2- Olivia
Dear someone,
I know a lot of things. Geometry, Algebra, Chemistry – all the things teachers cram into our minds from the age of five or four, dragging us kicking and screaming from the sanctuary of home into the real world. But one thing I don't know is what to do when your best friend's twin brother absolutely, irrevocably, hates you. They thought adding letters to math problems was useful. Turns out, it wasn’t.
– Olivia
Honestly, I don't know what I ever did to earn his hatred. I find myself constantly circling back, trying to pinpoint the moment it began. I trace the timeline of my first encounters with Kyle Everest, back to a time when the word "hate" was just a label in a dictionary, an ugly word he chose to direct at me.
I had just turned six that summer, moving from the sun-baked streets of Phoenix, Arizona, to the humid embrace of Orlando, Florida.
My mother was offered a substantial raise, a chance to climb higher on the corporate ladder. It was a practical decision, made easier by the fact she was born and raised in Florida, and my grandparents already lived here. It all made sense.
At the time.
It all made sense until we met the neighbors.
Introducing the Green family.
Meet Mr. Green: a man in his late thirties, carrying a slight bulge above his belt, his eyes dark enough to swallow secrets whole. He’s given us the stink eye since the moment we arrived. His first name is Ben. How… typical.
Meet Mrs. Green #2: I never knew her predecessor, only that she succumbed to addiction years ago, long after the twins were born. Apparently, she’d already checked out of their lives. Mrs. Green #2 married Ben just a couple of years ago. She’s twenty-four, vibrant, and radiates a genuine warmth that even the twins can’t deny. Her name is April.
Meet Madeline, the angel twin. She’s been my best friend since fifth grade, invisible to me before that, lost in the shadow of her brother. Kyle's dislike for me started small – interrupting my attempts to speak, yanking my chair out from under me as I sat down, tying my shoelaces together so I tripped with every step.
Then it became personal. In third grade, he told everyone I’d tried to kiss him. He stole my diary and read its contents aloud to the entire fourth grade class. It continued like that for years, petty pranks escalating into acts of genuine malice.
I’ll never forget how he convinced a junior to pretend to like me for months, then asked me to homecoming only to leave me stranded miles from home in a downpour. He'd explained to me he only pretended to be interested in me because of whatever I did to Kyle. The guy went on to homecoming with another girl while I walked home in the pouring rain and was sick for weeks. I could recount the time he fractured my arm with another "prank," or when he chopped off my ponytail, but I’d rather spare myself the play-by-play.
“Olivia, are you even listening?” Madeline snaps her fingers in my face, jolting me back to reality. “Of course I was!” I lie, my heart racing. Her eyes squint, assessing something far away. “So you totally agree then?” She asks, knowing full well I have no clue what she's referring to. I play along. “Yup, one hundred percent,” I say, forcing a smile.
Madeline and our friends, Katherine and Michelle, exchange knowing glances, then erupt in squeals, earning a few dirty looks from nearby students in the cafeteria. I frown, scratching my head. “What just happened?”
Madeline grins mischievously. “You, my antisocial friend, have just agreed to go to the party of the year.”
My mouth goes dry. I mentally scramble for an exit strategy.
“Please tell me that party isn’t hosted by Ryan,” I say, feeling nauseous. Ryan is one of Kyle’s closest friends. If he’s throwing the party, Kyle will undoubtedly be there. Madeline makes a sympathetic face, and my heart skips a beat. “You already agreed. You can’t back out now. Come on, Olivia, Kyle hasn’t done anything to you in ages.”
Actually, it’s been precisely one month and twelve and a half days since Kyle’s last attack, but that’s only because he’s been preoccupied with football season, making tormenting me a low priority. I’m certain he’ll find a way to change that. He’s “banished” me from attending any social event he’s at since sophomore year.
I give Madeline a weary look. She knows her brother better than anyone. “You know Kyle wasn’t always like this? You legit for some unknown reason just bring out the worst in him. He’s literally a sweetheart to practically everyone but you.”
I scoff, indifferent. Maybe I had taken Kyle's fruit snacks out of his lunchbox and replaced them with carrot sticks my mother packed. Maybe I stared at him a little too long during first grade. We were playmates. Things just changed one day, and I never understood why. I never asked him.
I never asked him why. Maybe it’s that simple. Years of torture, fueled by fear. This party could be an opportunity to make amends, to lay our childish past to rest.
“You know what, Maddie, you’re right. Kyle hasn’t even looked at me once this month. Going to this party is a perfect idea.”
Little did I know, making amends with the devil doesn’t come without a price. I just thought the burn marks he’d leave would be worth it. I wasn’t prepared to learn the truth, and he wasn’t prepared to have to tell me.
– Olivia
Vote Comment Share
QUESTION: WHAT’S THE WORST THING SOMEONE’S EVER DONE TO YOU AND WHY?