In Her Shadow

My twin sister, wanting to be with her thug boyfriend, secretly planned to apply for a junior college.

When I could not talk her out of it, I told our parents and managed to stop her.

However, just a month into the new semester, her thug boyfriend cheated on her.

She left a suicide note, blaming it all on the long distance between them. She wrote that if she had gone to that junior college, her boyfriend would never have cheated.

Grief‑stricken, my parents turned all their rage on me.

"You wretched girl, this is all your fault for meddling! What business was it of yours which school your sister went to? Even if she didn't go to college, we could still support her. We didn't need your big mouth!"

"If it weren't for your spiteful tongue, your sister wouldn't be dead!"

"We were cursed to have a vicious, unfilial daughter like you!"

They locked me in her room, ordering me to repent.

Then they took her ashes on a trip, saying they wanted her to see the beautiful mountains and rivers she never got to visit in life.

A month later, they returned from their travels to find me long dead, starved to a withered husk in front of my sister's photo.

Their eyes held no grief, no guilt, only a faint, scornful curl of the lips.

In their eyes, my death was nothing more than justice served.

My broken soul saw their icy expressions, and despairing tears burned my eyes.

Then my sister's familiar voice rang out again:

"What business is it of yours which school I go to? You're just jealous that I have a boyfriend, aren't you?"

My eyes were glued to the computer screen while my sister was busy picking out her college choices.

I was back! Reborn!

Remembering how distant our parents had been in my previous life, I vowed to look out for number one in this life.

I was determined to break away from the crazy, loveless family I was born into.

I gave Jennifer Scott a chilly glance.

"Make up your mind. I'm not going to waste my energy on you."

Jennifer, all smiles, was heading off to a junior college in some small city with her boyfriend.

Meanwhile, I secured a spot at the prestigious Viventis University, ranked among the top ten in the country.

I thought I would finally have a smooth sail through life this time.

However, a month into the semester, Jennifer's no-good boyfriend cheated on her.

She ditched her classes and came home in tears.

Our parents, who were mad about her picking that college, melted when they saw her looking so pitiful.

"Dad, Mom, I wish I'd chosen a university!

"What am I going to do? I can't stand the thought of being stuck at that junior college forever, and with Nelson's cheating all over town, I'm a laughingstock."

Our mom and dad were dabbing at their eyes, too. "Well, then, let's forget that junior college. Why don't you come home and take a gap year to retake the SAT?"

Jennifer shook her head like crazy.

"The thought of studying for the SAT again is just too much. There's no way I'm doing that again.

"What am I going to do? I want to go to a good university too," she wailed.

Our parents exchanged a look and called me home that very night.

"Ella, you'll switch places with Jen. You'll start at her school tomorrow. From now on, you're Jennifer!"

I could not believe my ears. "Dad, Mom, do you hear yourselves?

"Forget the fact that our fingerprints were already on file at school, making it impossible for her to pretend to be me. Even if she could, why on earth would I hand over my spot to her?"

Jennifer's eyes, swimming with tears, met mine.

"Isn't it partly your fault I'm stuck at that junior college?

"You saw how reckless I was behaving, yet you did nothing to stop me, didn't even clue in Mom and Dad!

"You wanted this, didn't you? You wanted to see me fail, to struggle!"

Our parents' faces registered shock. "We've always thought of Jen as a level-headed person. How could she have messed up like this? It was your meddling all along!

"How could you be so cruel? Sabotaging your own sister?"

What a joke.

In my previous life, I stopped her and was blamed by everyone.

This time, I let her be, and still, I was the one they blamed.

Was I supposed to stand there and take the fall for everything?