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mediocrebutworking · 4 years ago

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A(n) (Un)Broken Promise by Hana Afifah Nuraini

Sunray was breaking through the leaves of an old white oak, flooding its somewhat-finger shaped leaves with abundant energies. Birds chirped, sang their orchestral concert with rhythm. Blue sky with the dense of leaves became their backdrop, no less interesting with the luxurious curtain in concert halls. From afar, the buzzing sound of a lawnmower aired. The laughter of a bunch of children in the neighbourhood, with them lively playing, gave a joyous scenery.

Little Lucy, with teddy bear swinging in her grip, stared those kids from inside her cupboard. She knew them: her neighbour’s children. Following the way they ran and hid, she knew that they were playing hide-and-seek. Pouty lips appeared; she always wanted to play together with them. But that pouty lips immediately gone, knowing that she would play in this cupboard under the old white oak, their hangout, with her lovely twin: Rosy. A huge, childish smile spread on her face.

“Rosy!” shouted the little girl inside the opened cupboard. She saw her twin, hugged a bunny doll, and ran all the way to her. Mother and Father stood in the veranda of their American typical house, observing the little runner. Rosy’s wavy hair ricocheted funnily as she ran with wide steps. Lucy looked at her twin carefully; Rosy wore a little pink gown with a bow on her back. That was in contrast with her clothing, as Lucy wore a little blue gown and bow. Their hair was tied with the same colour as their gowns. Lucy waited for her twin to arrive.

“Lucy! Huh… huh…” Rosy panted as she didn’t usually run. Her body was weaker than Lucy’s who were more athletic.

“Calm down, Rosy. Here, sit here and take a rest.” Lucy shifted a little so Rosy could sit near her inside the opened cupboard.

“So… What are we gonna do today? I see those kids are playing hide-and-seek,” Rosy followed where Lucy was looking at.

“Mm, I don’t feel like doing hide-and-seek right now, Lucy. Too much running for me,” Rosy took teddy bear and hugged it. Teddy bear and bunny collided in her hug. “Sorry,” her eyes glanced to Lucy.

“Never mind, we can play tea party like we usually do. Now come on,” Lucy grabbed Rosy’s hand and took her to the bench near the cupboard. On the table lied many cups and a teapot, completed with artificial cakes and biscuits. Then they played as two princesses having a tea party. Mr. Teddy Bear and Mr. Bunny also attended it. In the middle of role-playing, Rosy suddenly asked, “Lucy, is it possible for us to stay the same?”

“Huh? What do you mean? I guess we will be taller in some years ahead, wouldn’t we?”

“Yeah, I mean can we keep being together like this?” Rosy stared deeply into Lucy’s eyes. Lucy smiled sweetly.

“Of course my sister, we will be happy together as always…”

_______________________(^`*’^)__________________________

Twelve years later

Lucy looked at her clock in panic. The long needle pointed at four while the shorter needle pointed at eight. It was ten minutes until the first period and Lucy hadn’t found her History notebook yet. Frantically she searched all over her desk and bookshelf, but she found nothing. Lucy stopped for a while, thinking where last she put it.

Dad’s car honked from outside. Not too long she heard him calling her. “Come on Lucy! We’re almost late!”

“I’m coming, Dad!” Lucy looked out her window to find her father stood next to the car and a girl crossed her arms with boredom. The girl looked straight at her. Her gaze as if said, “Why don’t you learn?” Seeing it, Lucy squinted and continued her searching. Her eyes shone brightly as she found the target. Quickly she grabbed her green History notebook, which was under her rug. Of course, she couldn’t find it easily. She quickly got out of her empty house. Mom had left to her restaurant.

Dad and the girl were already in the car. Lucy opened the door to the back seat and got in. Quickly the black car speeded up to their school.

“What’s wrong Lucy? You used to be quite early before going to school,” Dad asked while waiting for the traffic.

“I lost my notebook, Dad. Today, I have a History exam in the first period,”

“I see. I recalled that you already had it, right Rosy?”

The girl, who was very similar to Lucy, nodded her head. “Yeah Dad, last week. It was a piece of cake, I’m telling you, Lucy. Wanna know the questions?” Rosy smiled wittily.

Lucy snorted, “No, thanks. I’m good,” She then drowned herself on her notebook, trying to memorize the subject matters. She secretly disliked that trait of Rosy who liked to offer exam questions to her. Lucy knew that Rosy wouldn’t tell her the real question though; she just teased her. If she did tell the real questions, Lucy wouldn’t take it. Simplicity from a rival was never warmly received by Lucy.

That was right. Rival. Lucy considered her twin as a rival in achievements academically. They went to the same school from kindergarten, which was Mason Bread Schools. This school ranged from kindergarten to senior high, making rivalry between Lucy and Rosy never ended. Despite the fact that they were twins, they were quite different in terms of attitude and achievement. Rosy was like a princess, graceful, and quite polite. She was also accepted in grade A class, which explained why she already had her exam before Lucy had. She always aced every competition in their schools, whether it was Mathematic Olympic or Science Fair since they were in primary school. Her reputation as the smartest student since kindergarten was inevitable. Rosy’s positive aura always made everyone liked her, even the fierce school janitor, Ruby, really liked her. Name other positive traits, and most of them would suit with Rosy. In a shorter way, Rosy was almost perfect.

The only weakness of Rosy would be that she was weaker than Lucy. Her weak immune system often made her visit the hospital. She had to take medicine routinely to keep her health. Dad and Mom, of course, paid more attention to Rosy mainly when her schedule was so packed with competitions and exams. It was the time when Rosy would likely to get ill. Lucy didn’t have any problem with the division of attention from their parents to Rosy and her. Only that sometimes she felt a little bit lonely if the three of them left to the hospital and she was home alone.

Lucy, on the other hand, was mostly on the second place. Either it was coincidence or not, Lucy was accepted in the regular class. That explained why her exams later than Rosy's, since the pace in A class was very fast. Previously Rosy and she enrolled for the same class: A class. It turned out that only Rosy who was accepted. To make it up, Lucy also joined the same competitions as Rosy did, but she always lost from Rosy. They always competed for their achievements, but mostly the result could be predicted: Rosy the winner and Lucy the runner-up. One plus point from Lucy was that she was more creative and artsy than Lucy, proven by many drawings she hung on their room’s wall. Other than that, Lucy always got a higher score for P.E than Rosy.

Different from her twin, Lucy had a slightly less positive aura than Rosy. Since they were kids, Lucy always acted fiercely, moreover when there are some idiots who were quite brave to annoy Rosy. She wouldn’t hesitate to beat those bullies until they collapsed. The rumour spread around the school made gangs of bullies scared to get closer to them, but still, there were some who got the nerve to face Lucy. Her sharp yet cold gaze made Lucy’s aura became more menacing. They labelled Lucy as Princess’ Bodyguard. Of course, the princess was Rosy. Lucy never burdened with that role, though. Instead, she was proud to be admitted as a strong person. Her slim but firm-built also proved that nobody didn’t want to mess with her.

Rosy was a princess in the spotlight, where everyone was cheering on her and took many pictures of her. She laughed happily with the crowds. Whereas Lucy was behind those crowds, far away from being the centre of attention. She was always enveloped by darkness. Nobody stood beside her. She was alone and lonely.

This kind of illustration in her mind made her thinking bad. Am I not good enough to be loved?

Now that Lucy entered a higher level of education, she wanted to change Rosy’s dominance. She used to be cheering on Rosy’s victory whenever she won something, and she was quite lazy to join competitions. But now, she decided to change. She wouldn’t give up. Enough with being the second as always. It was her turn to be number one.

She thought for a while. At the same time, there was a traffic jam. Many cars honked impatiently to others, asking them to move faster. Dad sighed on the front seat and Rosy just stared out of the window’s car. Lucy stared at the tree on the right side of the car. There were so many branches, making as if the tree wasn’t focused on one point. Like an abstract painting. At that very moment, she realized it.

She was just focused on academic matters when actually those weren’t her expertise. She worked very hard for Science Fair, mathematic Olympic, and biology class while actually she was better in Art class and P.E. Not that the hard work was in vain, it was just that she focused on Rosy’s abilities and forgot her own potential skills. Just like the tree she looked at, the branches were everywhere and they didn’t focus on one direction. Her laziness for not joining any art competitions or sports competitions resulted in fruit of guilt for her.

She sighed. I have wasted so many years and not proving my worth to Dad and Mom.

After thinking for a while, Lucy finally decided. It will be quite hard to beat her academically. Maybe I’ll go with non-academically like painting or race. I can only do those kinds of things. I’ll just wait for any competitions, whether it is art or sports, it doesn’t really matter to me. I’ll just wait for my chance.

Finally, they arrived at school. The twin walked to the main building. As they walked in, the hall was quite empty. It was 8.30 sharp, time for the first period to begin. They parted in the hall.

“Break a leg, Lucy” Rosy smiled sweetly.

“Yeah, you too,”

Rosy went to the second floor to her A-class while Lucy went to the south of the hall, to her regular class. When Lucy entered her class, all the kids were already there. She looked at the surrounding and found no teacher in front of the class. She instantly remembered that Mr. Hawkins was always late in his first period.

She walked slowly to her seat and continued to read her History notebook. The noisy sound of the class as the soundtrack didn't distract her. She had just tried to catch what happened in 1492 in North America when she heard a voice.

"Morning, Lucy. You got a minute?"

Lucy lifted her head, and she found a pair of greyish eyes stared deeply into her chestnut brown. A pair of greyish eyes that she adored for so long, was in front of her. She was so still as if the black hole in those greyish balls absorbed her consciousness. Lucy's expression remained blank until three seconds later. Quickly she got back to normal.

"Morning, Oliver. What?"

"Uhm, I was wondering if you could teach me about subjects for today's examination,"

"...yeah, sure. You have just got here?”

“Yeah, I overslept again hahaha,” He stroked his blonde hair. He then fixed his posture on his turned-to-behind chair, ready to be taught.

Lucy rolled her eyes and smiled. She started to read the explanation in her notebook as normal as she could. It was Oliver Craig, her crush since she was in grade 5. They went to the same kindergarten and primary school and ended up being in the same class. Although she had known him since they were toddlers, she couldn’t stop her skipping-beat heart whenever he got too close to her. She tried her best not to sound trembling while Oliver scrutinized at her.

“Aah, I see it now. You know, I prefer to be taught by you rather than understanding Mr. Hawkins’ presentation. Yours is understandable while his is so confusing,” Oliver nodded his head after Lucy read and explained to him her note. In response, Lucy just smiled.

“Anyway, Lucy. Have you heard about the painting competition?”

“What painting competition?”

“Painting competition held by this school. Every year this school conducts art competitions, like dancing, band, sculpting, and painting. I know that you are great at painting, that’s why I recommend you to join it!” Oliver's eyes shone brightly. Lucy assumed that he wanted to join that competition as well.

“And you? You’re great at painting too, Oliver,”

“Definitely! I’ve been waiting for this since I was in junior high. Man, I’m aiming at the prize!” He shouted excitingly and punched the air.

Oliver’s spirit was contagious to Lucy. Lucy started to smile again, “What’s the prize? If it’s cool then I’m in,”

“One day trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Arts! There will be free tickets for both museums and planes and if I’m not mistaken, free dinner too! Isn’t it awesome?”

Lucy’s eyes widened. Philadelphia Museum of Arts was one of her dream places that she wanted to visit. Lucy once asked Dad to go there, but he couldn’t make it as it was quite far and he didn’t have time. And did Oliver mention about dinner too? Man, that’s great.

Mr Hawkins eventually came to the class. Oliver fixed his chair position to face the front. All kids in the class suddenly were quite. Lucy checked her watch. Mr Hawkins was late for fifteen minutes. He seemed like recovering from a bad hangover, with his eye bags which were getting darker and his exhausted face.

“Good morning, all. I’m sorry for being late. There’s some business I should take care of… And now, you guys will have an exam. Don’t worry, there will be only three out of five questions. I discount it as my apology. Now, frontier, please give these sheets to friends behind you,” Mr Hawkins said that while yawning like a cat in his table.

This is the chance that I’m waiting for, she thought to herself.

And so, when the exam was over and everyone was moving to the next class, Oliver dragged Lucy to information boards. Their eyes scanned every poster with ‘painting competition’ terms on it. Oliver’s pointed finger touched the posters on his right.

“Here it is, Mason Bread Painting Competition 2020. Let’s see… the prize… Museum and dinner, oh, it’s only for the first and second places! The third place… 24 colours of watercolour set plus sketchbook,” Oliver frowned. “Last year’s participants…. Oh my God, 157 participants? Sure this is tough,”

He crossed his arm. “What do you think, Lucy? It’s quite hard, I guess. But the prizes are worth the challenge,”

Lucy seemed determined. “I guess we have the chance, Oliver. I really want to visit the Philadelphia Museum. It has always been my dream place to visit,” She turned to Oliver. “I want to enrol to Mrs Lawrence on the second moving later. How about you?”

“I don’t know that you could be this excited,” Oliver laughed a little. “Alright, it is settled then. You and I, enrol to Mrs Lawrence on the second moving class,” He nodded, then smiled widely. “Maybe we really can visit the museum! Be prepared, Lucy!”

“Of course,” Lucy smiled. She had many hopes in her heart.

That day, she couldn’t focus on lessons after enrolling herself and Oliver to Mrs Lawrence, the Art teacher. Both of them had been Mrs Lawrence’s pets since the first meeting, and that old lady really supported them to win the competition.

“Alright, good luck you two,” said Mrs Lawrence after typing their names on the participant list.

Yeah, good luck for us, Lucy thought to herself and she unconsciously smiled. She could imagine vividly the announcement day that she won first place and Oliver got second place. They visited the museum, and strangely there were only two of them. They strolled over the museum and adored those masterpieces, with Oliver grabbing her hands. And Lucy didn’t know where the manga-ish pink and glittery atmosphere did come from, as if they were on her favourite shoujo manga. Lucy’s vast imagination suddenly brought her to a fancy candlelight dinner near the shore, with Oliver looked at her adoringly.

Lucy closed her eyes. What a view. It was so nice until she forgot that she was already in the car with Dad and Rosy. They were heading home.

Rosy, who caught her smiling, whispered, “Is there any good news?” Lucy opened her eyes and she stopped smiling. Blush on her cheeks faded instantly, and she made her face looked tough as usual.

“Nah, I just feel like I succeeded in beating Hawkins’ questions,”

“Yeah, I know you can do it,” she said so while leaning her back.

In her mind, Lucy began to plan the concept of her painting as well as the medium she wanted to use. Once they home, she went straight to their room and began to doodle on blank papers. She spent one hour to think about her painting design, and she tried to paint it with her watercolour. She was quite satisfied with the result, although it was only a rehearsal. She stared at her drawing of a golden-feathered eagle carrying an olive branch and many flying doves, carrying the same plants, surrounded it. It was relevant to the theme of the competition: “The role of Mason Bread in keeping the peace of the world”. Her school had been known to the world in educating many peacekeepers, like armies, doctors, and medical supports, as well as other great people who had a major role in peacekeeping. The golden eagle acted as the leader of the pigeons, and it was the same as Mason Bread which became the frontier of high-quality educational institutions.

Lucy smiled. This rehearsal and its philosophy might be enough for the competitions. Enough to win the first prize and win Oliver’s heart. Lucy blushed shyly while thinking like that. She couldn’t wait for the D-Day of competition.

-----000-----

Finally, the D-Day came. Lucy had packed her stuff in her backpack and was ready to leave. She looked at her twin who slept on her bed peacefully. She then closed the door and walked quietly to school. Dad couldn’t take her since he went out of the town to do research. Mom was busy taking care of her restaurant since there was a celebrity reviewing her workplace. The only choice for Lucy was to walk to school.

When she arrived, there are so many people there. The banner entitled “Mason Bread Creative Week” was hung on the gate. So many people carrying their art equipment: wooden log, canvas stand, and so on. She searched for the painting room amongst the crowd, and she found Oliver standing next to it. She hurried up to catch him.

“Oliver!”

The boy turned his head. “Oh! Finally, you’re here. I’ve been waiting for you. Now let’s go, they will open the competition,”

Lucy smiled. Knowing that Oliver was waiting for her warmed her heart.

The two then entered the room and sat in their seat according to their number. There was a blank, A3 sized white paper on every table. Lucy put her backpack next to the table and started to imagine her rehearsal drawing vividly in mind. The committee waited for all first group participants to enter the room. Since there were 168 participants, the competition would be held twice, in the morning and afternoon. Lucy and Oliver were registered as the morning participants.

When all morning participants were already in the room, the committee, Mrs. Lawrence started to speak with a microphone.

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen, since all the participants have assembled here, we are about to open the competition. Remember, you guys have 2 hours to finish it. Don’t forget the detailed requirements about the painting, like the theme, philosophy, and the medium. Well, I wish nothing but break a leg to you all. Now… begin!”

Together with the echo of Mrs. Lawrence’s voice, Lucy focused on her drawing. Her eyes were firing with determination. She smirked.

You will see me, sister.

-----000-----

Three days passed and the announcement day came. Lucy couldn’t focus on every teacher’s speech. She couldn’t wait for the announcement after school. She prepared her heart for two possibilities. If she won, she would hug Oliver and kiss his cheek. She laughed a little while imagining it. But if she lost… Lucy changed her face to normal. She stopped smiling.

If I have to lose, that’s fine with me. As long as I don’t lose to her.

But her bad prediction was, unfortunately, right.

There, in the information boards, many people were gathering. There were so many people until Lucy had to push herself a little so that she could see what was happening. Oliver was in the crowd as well, but Lucy didn’t pay attention to him and focused more on the board. On the very recent posters glued by Mrs. Lawrence, there are three names of the champions. Lucy scrutinized every name.

In the third place, there was her name: Lucy-Ann Thompson.

In the second place, there was her crush’s name: Oliver Craig.

And in the first place–Lucy couldn’t believe her eyes–was her twin’s name: Rosy-Anne Thompson.

What?

“Huh, isn’t it Rosy? Congrats, Rosy, you won again!”

“You fool, that’s not Rosy,”

“Huh, you mean, it’s Lu–I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to–,”

“So, Rosy won again, huh? She is indeed splendid,”

“Yeah, and look at the third place, it’s her twin!”

“Wow, I didn’t expect that the bodyguard will finally got the place. I mean, she’s not that ski–,”

“Ssshh! She can hear you!”

And many more comments about Rosy’s victory and her position in the third place.

Lucy couldn’t stand there any longer. She turned around and ran. Oliver who saw her running calling her. But Lucy wouldn’t stop her legs from meeting with Mrs. Lawrence. She needed to know how Rosy could win the painting competition. She rushed to Mrs. Lawrence’s office and she found no one. Instead, she found a list of painting competition participants. She read it carefully. Her name was on number 11, and she found her twin’s name on the second paper. Her twin’s number was 156. So basically Lucy was the morning participant, while Rosy was the afternoon participant.

Lucy stared at the list, still not believing that her twin really joined the competition. She never showed any ability related to art, moreover to painting. Lucy was so curious, was Rosy’s painting indeed that great until she won the competition? But only thinking about that, Lucy became so dizzy. There were too many feelings and thoughts in herself.

Well, I guess I’m not hugging and kissing him.

Lucy went straight home, without waiting for Dad to pick her up. She walked fast through little alleys and spoke nothing to anyone. She didn’t want to meet anyone, especially Rosy. She just wanted to be alone. Once she reached home, she directly went up to the attic. The attic had been her private place when she was sad and angry. The absence of parents for taking care of Rosy made her rely on herself, including when she was down.

Lucy hugged her legs and cried in silence. Her tears wetted her knees. She still couldn’t believe that she lost to Rosy again. The worse was, she was not in second place, but in third place. Lucy wiped her tears. She thought she could beat her this time. She thought she had exerted all her abilities in art to defeat Rosy. The fact that she couldn’t go together with Oliver on the museum trip made her sad even more. It was Rosy who would go together with Oliver on that trip, not her. But still, she couldn’t believe this kind of outcome.

Why? In all possibilities, why it should be her, God? Is there any chance for me? Just a chance…

Lucy stayed still for a while. The idea of switching places was impossible. They never did it since Rosy was a sportive kid and she hated any kind of cheating act. She was rigid with rules. For her, rules existed to be obeyed. She would get what she earned, and the one who would enjoy the result was herself, not the others. So, Lucy started to believe that indeed it was her twin and her crush, who would go to the museum. There was a huge denial in her heart, but she knew that it wouldn’t help the situation became better. So she took her phone out and activated it. She inactivated it to avoid bomb chats from her parents. Soon a dozen messages popped out, and she just ignored it. She typed a message to Mom without replying to her worried messages, saying that she was sorry for not attending celebration dinner and she would come home late.

Lucy headed to a café in the area she didn’t know. It was still around neighbourhood, only that she never explored the area before. A cup of chamomile tea lied on the table and she just stared blankly at the live music. The band was good; the singer could hit the note perfectly. She was about to order another cup when she heard a voice.

“What is the bodyguard doing here without her princess?”

Lucy turned her head to the voice source. Becca, her classmate, sat not too far from her table. Her blue eyes stared Lucy haughtily. She formed a humiliating smile. “Is she fired from her job?”

“Shut up,” Lucy responded shortly and cold. She didn’t want to talk about Rosy or anything related to her. Her purpose to go there was to forget her sadness and her failure. Remembering Rosy just risen up her wound.

Becca still smiled. “May I sit there?”

“Whatever, just don’t annoy me,”

She dragged a chair in front of Lucy. “I know what you are thinking right now,” Lucy stared at her sharply. “It hurts, I understand. Knowing your crush will be going with his girlfriend–oh yeah, you can call her girlfriend–is just… pain,”

Lucy squinted. “What do you mean?” Other than that, how could she know that Oliver was her crush? And did she mention “his girlfriend”? It means… Rosy was Oliver’s girlfriend?

Becca laughed. “Come on, I know that you like him. Oliver Craig, right? I can read your expression, though. Under that thick face, I know you blushed like a soft girl,” She continued, “Unfortunately you always lose from her, even in the love life,”

Lucy gave a glare to Becca. Before Lucy hit her, Becca took out her phone and put it on the table. “Check these out,” Lucy grabbed it and she went speechless. There was a photo, and in it, she saw Oliver grabbing a girl’s hand. They smiled at each other. Swiped left, she saw Oliver kissed the girl and in the other pic, Oliver hugged her. Lucy felt like looking into a mirror when she saw the girl’s face. Who else had a similar face like her if it’s not Rosy.

“Are you kidding me?” Lucy’s voice trembled. She couldn’t believe what she saw. “How could you–“

“I took these photos yesterday. They visited a park near my house. And these are real, I’m not faking it,”

Tears were falling down from Lucy’s eyes again. How could this happen, and I know nothing about this? For how long?

“How?” Becca smiled, but there was something in her smile. Something Lucy didn’t know.

Lucy was silent for a moment. A second later she rose up.

“Enough. What do you want from me? If you just want to mock me like that, you better get going now or I won’t restrain myself,” Lucy cracked her knuckles, staring at Becca fiercely. The addressee stared back at her without fear.

“I’m not mocking you. Instead, I want to offer you cooperation,”

Lucy’s eyebrow rose. “Cooperation?”

Becca smiled cunningly. “Yes, cooperation,”

-----000-----

Lucy stared at her twin who laid unconsciously on a white bed. She stood up next to the bed and observed her twin’s situation. A breathing apparatus was attached to her face and body. Rosy slept like a princess. Her sleeping face seemed sluggish, but still, her innocent aura came out as if she was still so alive.

Lucy looked at her surroundings. A nurse who periodically checked Rosy’s condition had done her job and she smiled at Lucy and her parents. She passed Mom and Dad who blankly stared at Rosy. Mom’s eyes couldn’t get more swollen; she cried for about four hours until tears didn’t come out of her eyes. Dad leaned his back to the sofa and seemed so tired. At a glance, Lucy got the impression that her parents were getting older. Lucy sighed.

The atmosphere of this room was gloomier than Mr. Hawkins's eye bags.

A vibration in her pocket shocked Lucy. She took her phone and there was a name on the screen, calling her. She looked at her parents and got out of the room. The phone kept vibrating until she reached the hospital’s balcony and picked it up.

“Hello,”

“How’s her condition?”

“You knew it. I don’t need to explain it,”

“Hahaha, it’s good then. Are you happy, Lucy? Everything went according to the plan,”

“Well, I…” and with that, Lucy’s mind flew to a few days earlier.

-----000-----

Lucy stared Becca in doubt. “Tell me what you mean,”

“Simple,” Becca said. “Let’s work together to put her to death,”

Lucy gasped. “Isn’t it too harsh?” Killing someone was never in her option when it came to hate someone.

“No,” Becca leaned her back and stared Lucy deeply. “It’s worth what she did to us,” A few seconds later Lucy caught a sorrow in her eyes.

“Lucas was my boyfriend,” Becca said before Lucy asked. “He really loved me until he met Rosy. Since their meeting, he gradually left me,”

There was silence. The music from the band filled up the gap, but the love song meant nothing to two broken-hearted girls.

“Until one day, Rosy left him. He still chased Rosy to reconcile, but Rosy didn’t want him anymore. He was so stressed and I was there for him. I tried to ensure him that she had lost her feelings to him, but he didn’t listen to me.

Next thing I knew, he died. Committing suicide. Lucas’ mom blamed me for his death. I tried to explain it to her, but she didn’t want to listen to me. She never knew that I wasn’t the cause. She never knew that her son betrayed me and I tried to keep him alive. Rosy didn’t come to his burial and she never apologizes to me or to Lucas's mom, until now,”

Becca took out a cigarette and lighted it up. The smoke flew passed Lucy’s shocked face. She finally knew that the boy named Lucas was Becca’s boyfriend. Indeed Rosy once told her that there was a crazy boy called Lucas chasing her. She recalled the shy smiles and blushing in Rosy’s face. She never knew that boy committed suicide since Rosy never told her. Lucy looked at Becca who was smoking casually. She thought for a while.

Rosy had taken her happiness. She took Mom and Dad, her friends, and her crush. She made her as if she was the unwanted child in her own house. She made her feel bad about being herself. But those pain that she felt were nothing compared to Becca’s. She never knew that Rosy, behind her good reputation, could be very cruel. She stole another woman’s man, caused him to death–indirectly–and she didn’t even apologize. She made Becca’s image very bad. Rosy… Rosy deserved to be punished.

“Alright,” Lucy eventually said. “How do we do it?”

Becca smiled. She took something out of her pocket after she turned off her cig. She clenched her fist. “I knew that you went here alone, and I decided to follow you, carrying this around.” Secretly she put it on the table with her handkerchief as the cover. It was a little glass bottle with little chunks of meat in it. Lucy kept her posture erected. She had the feeling that the contents were forbidden and she didn’t want to make others suspicious if she looked at it closely.

“There are some tiny pieces of puffer fish’s heart in this bottle. They are very toxic, the second most powerful toxin in the world. I got it from my father’s lab. I took the one which got the least number of heart pieces of all bottles, so they didn’t notice it. Yeah, I guess,” Becca explained, seemed didn’t care.

Lucy looked at the bottle in amaze and fear. “Just put a few of these bad boys on her food, and they will put her to comma before she dies,” Becca looked at her. “Can you, Lucy?”

Lucy widened her eyes and shifted her view to the bottle. This little thing was a killer. Would she have the heart to kill her twin with this?

“Think about the pain she made for you. How she took all of the things you’ve always wanted,” Becca said while staring deeply at Lucy. “And imagine being blamed for someone’s death and being hated for it,”

Lucy thought for a while. Basically those were Becca’s problem, but she couldn’t stand what Rosy did to Becca. It was just too cruel of her.

“Follow the instruction I wrote in this paper, and you’ll be safe,”

Becca then rose from the table, and without waiting for Lucy’s agreement, she disappeared after she got out of the entrance door. Lucy stayed still in her chair. She read the little paper which was tied up with the bottle. Her eyes moved along Becca’s handwriting. She closed her eyes and opened them. Slowly she stood up and walked out of the café.

“Time to go home,” she said to herself. She had one job. Slowly she patted her pocket, where she kept the bottle.

After arrived at home, she did precisely what Becca had written. Before that, she made sure that everyone was already sleeping. She cut the heart into smaller cuts and inserted them into Rosy’s favourite wheat bread. The thickness of the bread really helped Lucy to hide the chunks. She put them inside the very upmost stack of bread; Mom had a habit to give Rosy the first and second stack of bread. Lucy could guarantee if that habit didn’t change since she had been seeing that as long as she lived in this house. Carefully she finished her job and cleaned the tools she used as clean as she could. She washed the bottle and covered it with a cloth. She would destroy it later and she had burned down the instruction paper. Quickly but quietly, Lucy went to sleep. She was both thrilled and afraid to see what would happen the next day. Obviously, she was happy to imagine Rosy and Oliver’s trip to the museum was cancelled.

She couldn't believe that she was enjoying every scene of Rosy’s poisoning the next morning.

-----000-----

“Hm? What is it, Lucy? Come on, just admitted that you’re happy,” a voice on the other side sounded to hold her laughter.

Lucy didn’t reply. She just smiled. “Four hours later. Am I right?”

“Yeah. Let’s say our last goodbye to her,” Lucy could hear a maniac laugh following that utterance.

Lucy hung up the phone and put it in her pocket. A view on the 7th floor of this hospital was amazing. She could see her house as well as the old white oak tree and their childhood cupboard in the backyard from this altitude. She stared at the cupboard and the bench.

Two little girls in blue and pink gowns were playing tea party and laughed happily. Lucy smiled hollowly.

“Of course my sister, we will be happy together as always…” said the girl in blue gown.

“Right, Rosy?” Lucy climbed the thick glass fence in that balcony. She smiled with her tears falling down. “You were happy, and I am happy,”

A second later a girl’s body landed on the boulevard with a loud crash. Blood flowed out of Lucy’s body.

#stories sadstory love childhood collegestuff task shortstory

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