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“Then we have tomakethem see how happy we are!” she answers immediately, her eyes flashing. “We have to fight for our men. Our lives. We’re not kids, anymore, Em. We’re eighteen, and we’re about to graduate high school. There are people our age fighting wars. Surely, we get to choose who we love?”
I can’t deny she has a point. Maybe it’s time we stepped out from under our parents’ shadow. After all, I’ll be off to college in the fall and on my own after that. I may as well show them now how independent I am. And if they don’t accept it, Janine and I can handle the consequences, so long as we have Tucker and Jason at our sides.
“Okay,” I say. “You’re right. We should at least try and explain. Let’s go talk to them.”
Janine nods and stands up, taking my hand. We traipse downstairs to find our parents sitting at the kitchen table. The atmosphere is heavy, like a gray cloud is weighing us down. Dad’s face is in his hands and he doesn’t look up when we enter. Mom looks straight at us, her eyes full of tears.
“What was that?” she wails. “That video that I saw you in?”
Janine and I look at each other, wondering how much to disclose.
“Answer me,” Mom pleads. “And be honest, girls. Was there an orgy at Twin Fest? Is that the filth I just saw?”
“No, it wasn’t,” Janine says in a firm voice, earning a sidelong glance from me. We had just decided to come clean! What is she doing? “At least, not exactly,” she amends, noting my look. “We were invited to a VIP party at the end of the festival. We didn’t know what it was, but we went because we were curious. It didn’t start out as an orgy…” her voice trails off, remembering how it happened. At least this is all true. “It just sort-of happened.”
“Sort-of happened?” our father echoes in disbelief, finally lifting his hands from his face. “How does that go down?”
“And there just happened to bevideosof it?” Mom trills. “What if those get out? And the wrong people see?”
“We actually didn’t know they were filming, Mom,” I interrupt. “The organizers just sent us a link today.”
Mom shakes her head and stares at us. None of this makes her feel any better.
“Clearly, you girls have no idea what the word “consequences” means. And those men you were with,” she breaks off suddenly in disgust, searching for the word she wants to use for what she saw us do. “Did I see that properly? Was that really Tucker and Jason Roberts from next door?” My mom starts becoming emotional again as she speaks, the truth too horrible for her to comprehend.
“Yes,” I whisper. Dad clears his throat angrily and looks up at us at last.
“We invited those men into our home,” he says, trying to keep his temper in check, “and they repay us by defiling our daughters?”
“Dad, please,” Janine snorts, “settle down. It’s not that dramatic. There was nodefiling, okay? We’ve beendating. Emily and I are in love with Tucker and Jason Roberts.” At those words, Mom gasps and buries her face in her hands, sobbing.
“You think that makes this better?” Dad challenges.
“Yes, actually,” I say as gently as I can. I can sense Janine’s surprise at the resolve of my tone, but she doesn’t say anything. “Tucker and Jason are good guys.”
“But they’re so much older than you!” Mom wails, lifting her face up to show tears streaming down her face. “What were you thinking? What weretheythinking? How could they do this? You’re teenage girls but they’re grown men!”
“Jason and Tucker make us very happy,” I reply in a calm voice. “Not only that, but Janine and I are in love with them, and they’re in love with us. So yes, I would think that’s better than them simplydefilingus, as Dad put it.” My tone remains confident, and I hope they can sense that I never wanted to hurt them. But my parents just stare at me in disappointment.
“I might have expected something like this from Janine,” Dad grunts in disgust. “But not from you, Emily. I would have thought you’d have more sense.” Janine has the grace to accept this insult in the face of what’s happening.
“I’ll ignore that for now,” she says in an even voice. “But like Emily said, Tucker and Jason make us very happy. And we make them happy, too.”
“Oh, I bet!” Mom spits. “A couple of forty-five-year-old perverts preying on our teenage daughters. I have no doubt in hell you two make them very happy!”
“Clearly they’ve taken advantage of you girls,” Dad concludes. Janine rolls her eyes and I elbow her in the ribs. We need to be patient with our parents if we want them on our side. “They saw a couple of impressionable young women who conveniently, lived right next door, and thought they’d have their way with you.”
“Have their way with us?” Janine echoes, almost laughing now. “What is this? The Victorian era? Should I go put on my petticoat now?”
I flash my eyes at her in warning. Clearly, my twin is losing her cool, and I need to step in.
“Look, Mom, Dad,” I say, again trying to keep my tone level. “We understand this is hard for you to accept. We know the May December thing is a surprise. Trust me, we’ve been grappling with that too,” I share. “Plus, the fact that they’re twins as well is maybe a bit strange, but we got used to it. And I know the fact that they live next door and you invited them in makes it all seem very disrespectful. And I know this is a difficult way for you to find out about our relationship. We’re sorry for all of that. But please, can you just trust that what we’re telling you is true?”
“And that is?” Mom demands tearfully.
“That we know what we’re doing,” I state in a calm tone. “That we’re not being taken advantage of. Please, can you just accept this and be happy for us?”
Harry and Joan shake their heads.
