Lila and Leila were twins. When they were younger, they dressed alike, talked alike and were alike in every single way. And they hated it. They hated being compared; they hated being mistaken for one another. They hated being treated the same and dressing the same. All in all, they hated being twins. As time wore on, they begun to believe that if they outshone each other, they would be seen as different. When the older twin Lila was given a chance to be on the radio, Leila was seen on television. When Leila won best female athlete at their middle school graduation, Lila won four different awards and was voted valedictorian. When each twin made a new accomplishment, the other grew envious and tried to outshine her. Soon the girls came to realize that maybe it wasn’t being twins they hated, maybe it was the person they were twins with. This new realization only caused more problems as the girls grew older.
Lila
She’s done it again. That annoying loser has once again used up all of my shampoo. As if Brandon would like her better if she smelled like me. Unlike most people, Brandon knows the difference between us and it’s me he likes. Not her. So why can’t she see it? Why can’t she see that he prefers my long, straight blond hair to her frizzy hair? How can she not see that he likes my big blue eyes to her small ones? Can’t she tell that my academic achievements impress him more than her “athletic abilities”? No. She can’t. All she sees is Brandon’s gray eyes and light brown hair, his friendly personality and his warm smile and she thinks he likes her. But he doesn’t! Despite the fact that he hasn’t asked me out yet, I know he will eventually and Leila’s just getting in the way. But I have no time to think about this. Not when I know that Leila is about to use my apricot body spray. I rush to my room across the hall from the bathroom and beside Leila’s own. And just as I suspected, there she is spraying Apricot Paradise, all over her skanky body.
“Leila! What do you think you’re doing?” I yell viciously. Leila nearly jumps out of her recently sprayed body.
“I was just using my body spray.” She says, when she knows full well that she lost hers a month ago.
“Know what Loser?” I‘m gonna give you to the count of three to get the hell out of my room. One…”
Before I can say two, Leila drops the bottle and rushes out of my room. I pick up my bottle and set it on my neatly organized dresser. Then, with a final glance around to make sure she hasn’t stolen anything, I head out the room closing the door behind me.
When I get downstairs I realize that Leila has already fled the house. I’m instantly angry because I know this means she’s also taken our red Honda Accord.
“Morning Li-lee!” my mother calls from the kitchen. Her nicknames are so annoying. I’m Li-lee and Leila is Lei-lee. I hate them, they're so embarrassing. But I’ve gotten fed up of constantly telling her not to call me that so I just ignore it.
“Good morning mom.” I say as I walk into the kitchen. If I didn’t know better I would have thought we were twins. Mom has the same straight blonde hair that I do and the same blue eyes. She is extremely petite and looks as though she isn’t a day over twenty even though she’s nearing 45. I do enjoy looking like my mother. Leila shares the same frizzy blond hair and small blue eyes as my father. But I guess these differences don’t matter, people still have difficulty telling us apart.
“Oh Li-lee you look so cute in that outfit!” Mom exclaims.
“Oh I just bought it. “ I say, blushing. I don’t tell her that the only reason I bought it is to impress Brandon.
“Well its really pretty. Eggs?” Mom asks pointing to the frying pan on the stove.
“No thanks,” I say "I’ve gotta rush to school now since Leila stole the car.”
“Oh alright, I’ll just save it for when your father comes home.”
“Okay. See you later Mom.”
“Bye Lei-lee… I mean Li-lee.”
I’m already halfway out the door so she doesn’t see me cringe at her mistake.
As I walk down the street, I put my iPod earphones in and turn the music loud. The drum beat floods my ears and it’s because of that that I don’t hear the footsteps behind me.
All of a sudden two large male hands are covering my eyes. I scream and rip the earphones out. That’s when I hear a familiar chuckle and I realize who it is. Brandon Engle.
“Hey you." he says in his deep, sexy voice.
“Hi,” I say, “Nothing like a heart attack to start your day, huh?”
He chuckles at my joke and I look at the way his eyes crinkle and his dimples get deeper. I feel a warm satisfaction because I know I'm the reason he's laughing.
He places his arm around my shoulder as we continue along the sidewalk. My whole body feels tingly and electric sparks hit me where his arm touches. I smile up at him and realize I’m glad Leila took the car this morning. A walk with Brandon sure beats a ride to school.
“I like what you’re wearing.” Brandon says suddenly eyeing me up and down. Though I feel self conscious and blush, I spin around and smile because he noticed. I’m wearing a periwinkle paisley boho dress and an off white cardigan. On my feet I wear matching shoes. It’s unbelievably comfortable and obviously very hot. I’m extremely glad Leila just had to take the car this morning.
