Betraying my Brother

My heart was beating so fast, I was scared it was going to jump out of my chest.

One minute, then two minutes passed. Neither one of us said anything.

Andy was glaring at me, his arms crossed across his chest. I wanted to cower under his stare, but I stood my ground. No way was I going to let him overpower me. We may be twins, but I'm my own person.

I stared back at my brother, noticing that I've never seen him this angry with me in my life. I was debating on lying to him, but quickly changed my mind. I had to tell him the truth, it has gone on for too long.

Taking a deep breath, and opening my mouth, Andy cut me off, "Don't you dare lie to me, Amanda Josephine Tabet."

My heart stopped beating at my name. Only my mom called me Amanda Josephine, so whenever anyone said my name, I was reminded of the woman I lost so suddenly. I went by AJ to keep the name my mom always called me, but in a form where my heart wouldn't constrict every time I heard it. Anger rushed through my body, adrenaline pumping through my blood. I wanted to punch my own brother, and not because he was angry at me, but because of the name he knew very well I couldn't stand anymore.

"I wasn't going to, you dick." He was shocked, but I coudn't blame him because I was shocked, too. I couldn't believe that came out of my mouth, and I'm sure Andy thought the same. "Why couldn't you give me the chance to talk before throwing accusations?"

"Are you kidding me? I have plenty of accusations in my head. You were being dropped off by Jason Macarthy, Amanda! There are only two weeks left until the championship game of the district, where it's assummed it'll be us and the Buckaneers, and you're mixing yourself up in that shit. He's just using you for whatever is going on between the two of you to screw with my head so he can win. So whatever the fuck you're doing, stop. You're too immature to realize that he's just using you to get to me."

Andy started to walk away, and my hands clutched at my side. "You're such an asshole!" I yelled at him and he stopped turning around. I couldn't believe the past two things that came out of my mouth. He raised his eyebrows, crossing his arms once again. "Excuse me?"

"You're not excused, Andrew Joseph Tabet." I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. I didn't want to tell him like this, but I couldn't get myself under control. I should've kept my mouth shut and let him walk away because Andy was pushing my buttons. But no twin backs down from a fight, unless you want to be a pushover all of your life. So before I could stop myself I started again, "You don't know shit. You're assumming everything, and you're not even giving me a second to explain. So why don't you sit down and shut the hell up!" We were staring each other down in a fight of egos. Andy always won, because I hated fighting with him. But this time it wasn't some stupid little thing. This was my happiness at stake, and I wasn't about to let him walk all over me. Andy seemed to realize I wasn't moving, so he sat down on the couch, his arms still crossed, and he was still glaring, but I was grateful he was sitting down nonetheless.

I sat down on the chair that was across from the couch. I was debating on standing up to tell him this, but I didn't want to be in a more powerful position, I wanted him to look directly at me so that he couldn't deny the truth in my words. When I felt calmer, I started again, "Yes, I was in the car with Jason, but it's not what you think," Andy scoffed, and my anger started up again. "I said shut up and listen," Andy turned his head, to look at the television that was still on. I waited until he looked at me, because if I continued this without him seeing my feelings, it wouldn't be effective. It felt like forever, but it was probably only a couple minutes when he looked at me once again. I locked eyes with him, and I hoped he could see the pleading look in my eyes to listen to me. He made no acknowledgement that he would, but I continued, "it started at the game you faced the Buckaneers, and Jason couldn't play."