The next morning, sunlight streamed through the window, hitting Riley right in the face.
She groaned and pulled her blanket over her head.
Her door burst open.
"Wake up, sleepyhead!"
"Ughhh… five more minutes," she mumbled.
"Hey, wake up and get ready for school unless you want Mom to come up here," Lily said, snatching the blanket away from her.
Riley groaned, sitting up. "Fine, I'm up."
"Hurry and get ready. I don't want to come back here again," Lily said, leaving the room.
"I don't feel like leaving my bed," Riley muttered, yawning.
---
Riley came back into her room after taking her bath. With a towel wrapped around her wet hair, she walked to her closet, picked her usual clothes, and turned to place them on her bed only to find a blue gown and a jacket lying there.
"What's this doing on my bed?" she said, frowning. "Maybe they're Lily's clothes… but why are they here?"
She set them aside and got dressed, planning to ask Lily about it when she went downstairs.
"Lily!" she called, walking into the kitchen with the clothes in her hands.
"Yes?" Lily said, taking a bite of her toast.
Riley sat down next to her. "Why did you leave your clothes on my bed?" she asked, handing them over while grabbing her own toast.
Lily looked at the clothes, frowning. "These aren't mine."
"Huh? Then whose are they?" Riley said, taking another bite.
"They're yours," came a voice from behind.
Riley whipped her head around. "What do you mean?"
Emily, their mother, walked into the kitchen, her heels clicking on the floor. "I bought them for you on my way back from work yesterday."
"But I don't need them," Riley said, confused.
"Yes, you do. These are the kind of clothes you should be wearing. Get rid of those trashy things in your closet," Emily said, crossing her arms.
Riley clenched her fists. "Mom, you know I don't like those kinds of clothes. Why do you.... "
"Oh yes, you do," Emily cut her off sharply. "Why do you keep doing this? I didn't give birth to a son, for God's sake! You were never like this before. What's wrong with you?" she yelled.
Riley flinched. "Nothing's wrong with me. I just like dressing this way."
Lily rolled her eyes silently, munching on her toast.
"So you like dressing this way and cutting your hair short, huh? What are you, a boy?" Emily snapped. "Your father and I had two daughters, but one of them decided to act like a boy and ruined our family!"
Riley's eyes widened. "M–Mom, what are you saying?"
"Yeah, explain, Mom," Lily said casually, sipping her juice.
"What's there to explain? Your sister is the reason your father left us," Emily said, hissing.
"Ohhh…" Lily muttered, trying not to laugh.
Riley froze. Her heart dropped. Back before the divorce, her father used to scold her about the way she dressed but not as much as her mother did. Then one night, he came home angry. He didn't say a word to anyone, but Riley remembered hearing muffled shouting from their room. She had brushed it off at the time… not realizing it was the beginning of everything falling apart.
"But how?" Lily asked their mother, feigning curiosity.
"Your father didn't like Riley's style, but he didn't dwell on it. Then, after the housewarming party at his coworker's place, things changed," Emily said, sitting down with a sigh. "His coworkers kept mocking him about his 'son.' He tried to ignore them, but the whispers and insults got unbearable. Eventually, he came home furious, demanding I make Riley change or he'd disown her. I tried to calm him down, but he'd already lost his patience."
Lily's grip on her cup tightened. "So… Dad left because of this?" she said, pretending to sound shocked.
Riley stood up abruptly. "I… I'm off to school."
"You won't even change after hearing this, huh?! I don't even know what to do with you!" Emily shouted after her. "I'm tired of this! I'm only trying to help, why won't she listen?"
Lily quickly stood up, forcing a sweet smile. "I'm off to school, Mom. Don't worry too much."
Emily smiled back tiredly. "I won't. Give this to Riley, she didn't eat much. She might be hungry later." She handed her a sandwich.
"Sure," Lily said, taking it as she left the house.
Outside, she stared at the sandwich in her hand, her expression unreadable. "Hmm…"
---
Riley sat in the empty classroom, staring at nothing. Her chest felt heavy, like all the air had been sucked out, her fingers trembled slightly.She couldn't even cry. Every word her mom said kept echoing in her head.
Her family broke because of her? Because of the way she dressed? How did that even make sense?
"It's all my fault… isn't it," she whispered, covering her face with her hands.
"What's your fault?"
Riley jumped at the voice. "Liam! What is wrong with you and showing up out of nowhere?"
He grinned, dragging a chair to sit in front of her. "I dunno. Guess it's my thing."
"Yeah, whatever," Riley muttered, rolling her eyes.
Liam studied her quietly. "Did something happen?"
Riley blinked, caught off guard. "Nothing's wrong with me."
"Yeah, right," he said. "Your face says otherwise. You look like you're about to cry."
Riley chuckled dryly. "I don't think the tears are coming out. But I'm fine. Thanks for asking."
"I don't think you are," Liam said, still watching her.
Riley leaned back in her chair. "I will be. Stop looking at me like that.... it's weird," she said, glancing away from his worried face.
Before he could respond, two students walked into the classroom, laughing loudly. Liam sighed, deciding to ask her about it later.
---
During Lunch
Lily held the sandwich in her hand, scanning the cafeteria for Liam. She spotted him talking with his friend and walked toward him.
"Hey, Liam," she said with a smile.
"Oh, hey Lily. Do you need something?" he asked, turning to face her.
"Yeah. Riley didn't eat breakfast, and my mom told me to give this to her, but I forgot. Can you hand it to her?" Lily asked, holding out the sandwich.
"Sure," Liam said, taking it.
"Sorry for bothering you. I would've given it to her myself, but I'm kinda busy right now."
"It's fine. You're not bothering me," Liam said with a small smile.
"Good to know. Thanks," Lily said sweetly before walking away.
"Dude, how did you get the school's beauty queen to talk to you?" his friend Alex asked once Lily was gone.
"What's so special about it?" Liam said, confused.
Alex stared at him, wide eyed. "What's so special? Are you serious?! I literally stopped breathing when she walked up to you!"
Liam scoffed. "You stopped breathing? Whatever, man. I gotta give this sandwich to Riley."
"Riley? Lily's twin? Since when are you close to her?"
"I met her before I met you. I'm her best friend," Liam said with a grin.
Alex stared. "When did that happen? Are you lying? Riley doesn't even have friends in this school!"
Liam frowned. Come to think of it… he'd never seen her talking to anyone else.
"And why is that?"
"Dude, are you even attending this school? It's because she acts like a boy," Alex said, rolling his eyes.
Liam's jaw tightened slightly. He didn't know any of that. "I gotta go," he muttered, walking away.
"Hey! You can't just leave like that!" Alex yelled after him.
---
Meanwhile, Lily sat at her table, happily eating lunch with her friend, smiling wider than usual.
"What's gotten you smiling like that? Did something good happen?" Mia asked, eyeing her curiously.
"Yeah… something like that," Lily said, laughing softly. "Something like that…"