There aren’t many differences between my twin sister and I. My sister, Lex, hated that. I’m not saying that it didn’t annoy me from time to time, but she did everything in her power to look different than me. As soon as our parents gave her the approval to change her appearance, she permed her hair the next day. After the perm phase died down, she dyed her hair black to give herself a distinction from my brown hair. Her preppy outfits were a stark contrast to my more athletic attire, and we stuck to this pattern of looking as different as we could for years.
That is until I got married. A switch happened then. Maybe it was because she felt like she was losing me, seeing that I moved a few states away and she didn’t like the shift in the bond that we had. I no longer relied on her as much as I used to, and I guess that triggered her to let the imposed differences slide.
At first, I assumed it was because she had grown to stop caring about making herself look different than me, it had to be a lot of work. A couple of months after I moved, she decided to visit. When she showed up on my doorstep, her hair now back to brown and her clothes looking identical to the outfit I was wearing, I gasped upon seeing her.
“I know, I know. I made a big deal of looking different, but I guess I got tired of all those hair appointments.” She chuckled.
After that, we became as close as we had been when we were kids, and after I had my daughter that only intensified. Three months after the birth of my daughter, Margot, she moved to the same city, not wanting to miss out on my daughter’s life.
Luckily for me and my husband, Jared, she became our babysitter and watched Margot as often as she could. Which in theory was nice, but soon she was at our house practically every waking moment.
I didn’t want to be rude, seeing that she’s helped us out so many times with Margot. Now I loved my sister, but I needed my space from time to time and so did Jared.
One night, seconds after Lex left, Jared joined me in the living room as I put away Margot’s toys. He plopped down on the couch and sighed. “Addie, I don’t know how to say this.”
“Say what?” I asked as I put away the last toy in the bin before sitting next to him on the couch.
“I’m getting tired of Lex being here all the time. We never have a free moment to ourselves anymore.” He said, rubbing his tired eyes.
I chuckled, thankful it wasn’t just me feeling this. “I’ll talk to her sometime this week.”
“There’s something else…” He trailed off and I raised my eyebrow, urging him to continue. “I thought nothing of it the first time, but she’s repeatedly grabbed my shoulders or hand and each time I think it’s you but then I realize it’s Lex. I don’t know if she’s trying to start something or what, but she’s your sister and it didn’t feel right brushing it off.” Jared hated confrontation, so much so that even talking to me about this caused his cheeks to tinge red.
Anger surged in me at this, knowing that she’s taken this too far at this point. While we look the same, we live different lives and I guess she needed reminded of that. “Thanks for telling me, I’ll talk to her tomorrow.” I faked a smile at him, trying to calm myself down and not show how much this bothered me.
“It’s hard to tell you guys apart now. Anytime you two are around each other I have to do a double check to see who’s who.” I grabbed his hand and squeezed it. We went to bed not long after, though my mind raced for the rest of the night.
The next day went by slower than I would’ve liked. My anxiety was through the roof in anticipation of this impending conversation, partly because I had no idea how to approach it, and the fact that she had no idea it was happening. It felt weird, keeping this a secret from her, but I just hoped she would take it well.
I brought her to a park near our house, one that she frequently brings Margot to. I didn’t want to fight in the house, and I definitely didn’t want Jared to gang up on her too.
I sat on the bench, patting the open seat beside me. My heart raced against my chest, not knowing how to start this conversation. Sure, we’ve gotten in big fights before, but it’s never been as hard as this one was going to be. I sighed and wiped a shaky hand across my forehead.
“What is it, Addie?” She asked, a smile on her face.
“Lex, I need you to stop coming over as much as you have been.” I said bluntly, which dissipated her smile and turned it into a frown.
“What do you mean?”
“Margot calls you Mommy now.” Lex looked at a loss of words, but I couldn’t help but see the flicker of a smile that threatened to poke through.
“Well, we’re twins, Addie. We look alike, you know that was probably bound to confuse her at some point.” I sighed, rubbing my hand on my face.
“I know, I know, but you’re there all the time and Jared has even said you’ve touched him a few times and-” She tried to interrupt me, but I pushed on, “You don’t even try to correct Margot when she calls you Mom anymore.” Tears well up in her eyes, she blinked them away, any type of sadness she felt was instantly replaced with anger as her voice turned cold.
“You should see the way Jared looks at me, he knows he married the wrong twin, he’s just afraid to admit it.”
I instantly saw red at this comment, wondering if she truly believed it or if she was saying that to hurt me. I think it was both, and her statement made me question if that was the case. There were times where Lex and Jared were alone in the house, maybe something could’ve happened to make her feel that way? No, I couldn’t think like that.
Instead, I slapped her hard enough to try and drive that ridiculous and insane thought out of her mind and mine. Although I shouldn’t of, when I saw my handprint on her skin, the skin bright red, I felt no remorse. Instead, I felt elated. She backed away on the bench and took a few big deep breaths in, her hand cradling her face.
“I hope that bruises.” I spat, not recognizing my voice. But I had to do what was needed for my family, even if it meant turning on my sister. She chuckled lowly; her head faced downwards at the bench as she didn’t meet my eyes.
“Let’s see who Jared wants more.”
Within a blink of an eye, she stood up and began running towards the apartment. I scrambled to my feet, somehow catching up to her, and lunged forward, tackling her to the pavement. She grunted as her body made impact with the concrete. I looked down and saw her hand covered in blood as she touched the part of her head that was cracked open. I pushed myself off her and without even thinking, I kicked her in the stomach. I knocked the wind from her lungs as she gasped for air and I took off, not wanting to spend another second close to her.
I’m not a runner by any means, my breath was ragged as I pushed myself to go faster before a cramp flared on my left side. I stopped for a second, my hands on my hips as I tried to regain some air in my lungs. I’m sure that we looked insane, fighting each other on the street like this. We could even have the cops called on us, but that was the least of my concerns. I couldn’t let her get to Jared and Margot first.
When I heard her rapid footsteps hitting the pavement not far behind me, I sprinted once more. I knew she was close and braced myself for her tackle as I had done to her, but it never came. We couldn’t be more than a few blocks from the house at this point, and considering how my calves were screaming, I hoped the house would come into view within a few minutes.
I made the mistake of glancing back, and nearly lost my balance when I saw all of the blood running down her face and the devilish smile she bore despite the blood running in her eyes. She had a death grip on my purse and phone, both of which I must’ve dropped when I tackled her. “Damn it.” I muttered in gasping breaths, knowing that if she beat me home she could use those to her advantage.
She was trailing behind, but there wasn’t as much distance as I would’ve liked between us. A wave of lightheadedness washed over me as I trudged on, my heart raced wildly against my chest as every muscle in my body ached.
I glanced back once more, expecting to see the whites of her eyes right behind me but she wasn’t there. I turned forward, trying to keep my pace that was starting to slow when I saw a flash of movement to my right. Somehow, she managed to dart in front of me and was several paces ahead before disappearing from my sight completely. I cursed under my breath; I should’ve known better than to run against a former track star.
I watched in horror as she reached the house first. She smoothed out her shirt and pants and attempted to do so with her hair but with the amount of blood caked in it, the strands stayed in place.
When I made it to my front yard a few minutes later, I stumbled onto the grass, my legs giving out on me completely as I struggled to regain my breath. I crawled over to the front window, and my stomach dropped when I could hear their conversation. I listened for a few minutes, wanting to give myself an idea of what they were talking about before I barged in.
“I don’t know what happened, Jared. Lex just went crazy and tackled me. She’s trying to take my life and-
At this point, I threw the door open, not being able to listen to the lies coming from her mouth. I hoped he wouldn’t buy it, but it’s not like we look different anymore. She’s made sure of that. And from the sounds of their conversation as I listened by the window, she even perfected my voice.
She was curled into Jared’s chest, fake tears on display as I stepped into my house, hostility filling the room the second I did. I wiped the drops of sweat from my eyes, seething about how she has attempted to manipulate him.
“You need to leave.” Jared said about as calmly as he could. I glanced over at Lex, happy that he saw through her, but when I looked back at Jared, he was staring straight at me.
“Lex, we’ve had enough of your antics, you need to leave. Now.” He emphasized the last word, a chill went down my spine that he couldn’t decipher who was who.
I stared at Lex in horror, but she grinned at me, no remorse on her features.
“Are you serious?” I stammered, tears pooled in my eyes.
“We don’t want a fight, Lex. Just leave.” Jared replied, hatred dripping from his voice.
“No, no, Jared. It’s me, Addie.” I make a step toward them but stopped when Lex grabbed onto his shirt even tighter.
He stiffened up at this statement and glanced down at Lex who whispered, “She’s lying, please don’t tell me you believe her.”
He didn’t.
(2,039 words)
Ugh, this really taps not only into the fear of the chase but also the fear of not being believed.... painful!!!!!
This was SUCH a wild ride!