As Jordan and Carly drove home, they knew they were fucked. They'd been cast in the community theater play they'd signed up for over the summer. So far so good. Except they were cast as the young newlyweds whose lust sends the play's plot into motion, and they were brother and sister.
It was an understandable mistake for the director to make. For one, they had different last names. Carly had a stage name, that is. Their real last name, the one Jordan used, was long, hard to spell, and harder for strangers to say. They both grew up loving theater, and had dedicated their young lives to it so far. Jordan had just finished up a college degree in theater production. He wanted to be an actor, but his talent never caught up to his passion, and settled for a role in production instead.
Carly was another story. She'd been the undisputed star of her high school productions, and had already landed a couple lead roles during her just-finished first year of college. She'd adopted a shorter, catchier version of their last name to use while performing since she had a real shot at a real career as an actor.
After Carly left for college, their parents had sold their house and moved into something smaller a few hours away to be closer to their families. Jordan and Carly, having finished their respective school years, found themselves in a new town with no friends and nothing to do. They figured that while they both looked for jobs (Carly for some part-time work before school started again, Jordan for something more permanent), they could try out for a local summer play. It sounded like such a good idea at the time.
When they'd arrived at rehearsal that night and found what roles they'd been assigned, they were both too stunned to respond. Soon, they were walking through the first part of the script, which took place at their wedding. They stammered awkwardly through the vows, which was bad enough. But then they had to kiss. Both knew it was coming, and tried to just shut their eyes and get it over with. The director joked about how unpassionate they were, and made them try again. The second time went no better. Finally, they moved on.
The director caught up with them as they were leaving.
"I've seen a lot of bad stage kisses in early rehearsals, but yours was the worst," the director said, with a laugh. Jordan and Carly forced laughter back. "I'll tell you what I told them. It'll get better and easier. But not without some work. You two came together so I assumed you were a couple, but rehearsal proved that wrong. You know each other though, right?"
Jordan and Carly looked at each other. They'd said nothing about being siblings throughout rehearsal. Was now the time to come clean? Maybe they could swap parts with someone else? Carly looked up at her big brother and decided that she'd let him decide. He had been so excited about doing this play, without all the expectations and politics of a college theater scene, so she didn't want to say something that would take that away from him. Also, she didn't mind kissing her brother. He was cute and funny. Kind of her dream guy. If the vibe between them wasn't off, kissing him in a play sounded kind of fun.
Jordan was torn. Their carefree childhood dynamic had changed as they both started becoming adults. It'd made them more distant, and the gap between his modest success in theater and his sister's monumental success hadn't helped. He wanted to do this play to try to reconnect with what they'd loved as kids, playing pretend together. He'd never stopped feeling protective of her, though, and the idea of her getting paired up in some cast with a guy who grossed her out (in this case, her own brother, ugh), got him fuming.
He realized, though, that his sense of honor as an actor wouldn't let him throw in the towel. He knew it would seem silly to others, but the idea that he just wasn't a good enough actor to overcome a hurdle like this was simply insulting. A good actor can generate chemistry with whomever they're cast across from. He'd played a bisexual character in college once and had to kiss his friend Paul. He hadn't batted an eye at the time. Why was his sister different?
"We're roommates," Jordan told the director and his surprised sister. "Old friends."
"And you've never kissed?" The director asked, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. Jordan shrugged. He hadn't planned on lying, the words had just come out before he realized otherwise. "Well, this will make things easier. If you live together you have plenty of time to rehearse with one another. Hopefully, working together on your lines with each other will build some of the intimacy your performances are currently missing."
They finally returned to their parents' house. Their parents were out of town for a few weeks, so they had the house to themselves. Jordan laid on his bed and tried to memorize some of his lines, but couldn't get anywhere. He'd been so excited for this, and it seemed like such a failure after the first day. He heard his sister turn off their shared shower and turn on some music. Her pop song blasted through the wall. He groaned and shuffled out of his room and to her door.
"Can you turn it down?" he said, poking his head through. She sat, brushing her long brown hair at her vanity. She turned to look at him and lowered the volume.
"Sorry," she said, deadpan. "Wouldn't want to be a bad
roommate
."
"Listen, Carly," he said. "I'm sorry, I just blurted that out. I didn't know what to say."
"It's ok," she said. "Neither did I."
"If you want to tell Director Gail the truth, that's fine. We can tell her I'll work crew and to give the part to someone else."
"Come on, Jordan," she said, getting up and walking to him. "You're being dramatic." She was dressed in a tight t-shirt and some loose cotton shorts, and her braless breasts bounced and jiggled and she walked over to him. Jordan caught himself staring. He'd spent the past few years hearing from everyone and their dog about how talented and beautiful and amazing his sister was, and to top all that off, in the past year her breasts filled out to gorgeous, plump, perky perfection. It simply wasn't fair.
"We'll be fine," she said, slipping her arms around him and pulling him into a hug. "First rehearsals are always weird." Jordan looked down into her big eyes. No matter how much he tried to get mad at her for her success, he knew she simply loved him back. He relaxed. He hated hearing his friends rave about his sister's "awesome rack", but it felt really nice pressed against him right now, and that's something they'd never get to experience.
Carly looked up into her older brother's warm eyes, completely oblivious to the fact that he couldn't get his mind off her breasts at the moment. She knew how much male attention they engendered, of course, but that wasn't something she'd expect from her brother. She'd always adored him, always wanted to be more like him. But he'd been so hot and cold with her recently, so to be honest, she never knew what to expect from him. She hoped them being forced to work together would change that.