Twisted love

The shadow's reckoning

(Andrew)

Chapter Fourteen

Flashback

I had never expected much from high school. It was a place where I faded into the background, an observer at best. No one really noticed me, and I preferred it that way. I wasn't built for popularity like Oliver was, nor did I want to be. He had everything—looks, charm, friends, and a way of commanding attention without even trying. Meanwhile, I had my books, my games, my quiet corner in the library. I was content being the forgotten brother. Or at least, I convinced myself I was.

That was until Katherine.

I can still picture it so clearly, the day everything changed. It was after school, and I had slipped into the empty hallway near the science lab, seeking a place to think without being disturbed. I wasn't planning to overhear anyone, let alone her—but then her voice carried from just around the corner. She was with Someone, talking in that soft, excited tone girls use when they're sharing something personal. I stopped before I turned the corner.

Maybe I should've kept walking. But then I heard my brother's name.
Oliver.

I held my breath, listening as my heart began to race.

"I think... I think I really like him" Katherine said, her voice soft but full of certainty. "Oliver is just... I don't know. He makes me feel alive. Every time I see him, it's like nothing else matters."

She laughed, a sweet sound that used to make me smile. But this time, it only made my chest tighten. She was talking about him. Oliver.

No one knew we were brothers back then. We were so different that no one even connected us. And it wasn't like I was rushing to tell anyone. Being his brother only reminded me how little I compared. He got the attention, the admiration, while I stayed in his shadow, unseen. And Katherine—Katherine—was yet another thing he had that I could never touch.

My love for her had started long before that moment. From the first day I saw her in homeroom, sitting a few rows away, twirling a strand of her blonde hair around her finger, laughing at something someone said. She was light, and I was drawn to her like a moth to a flame, even though I knew it could destroy me.

I used to watch her in class, the way she'd focus so intently on the board, biting her lip when she was deep in thought. Or during lunch, when she'd laugh at something her friend said, and her eyes would light up, making the whole room feel warmer. I memorized those details, holding onto them like they were mine to cherish. But they weren't. She didn't even know I existed.

And then I heard her say his name again. Oliver.

It was always him. Of course, it was him.

"I don't know-," Katherine continued, her voice soft but conflicted. "I just... I wish he'd notice me. Really notice me."

The irony made me want to scream. She was right there, and I was noticing her. I had always noticed her. But it wasn't me she cared about. It was Oliver.

For years, I had lived in his shadow, enduring the comparisons, the way people gravitated toward him without effort. And I could've lived with that. I could've accepted being second in everything. But this—her—it was too much. It wasn't fair that he had everything. Everything except her. That was all I ever wanted. And the one thing I asked him to do, the only favor I ever asked, was to stay away from her. To leave her to me.

But he couldn't even do that. He couldn't resist. How could he, when everything always fell into his lap so easily?

I walked away before I could hear the rest of their conversation. It didn't matter. The damage was done. I spent the rest of that day thinking about how I would never measure up to Oliver in her eyes. How no matter what I did, she would always see him as the one worth chasing. I wanted to hate her for it, but I couldn't. I was obsessed. Completely and utterly obsessed.