I Confessed To The Wrong Twin

Ch.11

Jami

The car ride back to the house is a total pressure cooker. Nobody says a single word.

Vanessa sits in the back seat staring out the window, scrolling through her phone, while the heavy silence fills every square inch of the vehicle.

My chest still burns with the residual adrenaline from the restaurant as I look down at my hands before turning to look at Reid, “Hey, could you wait for me?”

“Yeah, that's totally fine.”

The front door clicks shut behind us, locking us inside. The silence snaps instantly.

Vanessa kicks her high heels off across the polished hardwood floor, letting them slam loudly against the baseboard before she turns around. Her eyes narrow, and her lips twist into this incredibly toxic, nasty smirk.

"Oh my god, he is absolutely stunning," Vanessa scoffs, flinging her designer bag onto the glass console table with a loud thud.

She stands there, crossing her arms over her chest, looking me up and down like I’m an absolute joke.

"I told you he was way out of your league, Jami. Did you see the way he was looking at me the entire night? He completely ignored you. He spent the entire dinner staring at me, trying to figure out how a guy like him ended up sitting across from someone with your body."

Before a single word can come out of my mouth, Evelyn steps out of the living room, swirling a half-empty glass of red wine.

Her sharp eyes instantly scan the room. Her brow furrows as she focuses on Vanessa. "So? How did it go? Is he a suitable student from your class, Jami?"

What? How did she know?

This little…she told her Mom?

My hands tightens at my side.

"He's gorgeous, Mom, and he was totally checking me out the entire time," Vanessa brags, flipping her long hair over her shoulder and leaning against the wall.

She lets out a sharp, patronizing laugh. "Jami looked completely pathetic sitting there in that tight dark dress while he was eyeing me up. Honestly, Jami, you should just face reality and stop embarrassing yourself. You looked entirely out of place next to him. He was just being polite because he felt sorry for you. A guy who drives a car like that doesn't want a girl who looks like you."

Something inside my head just breaks.

Three days of being locked in my bedroom like a prisoner, a lifetime of being told I’m too big, hell I know they're lies but it still got to me… I was told I was too quiet, too boring, and a complete disappointment—the entire weight of it rushes straight to the surface in a single, terrifying wave.

“Do you even realize how cheap you sound?”

Vanessa’s perfect, smirking face and Evelyn’s cold, judgmental eyes suddenly make my stomach turn. Hiding isn't an option anymore, and I refuse to shrink into the background just so they can feel superior.

I take a swift step towards Vanessa, ignoring her Mom.

Both Vanessa and Evelyn freeze instantly, their eyes widening as they stare at me in total, frozen shock. A raised voice has never come from me in my entire life.

"You're just being delusional thinking everybody wants you, how about you find something that can truly be yours and stop looking for a way to dig your hand into everything I own?”

"Jami! How dare you speak to your sister like that—" Evelyn starts, her face turning pale before hardening into immediate fury as she steps forward.

"What? But it's the truth…" I spin around to face her, completely cutting her off.

I let out a breath, my fists clenched so tightly at my sides that my short fingernails cut deep, painful half-moons into my palms.

Staying here for the rest of the holiday break will completely destroy whatever pieces of my sanity I have left. The confidence will just keep chipping away until nothing remains but a hollow shell.

"I'm done," I whisper, my voice suddenly dropping into a deadly, freezing quiet that makes Vanessa take a step back.

"Where do you think you're going?" Evelyn shrieks, slamming her wine glass down on the counter, the red liquid splashing over the edge. "You are grounded under this roof! You will not walk out of that door, Jami!"

"I don't care about that!" I snap, spinning on my heel and heading straight toward the stairs. “Tell my Dad there's no need to see me, not that he cares…but my allowance is my right, I'll be choosing my peace of mind now."

My feet move rapidly up the steps, my heels pounding heavily against the carpet.

Inside my bedroom, I rip the large suitcase out of the closet and throw it flat onto the mattress.

Shaking fingers make it hard to grab my things, but handfuls of clothes get shoved into the bag anyway, without a single second wasted on folding.

My toiletries from the bathroom, textbooks from the desk, and phone chargers all land in the open pile. Every drawer slammed shut feels like another chain breaking off my ankles.

Staying here for another second is out of the question. The beginning of the holiday break means the campus is mostly empty, but it doesn't matter.

My fingers fly across my phone screen to open the student portal, logging an emergency housing request due to an unsafe home environment. A hard, freezing floor in an empty dorm room sounds perfect compared to another night under this roof. Nobody else owns my life anymore.

The suitcase zipper closes with a loud, aggressive rip. Dragging the heavy weight off the bed, I march straight back out into the hallway, completely ignoring their screams downstairs as I head for the front door.