Opposites

s e v e n t y - s e v e n

       "Her coffee's getting cold
                    as she waits for him
                                      to miss her,
                           while his cigarettes
                                        run one after one,
                                                    trying to forget her."

                                                                — Unknown

Melody

My eyes flutter open, the ceiling being the first thing to cloud my vision. I immediately bring my arm up to my forehead, as it keeps on pounding horribly.

I blink several times, turning my head to the side. I find Harry sitting on the coffee table in front of me, making me sigh in relief. "Harry, I just had the most weirdest dream." I let out a small laugh.

At that, Harry's bloodshot eyes leak pools of tears, as they stare right into mine.

"What's the matter?" I furrow my brows. "Listen, I had a dream that you weren't actually my—"

Harry clears his throat to cut me off, his voice raspy from the crying. "That was not a dream." He dodges his eyes to the floor.

My lips slowly fall into a frown, gripping the edges of the couch, getting up in a sitting position. "Wh-What do y—you're. . . not—"

Harry shakes his head repeatedly, sniffling while trying to get rid of the leaking tears. "No, Melody. I am not your biological brother. I've never been and I'll never be."

It feels like another wave of reality just hit me in the face, slapping me so hard, while knocking all of the air out of me. "NO!" I bark, bringing my knees close to my chest, wrapping my arms around them, as I keep muttering under my breath. "No, no, no, no, no. This is just a nightmare, I have to wake up." I pinch my arm. "Why am I not waking up?!" I yell, my chest falling up and down in shallow breaths.

Harry gets up to sit beside me. "Let me explain, please. I'm not who you think I am—"

"Then, who are you?! Who the hell are you?!"

"I'll tell you everything, please calm down." Harry whispers, then wipes his bloodshot eyes. "Mom and Dad have always wanted a baby girl, but it just didn't happen. So, they brought you from the foster home back in Los Angeles when you were only two months old. It was temporary, but they loved you so much, so they adopted you. Yes, they adopted you after nine months. I remember the first day they brought you in, you were beautiful, Mel. Everything was going so well, so perfect. Just the way they wanted it to be. We were finally a family. But, then. . . then that cursed day fell upon us. I dropped the vase on your leg, and you left with them to the hospital. The accident happened, and you survived. I didn't know what to do, and. . and you knew that Melody. I was only eleven, when Raymond dropped us at the orphanage. . . and you know the rest."

I let out muffled sobs against the back of my hand that's pressed against my mouth in utter shock. The one person who I thought would be true to me, the one person who I thought is my own flesh and blood. . . has been betraying me all my life.

My breathing settles back to normal after a few silent minutes, and I slowly get up from the couch, feeling nauseous to being sitting next to him. "I've been. . . I've been living with a stranger all my life?!" I yell, looking down at him with wide eyes.