Chapter 3My Genius Twin Sister Turned Into a Lovebrain

Seeing that I remained expressionless, Cindy eventually lost interest. She took Rodney's hand and headed back to her seat, but not before tossing one last comment my way.

"Alright. That's settled, then. Just focus on your studying and don't overthink it."

The classroom fell silent once again.

However, I could still feel everyone's eyes on me. Some were sympathetic, while others clearly enjoyed my predicament.

But I didn't care.

…

At dinner, Mom and Dad casually asked what had happened with the guaranteed-admission form.

I idly picked at my food and answered nonchalantly, "Oh. Cindy tore it up."

The atmosphere suddenly turned tense.

My dad, Vernon Gardner, froze with his hand still in the air.

My mom, Jolene Carson, dropped her spoon with a sharp clack.

"What did you say?" Dad's voice dropped dangerously low.

I repeated myself. "Cindy said she would only accept the spot if Rodney could go with her. Otherwise, neither of us gets to go."

The very next instant, Dad slammed his hand down on the table, rattling the dishes.

He shot to his feet and glared at Cindy, who had just walked out of her room. "Get over here. Now!"

Mom stood up too. She had a hand pressed to her forehead, her voice shaking with anger. "Cindy, have you completely lost your mind? You're throwing away your entire future for that good-for-nothing?"

That was all it took to set off a full-blown family meltdown.

Cindy stood there with her hands in her pockets, looking completely unfazed. "Mom, Dad, why are you so worked up? I've already talked it over with Ms. Zeller."

"What did you tell her?" Dad was so furious that he grabbed a wooden spoon from the kitchen. "Did you two agree on a way for you to humiliate our whole family?"

What followed was a brutal attack from our parents.

Dad handled the physical punishment, while Mom took care of the verbal abuse, every word she said cutting straight into Cindy's pride.

I quietly finished my dinner and carried my dishes into the kitchen.

The shouting and crying from the living room had nothing to do with me.

Half an hour later, Cindy came into my room, her face bruised and swollen. She glared at me resentfully.

"Shane, you really have to stick your nose into everything."

Without looking up, I kept working through my problems and said, "I was just stating the facts."

"What's been done is done. I'll deal with Ms. Zeller. You just worry about studying for the college entrance exam and stay out of this."

With that, Cindy slammed the door behind her.

…

From that day on, she and Rodney completely let themselves go.

They were late to morning classes, left school early in the evening, and sometimes disappeared for the entire day.

Whenever I ran into them in the hallway, they were either walking around with their arms around each other, or smoking away in the stairwell. They were so disgustingly lovey-dovey that it was hard to watch.

Once, before a practice test, I left a set of notes I had just organized on Cindy's desk and said, "You'd better look these over before next week's test."

Rodney happened to walk by and laughed mockingly. "Wow, the top student is still working this hard? Unlike us, we've already secured our college spots. We don't have to put ourselves through this anymore."

Cindy linked arms with Rodney and chimed in with an indulgent smile, "Exactly. Shane, you're the one who needs to work hard. We're different. We can start enjoying college life early."

I took the notes back and didn't say another word.

I had completely given up on trying to warn that idiot Cindy.