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“Everyone does. He’s famous, which means you are too. In a way.”
Now I had a sinking feeling in my stomach too.
Was his card nicer than mine? Would she linger longer when she gave it to him?
No.She wasmyfriend. I met her first. She metmefirst. She wouldn’t do that to me.
“He’s in the center of the room. He got cake already.”
She nodded and went to search for him.
I tried not to feel bitter as I joined at the back of the line of people to get my slice, waiting for the majority to get theirs instead of rushing with the crowd.
“Did they really make you wait in line for your own birthday cake?” my younger sister, Emma, asked. She’d been an accidental third child. Both Mom and Dad were content to give all of their attention to Calvin, and sometimes me. When she came along, they were done with the parenting thing, giving her free rein to do what she wanted.
Emma wasn’t a bad kid, but she was a newly minted angsty teenager. I’d done a lot of the childcare for her even when I’d been far too young to. At first, she’d blamed me for that, refusing my help in any kind of way. Then that anger had shifted to Mom and Dad.
She blamed them for everything these days.
“I didn’t want to go up there anyway.” I shrugged. She rolled her eyes and cut the line, loudly proclaiming that she was getting the birthday girl a slice of her own cake. I blushed and pulled her aside, waving off the glares of the other people in line. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“And yet, I did. Here you go,” she said as I grabbed the plate and fork, taking a big bite. “Fair warning, it’s chocolate.”
I grimaced when the flavor hit my tongue. “Damn. I could have sworn I asked for half vanilla.”
“They probably forgot. Like they always do with you.”
“Or they handed you the wrong piece. It’s fine. I don’t hate chocolate that much.”
“You absolutely do.”
I took another bite to prove her wrong, keeping my face straight as I chewed.
“You’re too nice,” she said.
“And you’re too angry,” I replied. “I’m fine, Emma. All I wanna do is have a relaxed birthday party.”
“Where’s your friend?”
“She had a card for Calvin.”
“Oh.And she hasn’t come back yet?”
“She will.”
An uncomfortable silence settled over us, and I put down my fork, unable to stomach any more chocolate.
“Can I at least have the rest of the cake?”
I wordlessly handed her the plate, eyes searching for water to cleanse my palate. She told me she was going back to her room to hide out from all the noise. I’d probably be following her soon.
After grabbing a glass of water, I gulped it down until the taste of chocolate was only barely there and took a deep breath. The kitchen was quiet in the way the rest of the house wasn’t, even though I could hear the party going on in the living room.
Sometimes, being home felt like being the photographer of an event. I was the outsider, always slightly weird and quiet, while Calvin charmed anyone he was around. I thought it would get better in the anonymity of college, but he chose the same school as me and ruled things there too. He went to every party and kept his grade point average up. Whenever people said hello to me, they would follow it up by asking how or where my twin was.
Iwasn’tjealous. He deserved it. But it would be nice if someone noticed me for a change.
“There you are.” A voice broke the relative silence. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”