My Twin Sister Stole My College Admission Chapter 01
When the SAT results came back, I scored a 1580, while my twin sister, Chloe, only managed a 400.
That very night, the admissions officers from Kingston University—the most prestigious elite private college in the country—showed up at our house, looking at the two of us with intense excitement.
“Excuse me, which one of you is Elena, the one who scored the 1580?”
I was just about to step forward and speak when my older brother grabbed my hand from behind, pulled me sharply back, and pushed Chloe to the front.
“Right here. She is Elena.”
I froze. Chloe stepped up, flashing a smile. “Hello, admissions directors. I’m the one who got the 1580.”
Several admissions officers eagerly surrounded her. Meanwhile, I, the actual top-scorer, could only stand aside like an outsider, watching the whole thing unfold.
The moment the admissions staff left, my brother turned to me and gave a cold, ruthless command.
“Elena, starting today, Chloe is you. She’ll be taking your place at Kingston. We’ve already agreed to it.”
“As for you, go take her spot at that some sketchy, no-name community college out in the middle of nowhere.”
I looked at him in absolute disbelief, my hands shaking uncontrollably. “Why?! On what grounds?!”
My dad banged his fist on the dinner table, knocking over his water glass right by my feet.
“On the grounds that when your mother was pregnant with you two, you stole all your sister’s nutrients! That’s why she’s been sickly and frail for all these years!”
Watching the four of them laughing and walking away, I smiled bitterly. The last string of what I thought was family affection snapped completely inside me.
I pulled out my phone and dialed the admissions office of Stanford University.
“Dean, I agree to let your office transfer my academic files ahead of schedule.”
…
The officer on the other end was stunned for a second, then broke into a massive, joyful grin.
“Really? Elena, this is spectacular news! We guarantee you a full-ride scholarship, four years of waived tuition, your choice of any major, a complimentary, fully furnished luxury two-bedroom apartment just steps from campus, and we’ll secure a high-paying corporate job for you right after graduation.”
I murmured a quick thank-you and hung up. The house was dead silent, and once again, I was entirely alone.
Suddenly, my phone started buzzing relentlessly with iMessage notifications.
[You have been removed from the chat by ‘Logan’.].
[Huge congratulations to my precious little sister, Chloe! She scored a 1580 on her SATs this year and will be heading to Kingston University this September!]
The replies flooded in instantly, everyone kissing up to them.
[Chloe is incredible! My boy only got a score high enough for a third-tier state school today.]
[Chloe has truly brought ultimate glory to the Sterling family name!]
Then, someone randomly chimed in, [What about Elena? How did she do?]
I typed out my response and was just about to hit send when a system pop-up flashed across my screen.
[You have been muted by Administrator ‘Logan’.]
Right after that, he sent a public text: [Elena? She barely scraped a 400. She’ll be lucky if some sketchy, unaccredited college even takes her. She’s a total write-off, just ignore her.]
I suddenly laughed out loud, a sound full of self-deprecation and bitter irony.
My mom and dad were bragging in the group chat, practically glowing with pride.
[By the way, when we drop Chloe off at Kingston, anyone who wants to see the campus can join our road trip!]
[Me! Count me in!]
[I want to go too, sign me up!]
I turned off my phone, my heart sinking into a bottomless abyss.
Ever since we were kids, my parents and Logan never allowed me to be better than Chloe. They never uttered a word about my good grades to outsiders.
My brother would literally rip up my academic honor certificates the second I brought them home, warning me with pure disgust, “We don’t allow this kind of stuff in this house!”
Yet, they took a cheap ribbon Chloe won in a tiny local drawing contest, framed it professionally, and hung it right in the center of the living room.
Because of this, in the eyes of everyone else, I was the undisputed, textbook loser. So when they claimed I only got a 400, not a single person questioned it.
Back in my cramped, tiny bedroom, I pulled out a metal lockbox from under the bed.
Inside were all the torn pieces of my honor certificates that I had secretly scavenged and saved over the years.
Plop.
Tears fell like broken strings of pearls onto the paper, blurring the ink of the name ‘Elena.’
Chloe had been sickly since infancy, so my parents always completely favored her.
But when we were little, my brother used to secretly buy me Snickers bars and candy, whispering, “Our Elena did so well, this is a secret reward from your brother.”
Until the year I turned eight.
