O N E: All. Of. Them.
Stormi’s Pov
When you’re an identical twin, everyone seems to think that means you both do everything the same as each other. Which couldn’t be further from the truth. And physically, we were pretty much the same. There were a few slight differences that you would notice if you looked hard enough. Story and I were completely identical, except for our hair length, and the fact that she was taller by an inch and a half. Our styles, personalities, and birthmarks were different, like complete opposites. Mine was on my left shoulder, in the shape of a butterfly, while hers is on her right hip, looking like a blob. Story was loud and very outgoing, the life of the party.
Meanwhile, I was always quieter and more reserved, choosing to get lost in a book or nature or whatever moment I was in, rather than trying to be the center of every moment. I preferred to sit on the sidelines while she grabbed the spotlight. She was also my mom’s favorite. I had known it from a very young age. The things I had done, that I had accomplished, had not been recognized anywhere as enthusiastically as Story’s achievements. The older we got, the more obvious it became, especially when I could hear the things Mom would whisper to her friends when she didn’t think we were near.
So, I guess it should have come as no surprise that three fucking weeks after getting engaged to my college boyfriend, Jason, he was here breaking off the engagement. And why, of all things, did he tell me? The thing that blew my mind and had me questioning if I’d accidentally taken any hallucinogens was when he said that it wasn’t his fault. He just ‘fell for the wrong sister’. I froze. I was like a deer caught in headlights. It felt like timestopped. He wouldn’t look at me. He was looking everywhere else, but at me and the wreckage he’d just caused.
That was the hardest blow I think I’d ever been delivered. I had told him over and over, throughout my life, that Story had been sneaky, and always tried to steal everything I’d ever had, or that made me happy. He knew what she was like and swore up and down that I was all he wanted, all he loved, all he needed. We had been close and perfect until literally only a month ago! A month?! Was that how long it was? Was that all it took to tear apart our two-year relationship?
“You understand, right? I didn’t mean to hurt you, Storm. Honest.” He was trying to look me in the eyes as I let him see the damage he caused to my heart, to my soul. The utter destruction he’d just caused and set on fire.
“Why? How long?” I tried to ask as strongly and confidently as I could, but I knew I’d failed when my voice quivered, going up a few octaves at the end of my question. These were both something Ididand didnotwant to know simultaneously. How long had he hated me? How long since he’d stopped loving me? How long since he’d been betraying me? How long had he been working towards shattering every piece of me?
“Does it matter?” I scoffed at his question, my emotions going from heartbreak to anger, and I felt my face looking offended at the stranger standing before me. What a bullshit, dismissive fucking response. How dare he!Does. It. Matter?Yes, Jason. It fucking matters!
“How. Long.” I ground out, letting the anger take over. The audacity of this cheating-sister-fucking-asshole! He didn’t want to answer? Why didn’t he want to say? I could see he didn’t want to answer, that was plain as day on his face, but Story cameup and wrapped around him. She chimed right in, never one to miss a chance to get a dig at me.
“Since last Christmas, when you brought him home to meet us. He got my number and we started texting as friends. But it moved to morefairly quickly. You understand, right?” Her eyes, when she looked at me, were smug while she tried her best to look pitiful, pushing up on her toes, and her tits, to kiss his cheek. The poor, pitiful sister who had accidentally crossed that line that you’re never supposed to cross with your sister’s husband.
But it wasn’t over. No. Not by a long shot. The torture had just begun. The smugness of her body language told me I didn’t know the depths she was willing to go. I didn’t care, though. The one person I thought would have by back, ran and abandoned me, straight to the person who made my whole life hell. I let the light in my eyes die as I stared at the couple in front of me. I was barely gripping that last thread of sanity so as not to lash out at them.
The happy couple.
I was fucking furious,livid, ready to kill if needed. Him? Her? Both of them? Would I get a discount for both bodies? How did it work? I could feel my breath starting to get ragged, and I couldn’t handle it anymore. I needed to get out of here. I needed to get the fuck away from these two. They deserved each other.
This was happening at a family fucking cookout, no less! With my familyandhis! Wow. Could thisbeany more public and humiliating for me?! I nodded mindlessly, trying to keep my shoulders and spine straight and the tears at bay. No way would I let this vicious viper and the weak-willed cock, see me break. They would never see me cry. Not knowing what else to do. I juststood there, looking out over the rest of the party as my parents came over. Fake smiles plastered to their faces.
“Well?” My mom asked, looking at Story and Jason, her arm wrapped around his, looking like the picture-perfect couple. Like they hadn’t been cheating for over a year. Like they hadn’t just torn my fucking world apart. “Did youtellheryet?”
What? My eyes zeroed in on my mother, then my father. I looked between my parents, or the people who looked like my parents, but clearly weren’t. There was no way they knew. Why was she asking that? Why did her voice sound so clipped? My mother looked at me with annoyance that I was falling apart. Oh…god! I was instantly flooded with disgust. She knew. I looked back at my dad. There’s no…way…the steam evaporating from my sail as soon as I saw his face fall when my eyes landed on his.
He knew, too.
He knew and did nothing to protect me. No one did.
“Mom?” I asked because I needed to be wrong. They couldn’t have known. Did they fucking know?! “How long?!” I could feel my breathing increasing, my heart rate elevating, my voice getting a little louder, and people starting to look.
“Oh, honey. Please. It wasobvious.”
“Obvious?!” I scoffed, “TO WHO?!” I shouted, my top blowing. And it was like a Pringles can. Once she popped, the fun wasn’t about to stop.
“Keep your voice down!” She hissed at me like I was the fucking embarrassment of the family and not my whore of a sister.
“How long have you known thishussyof a sister was fuckingmyfiancéand didnothingabout it?!” I am screaming,letting the hurt and anger pour, dripping, splashing from my every word like a slimy ooze coming out of me. The music and chatter had all stopped, and I could feel eyes on us, and I knew everyone was probably looking at us. I’d never met Jason’s parents; he met my family first. Was this why?!
“Ah. You must be Story,” a couple came up to us, and I moved my gaze to the two traitors, “Our son has talked about you non-stop for over a year!”
“Over a year?! You’ve been cheating on me for over a year?!” The couple looked at me like I was some kind of wild animal or crazy person. I didn’t care.
“Well. Don’t worry, you don’t need the gift I got you. I was excited to tell you today that you were going to be a dad, as well as a husband. Looks like you don’t need to worry about this,” Handing him back his ring, as I snatched back the gift I was going to give him, “And you don’t need to ever see us again.” With that, I turned and stormed out. Once I was around the front of the house, I heard Jason screaming at me, trying to get me to stop, and my sister was screaming at him, and his parents were demanding answers from them both. I hopped in my car, not slowing down and not looking back once, before I peeled out of the driveway, as my nowex-fiancé ran for my car until he disappeared from the rearview.
I rushed back to the apartment we shared, hoping that taking the car would slow him down just a little bit so I could pack. Throwing the door open, and rushed to the guest room, pulling my luggage out from under the bed. I grabbed my phone off my nightstand after hauling the suitcases into the master bedroom, throwing them both open on the bed, tossing my items in there in no kind of order. I called my bestie, Raven.
“I need help,” my voice wobbly, barely holding it together, “I need to leave.Now.”
“What happened?”
