Intro

I spent my whole life living in my older sister's shadows. I felt more like I was living in the darkness rather than in any shadow; if I were living in her shadow, it would mean I was still coexisting beside her.

She was 11 months older than me but because our parents wanted us to be by each other's sides and always together so we'd have someone to rely on, I skipped the first grade and was in the same grade as her.

Unfortunately, things didn't turn out the way our parents wanted. They thought we would forever be close and alike since the age gap wasn't too big, but they're wrong.

Avery was anything but like me. We were polar opposites, are not close at all, and rarely get along. It's a miracle if we ever have a decent conversation.

Avery was loud, quirky, and preppy. She had many, many friends. She paid a lot of attention to her hair, nails, and outfits. She loved boys, having one on her arm at all times and loved receiving attention from people who's names she didn't bother to learn. She was your stereotypical popular girl; high on the social ladder, always out partying, an army of her little minions following her like a flock of birds.

Avery's dense and naive. She has a heart of coal and a mind that thinks of nobody but herself.

I'm anything but like Avery. We didn't even look like sisters. She had perfect, swaying blonde hair and light blue eyes that she got from our mother whereas I got my father's features. Brown hair, blue eyes that were deeper and darker than hers.

I stuck to my small friend circle, not interested in being the talk of the school. In fact, I really hated attention. When Avery's getting manicures or shopping, I on the other hand will be running track. I didn't care abut my appearance or outfits; most days I'll leave my hair the way it is when I come out of the shower or throw it into a pony tail and I stick with my athletic wear - tights and sweatshirts or scuba hoodies. I wasn't someone who would stand out in a crowd like her and I liked that much better.

Avery's always out to impress which is why our mother pays so much more attention to her rather than me. She's more interested in Avery's illegitimate goals and projects rather than hearing about anything important I'd like to share. Avery is her golden-child which leaves little to no room for me to be very relevant. Luckily for me, our dad isn't like that.

At school, Avery's the popular, rare butterfly that everyone loves whereas I'm a nobody who never gets noticed. It's not much of an issue since I've grown used to this seeing as I've lived with it since the day I was born. However, it did hurt sometimes.