Falling for my Best Friend’s Twin Brother
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C P Ramirez
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Gia McLaughlin is excited for her senior of high school and making memories with her two best friends, Rachael and Adam. When Adam’s twin brother, Ethan, arrives in Westbrook to finish high school with them and escape his past, she finds herself navigating new relationships, heartbreaking family secrets, and falling in love.
Chapter 1: Registration Day
GIA
I thought I knew almost every square inch of this place, frowning as I zoomed in on the picture of the schedule on my phone, as if that would magically tell me where to find my economics class. Room 302B.
The right building? Check. Third Floor? Check.
I glanced up at the small black numbers over the doorways of the two corner classrooms in front of me, 302 on the left and 304 on the right. Room 303 was across the hall. So where was freaking 302B?
“Are you looking for economics?”
“Yes!” I smiled gratefully at the teacher who walked up, an older man in probably his mid-sixties who looked like someone’s kind and cuddly grandfather. “For some reason I can’t find this classroom.”
“Yeah, it kind of messes everyone up,” he chuckled. He pointed down the short corridor in between the two classrooms. “You see that sign straight ahead that says ‘Staff Only?’ Well, just to the left of that door, and I know it’s hard to see from here, you’ll find 302B.”
“Oh wow, I never would have found that!”
“It’s technically Room 302 divided into two sections. This corridor takes you around to that section of the room without having to walk through and disturb the class in front. I had a sign up here on the wall showing the way to the room, not sure where it went.”
“Oh, okay, that makes sense, I guess. Well, thank you…” I looked at the ID badge hanging around his neck from a lanyard. “Mr. Cline.”
“You are very welcome, and I look forward to seeing you on Monday.”
Of course he was the teacher. I laughed quietly as I mentally checked this one off of my “found” class list. I was sort of dreading the class, but maybe he would make it tolerable.
Only one more class to hunt for now: French Year 4. Then I could go find Rachael and Adam.
Today was the Wednesday before school started, senior year, and I was knee-deep in the adventure of navigating class registration.
I knew it was probably lame, but I looked forward to it every year—starting out in the cafeteria to hear Principal Avery give the exact same welcome-back speech every time, setting up my locker in just the right way, comparing schedules with friends, and the general chaos of hundreds of students and parents crowding the hallways to find out where classes were located. Maybe even meet the teachers who showed up.
This whole ritual helped me to transition back into the school mindset after twelve glorious weeks of summer. This year in particular was bittersweet since it would be my last at Westbrook High.
Jumping back into the fray, I weaved my way through the sea of bodies. There was an exit at the end of this hallway leading downstairs to the outside, and from there I could get over to the language arts building.
I was beginning to sweat a tiny bit with all of the body heat around me and desperately wanted to put up my thick, curly hair, but senior photos were coming up a little later in the afternoon, and I couldn’t risk the potential frizz from manipulating it.
Spotting the exit door, I took a deep breath and plowed ahead. I didn’t know if it was intentional or accidental, but someone bumped into me from behind, propelling me forward, and my shoulder knocked pretty hard into the person on my left going in the opposite direction.
“Oh!” I squeaked, startled. Looking up, my heart skipped a beat. In front of me was the cutest boy I had seen in a long while.
He quickly grabbed my arm to keep me from stumbling and taking us both down, and I found myself looking into his gorgeous chocolate-brown eyes. I blinked in surprise at the electric tingle that went through me at his touch, and I wondered if he felt it too.
“Careful,” he said softly, a small smile on his lips. His voice was deep and gravelly.
“S-sorry!” I stuttered, trying to pull myself together.
“It’s all good.” And he continued moving past me.
The whole encounter literally took seconds, but it felt like time stopped for a moment, as corny as that sounds. There was something vaguely familiar about him that I couldn’t put my finger on. I looked over my shoulder just in time to see him looking back at me too before losing sight of him in the crowd.
For a split second, I thought about turning around, but then common sense took over. It would be nearly impossible to find him now, and I didn’t want to risk being late to meet Adam and Rachael. Pushing open the exit door and hustling down the stairs, I could only hope that I would see him again.
