I’m the person my parents always warned me about. I was the one who got in my way. I was the one who stopped me from becoming an artist.
***
Explanation: three days earlier.
“Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom! It’s today!” I yelled, running down the stairs two at a time.
“I know that, Stace. Calm down.”
I felt irritated. My mom never gets over excited like I do. I always like to scream my feelings, mixed with obvious expression. But there was someone else to help me heckle my mother.
“Mom! The drawing competition…..oh hi Stace.” Libra frowned. Libra was my identical twin sister. She is always the sarcastic, smart one. I was always the quieter, happy one. But both of us share a burning passion for art.
“I told her it was today,” I informed her. But Libra just rolled her deep blue eyes.
“Wish us luck, Mom!”
But mom ignored us. She simply walked into the kitchen, and started preparing our breakfast.
“Do you know the prize? The reward?”
“Duh.” Libra muttered.
“You get five copies of your work internationally sold! I mean, you can be an official artist!” I yelled in Libra’s ‘I already know’ face.
“Official artists mean me, moron,” She muttered. I huffed. I could draw as well as her, maybe better sometimes.
“We’ll see,” I called at her retreating figure.
***
“Hi Denise,” I called. Denise was my best friend. She liked drawing too. But I hung around her because she didn’t have a pinch of sarcasm. “Aren’t you excited?”
“Very, very, excited,” she told me, her eyes shining. I smiled. It felt nice that Libra wasn’t here to ‘duh’ me.
We clasped hands on the walk to the hall. ‘The Hall’ is what we call a very wide area, in the middle of the city. All events take place here. When we reached, my eyes almost popped out at the number of people there. I caught sight of Libra walking with Garnet, her best friend. She did seem very cool. Number of people did never concern her.
A woman, the host, probably, was telling everybody to settle down. She motioned to seats at the very back for me and Denise. As we sat down, I noticed Libra sitting in the front. She turned around and smirked at me. She was really getting on my nerves.
Another man was distributing Large sheets of paper. I opened my bag and pulled out the art materials, and arranged it all neatly on my lap. I pulled out a big pad to rest the paper on. By the time, the man reached me. He handed me one paper and another for Denise.
“Good luck, missies,” He whispered, winking. I smiled, though I hated to be called girly or missy. I set my paper on the pad, and started drawing instantly.
“She didn’t give the instructions,” Denise said, nudging me. But I knew the instructions. Write the title, write your number and start drawing. And…oh yea, your name. I decided that I’d fill in the details later.
I started drawing. We weren’t actually given a topic. I drew a man on a bike, and a beautiful girl sitting behind him, clasping his waist tight. I did not let the man’s face show, I hid it with a helmet. But I filled in the features of the girl, slanted eyes, blonde hair flowing in the wind, and pale pink lips curved into a content smile.
I drew it fast, and started adding the city background, silhouetted, and shading the edges.
“How pretty. You are so good at this,” Denise murmured appreciatively.
“Thank you,” I whispered back. I looked at her sketch. She drew very average mountains and a setting sun. “Your drawing is really good, too,” I lied.
“Rubbish.”
I shook my head and continued to draw. After about ten minutes, I handed in my drawing. The lady observed it, but her face was expressionless.
I walked away, right on time to bump into Libra. I glanced at her drawing. She drew a fashion show, in which some women were gothic, some were emo, and some were very girly. I really liked her original idea. “Great,” I told her. She smiled.
***
One day later, I realized I did not write my name or anything.
***
It was the day for the announcement of the winners. All of us gathered in the hall. Denise had flu and stayed at home, but she declared that she couldn’t have possibly won anyway.
I was sitting with Libra and Garnet. The woman unrolled her list.
She was reading it, but she told us there was a mistake. She started questioning her companion.
I realized I really need to do something private. I leaned over and told Libra where I was going. Libra snorted and leaned over to tell Garnet. I frowned.
On the way back, I tripped on a stone and fell on my feet. As I got up I could hear the woman saying, “You…..yes, you, come here. Is this your drawing?” There was a pause and, “Then you won, dearie.” My heart sank. There was reluctant applause, obviously upset that they were not the winners. “You take this and show your mom, and select five drawings to us.” I had reached the hall now, and I looked towards the lady and saw that the winner was…….Libra? My heart sank even further. I was thoroughly upset that I didn’t win, and the fact that my twin sister won made it worse. I joined in the applause. Libra smiled and held up her drawing. My drawing.
“What?” I yelled. People glared at me. I shut up, but fumed inwardly, hating Libra. “What happened,” I asked a girl wearing a purple slip dress. I read the entry ticket pinned on her chest and realized her name was Tara.
“The woman held up that drawing and said that it was the clear winner but it did not have a name or admission number. She called the woman who collected the drawings to see whether she could remember who submitted that drawing and he pointed at that brat.”
“Oh,” I replied, my fumes dying, and disappointment flooding me. I started up and walked to the stage like area.
“That’s my drawing,” I stated, but my voice was not convincing.
Libra spun on me. “Liar.” She snarled, but her face was pleading.
“What?” the lady demanded, looking at me, too.
“Nothing, sorry I wanted to win.”
The lady fluttered her hand in a bored manner. I walked back towards my seat, but changed my mind and walked to the exit. Libra can win. I don’t care.
***
Libra won. She sent five of her drawings to the company, and mom and Libra went for the exclusive interview. My parents, nobody in fact, ever knew about this. I’m the person my parents always warned me about. They were right in warning me. I hate myself, my sympathy, and I never regained my friendship and twin ship with Libra ever again.
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