The Kiss that Sparked it All

Why the difference in their looks is like night and day?

Mara didn’t need to hear the words. She could read the question in Victoria’s friends’ eyes. Oh, how she’d love to know why life seemed so unfair. Why had the gods showered her sister with beauty and brains, leaving Mara feeling like she got the short end of the stick?

Home wasn’t home anymore, not when her dad wouldn’t shut up about how amazing Victoria was and how good she had been treating Mara.

But the thing was, Mara didn’t want Victoria’s kindness.

Why should she accept hand-me-downs from Victoria who had everything, only to act all high and mighty about it?

To Mara, Victoria’s help was nothing but a show-off move.

How could it be anything else when Victoria could whip through her own homework and still have time to lay out Mara’s study schedule and gather the best resources? That’s not help but a brag in disguise.

ww

Just like when they were kids, dressed in identical princess dresses for a party, adults would always flock to Victoria. They’d rave about how she was such a stunning little beauty and bound to be a knockout when she grew up.

And when their eyes landed on Mara? They’d muster a half-hearted, “Well, isn’t she a cute little thing?”

If she could only walk in Victoria’s shoes for a day…

That thought haunted Mara more times than she cared to admit.

Sisters by blood, yet worlds apart in the game of life. Why did she have to be the ugly duckling who couldn’t morph into a swan?

Mara stood under the giant oak tree, the thought of home souring her mood, but she ha nowhere else to go.

The city was vast, yet not a single corner felt like a sanctuary. Returning home meant facing her father’s endless gripes and the ever-present comparisons to Victoria. NôvelDrama.Org holds © this.

She’d had enough. The tears she held back in their presence now crashed over her like a tsunami in her solitude.

Tears blurred her vision, and she didn’t expect the sudden offer of a handkerchief.

Startled, she looked up to see a tall figure, immaculately dressed in a school uniform that screamed privilege.

08:18

It’s late. v

Mara was puzzled. The person in front of her seemed to know her. She took the handkerchief with a bashful, “Thank you, I-”

“What’s wrong? Crying so hard your eyes are swelling?”

Mara scoffed, “What does it matter if they’re swollen? Nobody cares about me anyway.”

“Who cares if they don’t? The most important person to care about you is yourself.

She stared blankly, “Are you unhappy too?”

His expression was indifferent, “No. Just remember, no one is more important than yourself. You have to love yourself first before you can expect anyone else to.”

Mara nodded, still in a daze. As he turned to face her, she felt a glimmer of something. He seemed to radiate a light, like a knight with a sword stepping into her life.

“Nobody’s ever said anything like that to me. I guess I’ve been too caught up in feeling sorry for myself.”

Hearing this, he smirked dismissively, “As long as you know what you want, why should you care about what others think?”

“But my whole life has been a comparison to others. I’m always the ‘not quite as good as’ Can I really ignore what others think?”

He looked at her, his gaze piercing yet oddly reassuring, “If you live by their views, you’ll never live your own life. Just write your own story.”