The Parasite on Her Shoulder

They say twins have a special bond like no other and I couldn’t agree more. Mila has always been by my side since birth as have I. We were inseparable despite our differences. For I was always the weaker of the two; unable to speak my mind or carry myself with confidence, unlike my sister. Always being the victim of other children’s teasing while Mila appointed herself as my knight in shining armor. I can still hear her battle cries as she chased after the boys who threw mud at me and her tiny fist pouncing at their heads after she caught them. The adults called Mila a troublemaker, but to me, she was always my protector. 

By the time we reached our junior year in high school, I didn’t need as much saving as I needed in the past nor was Mila the troublemaker she used to be. She stood tall as the captain of the cheer team with a GPA of 4.0. Always up to date with the latest fashion style, her dyed blonde hair styled to perfection, and she used little amount of makeup to cover her skin that was already flawless. My sister was the pinnacle of perfection, while I was everything but the opposite. She always stood in the light, while I moved around in the shadows. Yet, never once have I ever thought to stand beneath the same warm hue as her. Nor was I ever filled with envy over her beauty or intelligence. If anything, all I desired was to be her savior as she once was to me. 

Then one day, Mila met a parasite who ruined everything. At first, it was just chatter after her practice that slowly turned from minutes to hours long, then the text messages became more frequent and the calls became every night. I could still see his red sedan in front of the house which Mila would sneak into and disappear until two in the morning. I could have sucked it up for longer until the day they called it quits, but then she decided to go with him to the winter carnival which was our tradition to go every year together. Our argument eventually led one of us to storm off from the other and not return until a couple of hours later, both of us acting as if nothing ever happened. But my sister changed after that day.

Mila no longer walked through the halls like she once had. She stopped carrying herself with confidence, stopped putting effort into fixing her hair, and altogether stopped being her. It felt like I was staring at a stranger who had the same face as mine. She no longer acknowledges my existence every time we pass by in the halls, her eyes glued to the ground with the parasite’s arm wrapped around her shoulder. I could see him leaning towards her ear and softly whispering don’t look at her. I knew it was because of him that Mila was slipping away from my finger, becoming a stranger I had to share a room with. My blood was boiling underneath my skin, thinking about how he was draining the life away from her. I can hear Mila’s thoughts shouting at me, begging me to pry the parasite off from her. Save me I could hear her screaming. 

I followed Mila into the bathroom where we were the only two inside.

“Why?” My voice bounced against the walls. “Why are you ignoring me?” Mila stood in front of the mirror, flinching at my words like they were an attack. 

“I’m not.”

“Don’t play stupid with me!” Angry that she would try to lie. “Is it because of him? Did he tell you to stop talking to me?”

“Who? Lucas?” She turned around to face me. “Of course not! He’s not that type of person!” My heart ached watching my sister defend the parasite. Was she that far gone, I thought? Was she really taking his side over mine? Throwing away the secret bond of us twins for a boy who was causing her destruction.

“Then why?” I stepped closer, clearly seeing her poor attempt to cover her heavy eyebags with makeup. I wanted to pull her into a hug and tell her that everything would be okay. That I would save her from the parasite that she has become so blind to see. But the sound of the metal door then interrupted our conversation, before I was able to do anything. Which Mila used as her opportunity to escape and avoid me the whole day like I was a plague she was afraid to catch. 

Maybe it was the anger festering inside of me that pulled me out of my class and guided my feet toward a destination that I was not conscious of. The next thing I knew, I was in the parking lot, in front of a red sedan that I was well too familiar with. I made my way towards the driver's seat and pulled at the handle, opening the door. A little laughter slipped out from my lips, of course, the parasite was a stereotypical jock. Inside the vehicle, the backseat was covered with extra clothing, there was an empty coffee cup in the holder, and Mila’s lipgloss was underneath the passenger seat. Tucked in front of his dashboard was a photo of Mila and the parasite together; his lips touching Mila's cheeks as she looked at the camera, showing off her dimples. This Mila looked happy and alive, making me miss her even more. It’s because of him, I told myself, that this Mila’s gone, relitting the anger inside of me again. I crumbled the picture in my hand and rummaged through his car looking for anything sharp. As if luck was on my side, I found a box cutter hidden in his middle compartment which I used to stab each tire at least three times before carefully placing the blade back to its original home, along with the photo. Fleeing from my crime before anyone would notice the smile across my face. 

Mila looked even paler underneath the fluorescent light. She was playing with her food as a child does when they don’t want to eat their vegetables, worrying our parents even more than she has in the past days.

“Honey? Are you sure you’re okay?” Mom asked. Mila gave a tiny nod as if it was too much effort to even speak. 

“How was school?” Our dad asked, hoping it would get her mind off whatever she was thinking about. But, Mila continued to play with her food, ignoring the world around her.

“It was okay,” adding my voice to the mixture, equally trying my best to create a normal dinner conversation. But mom and dad didn't seem to care about what I had to say and I didn’t blame them. Their attention was more focused on their other daughter who was looking more lifeless with every passing second. No one said anything after that, only the sound of raindrops hitting the glass windows filled the room. The house phone then rang, disturbing the peace of the rain and saving my dad from the uncomfortable tension. However, he didn’t come back for a long while and when he did, he looked skeptical, even scared to speak. 

“What is it?” Our mom asked, lifting her nose as if she could smell his fear. That’s when our dad told Mila about the parasite’s accident. How his car lost control for reasons unknown and with the rain he wasn’t able to see or stop himself from going off the cliff. I’ll never forget how Mila crashed to the ground, screaming and crying her eyes out. Our mom pinned her head to her chest just to keep her still. Our dad and I watched the whole performance, not knowing what we could have done to help. When she no longer had the energy to fight but just sob into our mom’s chest, her hazel eyes found mine. No longer were they filled with sadness but a new emotion, anger.

“Why!” Mila screamed. My eyes wander around our childhood room, staring at the ugly shade of turquoise to avoid her sharp gaze. “Answer me!”

“He was changing you, Mila. I was just trying to help you.” Hoping that she would see my light-hearted intention. It didn’t work as her eyebrows scrunched down further, clearly not pleased with my reasoning. “I’m sorry. I swear I didn’t know he was going to get into an accident. I was just-”

“Shut up Mia!” My eyes widened, it was the first time in what felt like years that she called me by my name. “When are you going to stop?”

“I promise Mila, I won’t ever do some–”

“Not that Mia,” turning back around to meet my eyes, her voice sounding defeated. 

“When are you going to stop haunting me?”