like to get to know him.”
Alex rolled her eyes. She figured her aunt was too excited about meeting someone from school that wasn’t part of the faculty—even more so because of her mother’s wishes. She must be thrilled to have something positive to report back to the mothership.
“Then, while you chat, I’ll go to my room and do my homework” Alex made her way to the stairs. A rehearsal wasn’t in her schedule today. If she was right, Aunt Lilly would interview Logan to the heavens. Maybe it’d scare him off.
Alex popped a pair of earphones before restarting her homework. It was peaceful, just the way she liked. She went about her time as if the earlier incidents didn’t happen. Soon, she finished the Math assignment.
She had begun her Chemistry homework when her hand paused from writing. She slammed her book closed and looked up.
Oh, no… oh, no, no, no… how could she be so stupid? There was no way she could let Logan have a chance to be close with her aunt. Uh-uh. Nope. Not gonna happen. Not as long as she could do something about it.
Alex grabbed a stack of paper then dashed out of her room.
The sound of her footsteps cut in the middle of her aunt’s discussion with Logan. The two had been sitting on the sofa when she came. They had already put away the groceries like Alex did. They turned their heads towards her who was panting as she approached them.
The cat walked towards her legs but was ignored.
“Enough chit chat” Alex said and kidnapped Logan away from her aunt. She held his wrist tightly, dragging him to his feet and to the island in their kitchen, “You want to practice? Let’s practice! By all means, bring your script out. Time to decide on a scene.”
Alex attempted to command the whole exchange that neither her aunt nor Logan had room to sneak in.
Lilly watched them disappear, leaving the cat and her alone. The furball stared at the two, its ears drooping a bit, and Lilly couldn’t help but smile. She picked up the cat and caressed its back, “You are so cute. There, there. They will be okay. Now, what should we call you, hm? How does Maylin sound?”
When Alex brought Logan to the kitchen, she pushed him towards a tall stool then walked around the counter to sit at the opposite side.
When he still didn’t sit, she gave him a pointed look to which he obeyed immediately.
Logan couldn’t tell what had gotten into Alex. One minute, he wanted to be as far away from him as possible. The next, Alex wanted to keep him close by.
What an odd person, he thought but he didn’t say anything about it and took out a copy of Romeo and Juliet from his bag.
“Maybe we should do something simple with equal dialogues. Something unique would be nice but if we don’t deliver it right, it might bite us back. An overused scene could be good but we’d need to exceed others’ performances” Alex thought aloud as she skimmed through the pages, “Did you already have one in mind?”
Logan snapped out of his daze and answered him, “Yes, I thought the tomb scene would be nice.”
Alex’s hands stopped moving. Slowly, her head tilted up to look at Logan’s face. Her expression betrayed zero emotion.
“Excuse me?” she sneered softly, “How would that be even possible if Paris is in that scene?”
A time bomb appeared in Alex’s temple. Each beat ticked like a clock.
Logan wrinkled his forehead. He didn’t see Alex’ look at him at all. His focus remained on the scene he mentioned. The page open before him, “No, I meant after that part.”
Alex scoffed. She couldn’t believe he confirmed her thought, “Oh? You mean, the part where you would do nothing?”
The tone in Alex’s voice made Logan look up. He frowned. Yes, he wanted to do nothing. He was Juliet. Why on earth would he want to do anything? It was the least he could have to save his dignity.
“You think pretending to be dead is easy?” He defended.
“You think pretending to be in love with you is?”
Electric currents ran between their eyes.
Alex regarded Logan with contempt. How… just how could a guy be so difficult? Although the tomb scene was an iconic moment, a good choice actually, it simply wasn’t the appropriate one for the two of them.
Alex’ glare toned own to a lazy stare. Resting an elbow on the counter, she placed her chin on the palm of her hand, “Are you really sure you want to do that one, Logan?”
She felt certain that Logan didn’t make his choice carefully. As Alex thought about it more, the idea grew on her. Neither of them would have to wait for the other to respond since Juliet was known to be dead. Other than focusing on their own lines individually, it also needed less coordination.
Except for one thing.
Logan’s brows shot up. Was this a sign of victory? No, it couldn’t be, he thought suspiciously. Alex wouldn’t back down that easily. He licked his bottom lip and said, “Ye-es I am?”
“Oh?” Alex smirked, “You wouldn’t mind a rumor about two dudes kissing in class?”
