Abandoned

Chapter 7

Max POV

I was pissed as fuck. I was ready to burn the world to the ground.

Why the fuck did the poor girl have the same birthmark on the back of her neck as Milo and I had? How the fuck was that possible?

It wasn’t. We were mistaken. We didn’t see it properly. It wasn’t the same. It was a coincidence.

I was sitting in a diner with Milo, Zack, and Blake. Both Milo and I were pissed as fuck. Both of us wanted to take another look at the back of her neck and make sure that it wasn’t like ours.

It couldn’t be like ours.

“What the fuck is wrong with the two of you?” Blake sighed, picking up his burger from the plate in front of him.

“Nothing.” Milo mumbled, clenching his fists.

We didn’t tell anyone about the birthmark on her neck. It would only confirm other people’s suspicions about her being somehow related to us.

Yeah, right. As if…

If she was my sister, she would be right beside me. She would be the most protected, loved, and cared for girl in the world. She wouldn't be poor and ugly.

If she was my sister, no one would be able to take her away from me. I would be the best brother in the world. I would make sure that everyone knew not to mess with her.
Milo would be the same. We would love her. We would adore her.

But we didn’t have a sister.

She wasn’t our sister. She was nothing.

“I think that Madeline is sick.” Zack mumbled worriedly.

My heart clenched painfully.

“Who?” Milo asked angrily.

I knew that Milo knew who Zack was talking about. Zack knew that Milo knew.

“Madeline.” Zack sighed. “The new girl.”

“Why would we care if she’s sick?” Milo asked, clenching his fists under the table.

“Maybe because you are human.” Zack sighed, rolling his eyes at my brother. “Maybe because you feel sorry for the girl.”

“We don’t.” I said, trying to keep my anger under control. “I don’t know why you keep insisting that we should care about her.”

Zack took a deep breath and glanced from me to Milo.

“You don’t think that there is any chance that she could be related to you?” Zack asked us.

“No.” Milo and I responded at the same time.

Milo was bounding his leg up and down, and I could tell that he was very upset. I placed my hand on his, and he relaxed a little. This was one of the many advantages of being twins. We could calm each other down with just one touch. He knew what I was feeling. I knew what he was feeling. We were two parts of a whole. He was the most important person in my life.

“What if she is your sister and your parents gave her up for adoption?” Blake asked, making my heart skip a beat.

If my parents had a girl, they would definitely give her up. They didn’t want a girl. My family didn’t approve of girls. I never understood why, but it was like that. Everyone except Milo, our cousins, and me had a problem with girls.

“That would make her your triplet.” Zack said. “She is our age.”

My heart raced, and my palms started to get sweaty. My triplet. My sister.

Milo started shaking. I looked at him, and I could tell that he was thinking really hard about something. I wanted to talk to him, but I couldn’t do that in front of Zack and Blake.

If she was ours…

No.

Fuck no. We didn’t have a sister. We didn’t have a triplet. There were two of us. Just Milo and me. I had one sibling. I had Milo.

“Did you ever feel like something was missing from your lives?” Blake asked us, making Milo snap his head toward him.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Milo asked angrily.

“Did you ever feel like you weren’t complete?” Blake asked, raising his eyebrows at Milo. “You know how twins always say that they feel incomplete when they aren’t together? Or how, if they were separated, they always felt like there was something missing from their lives?”

Milo grabbed my hand and squeezed it tightly.

I remembered that feeling I had when Milo and I were kids. I felt empty. I felt like I lost something. I felt like I was missing something. Was it her? Was I missing her?

No. Fuck no.

It was something else. We lost something else.

“No.” I answered. “We always felt complete.”

Did we?

“Even if she isn’t your sister, don’t you feel sorry for her?” Zack sighed. “She doesn’t deserve to get sick just because some bitch poured water all over her. She doesn’t deserve to be bullied just because she doesn’t have money. She seems nice. I can tell that she’s been through a lot. Cut her some slack, will you?”

“She isn’t our sister.” Milo said, gritting his teeth.

My heart was pounding in my chest, and it was getting more painful by the second.

Sister. Triplet. Ours. Mine.

If anyone would have given her up for adoption, it would definitely have been my parents.

Did they take her from us when we were four? Was that the reason for Milo’s and my separation anxiety? Why didn’t they give her up as soon as she was born? If she lived with us until we were four, shouldn’t there be evidence of her existence?

I had so many questions. My heart hurt so fucking much, but I couldn’t do shit about it.

“I want to go home, Max.” Milo said after a few moments of silence.

“You didn’t finish your food.” Blake said, pointing at his plate.

“I’m not hungry.” Milo mumbled as he stood up.

I threw some cash on the table and looked up at Zack and Blake.

“I will see you tomorrow at school.” I said, standing up and following behind my brother.

Milo stormed out of the diner and entered my car, slamming the door shut.

“Easy, Milo.” I mumbled as I sat in the driver’s seat.

“Did they take her from us, Max?” Milo asked.

I glanced at him. He was staring through the passenger-side window. His fists were clenched tight, and his jaw was tightened.

“I don’t know, Milo.” I mumbled quietly.

Milo took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

“We could try to find out.” I said, making him look at me. “There should be proof somewhere.”

Milo tightened his jaw to the point where I wondered if he would break it.

He gave me a small nod, and I took his hand in mine.

Something captured my attention. I looked over Milo’s shoulder through the passenger-side window.

I saw her entering the library.

Milo turned around and followed my gaze. He squeezed my hand tightly.

We watched as she opened her backpack, took out a tissue, and wiped her nose.

Zack was right. She was sick.

Something stirred inside of me, and I wanted to kill Mary.

What if she really was ours? What if she really was mine?

I would kill my fucking parents for taking her away from me.