Secrets are Lies, Sister

In the Beginning

"Brynn. Avery. I'm leaving in five minutes!"

That's my older brother, Matt. He drives us to school whenever our mom leaves early for work. She usually has to work double shifts to pay our school tuition. We got some aid since our dad lost his job and left my mom, making us a single-income household. We don't really discuss that, though.

"I'm ready", I say.

He grabs his backpack and sighs. "I know. You're always the good one, Brynnie." He messes with my hair.

"Hey!" I squeal. "You know I hate when you do that, Matthew." I stick my tongue out at him. He laughs at me.

"Pfft, I know. I'm gonna go start the car. How about you use that twin telepathy to get our sister down here."

Footsteps descend from the stairs.

"Okay, okay - I'm here." She's holding her shoes in one hand and fixing her cardigan with the other. 

My sister. 

My identical twin sister - Avery Grace Cooper.

The prettier one.

The popular one.

We look the same, but everyone knows me as just Avery's twin sister.

"Two minutes, Avery. Seriously." Matt grabs his keys and gives her a serious look before going out to the car.

She sits down at the table to put her shoes on. "Hey Brynnie, did you finish the math homework for Mr. Donohue's class?"

"Yes." I've never skipped an assignment. I can't. I want to be valedictorian when we're seniors. "Of course I did."

"Oh great", she says with relief. "Could I borrow it first period?" Typical. She constantly needs to borrow my assignments. It's irritating, but I can't say no to her.

"I guess so."

"You're the best, Brynn. Love you!"

I shoot her a smile. "Come on, let's go before Matt starts honking the horn." We both grab our bags and head out the door.

We walk through the doors of Notre Dame-St. John Prep. Matt catches up with his friends and they walk to the junior hallway. Avery and I get to the sophomore hall when someone comes up behind us and covers Avery's eyes. 

"Guess who?"

"Marcus, I know it's you." She says giggling. He takes his hands away and grabs her hands to twirl her around. I roll my eyes.

Marcus Brown. Tall. Green eyes. Junior. Captain of the Boys Hockey Team. And Avery's boyfriend for almost a year now. Most of the girls in our school are obsessed with him.

I'm not the biggest fan of Marcus. He's alright. He's just like every other popular kid. He thinks the world revolves around him.

"Hey, Aves. I'm gonna go to the library before homeroom."

"Oh, wait. Can I grab the homework from you first?" 

"I can stick it in your locker on my way."

"Thank you, sissy."

"Later, Brynn", Marcus calls.  I wave awkwardly as I start to leave. He only talks to me when Avery's around. Normally, he just ignores me.

Avery and I know each other's locker combinations, so it's easy for me to slip my homework in. As I walk towards the library, I see some of the other hockey boys messing around; Kyle Maguire, Ethan Daniels, and Joshua Scott. They're in my grade. 

I try to slip past them when I feel someone yank on my hair.

"What's up, Avery clone?" Kyle and Ethan are laughing at this lame attempt at a joke.

"Cut it out, Josh. You know my name. We've been going to school together since Kindergarten."

"Come on, I'm just teasing. Obviously, I know your name, Bryan." Honestly, that's better than being referred to as a clone of my sister. He tries to give me a side hug, but I lean away.

"Aw, Joshie just got rejected", Kyle jokes. Josh's cheeks start to get red.

"Dude, it's just a joke. Bryan's my history bud." I glare at him. "Brynn. Brynn is my history bud." I relax my face after his correction. It's true that we sit next to each other in Mr. Stone's history class, but we were far from being 'buds'.

"Josh, can you just let me pass by?"

"Only if you help me out on our quiz today," he says, grinning "if you know what I mean." I'm not stupid - I know he means cheating. He always cheats on my assessments.

"Whatever. I don't care if look over at my paper. I'm turning it in right when I finish. I'm not waiting for you to copy everything down."

"Fine by me. I'm just trying to pass." He puts his hands up in 'surrender'. They all move aside and I finally make it to the library.