What is the opposite of a good person?

I'll tell you.

His name was Felix Montgomery.

Everything about that man screamed "bad". And not in a Wattpad smut story way, in an actual degrading way.

Felix was my next door and Miles' step brother. His dad had married Miles' mom four years back, after successfully building his business empire over our town and surprisingly, moved into her house with his son. And since then, Felix had become the black sheep of the household, where nobody except Miles' mom took pity upon him.

What Mrs. Montgomery didn't know was that people like Felix were parasites. They manifested themselves in places and stuck to them, leaving them hollowed inside out once they were done.

Felix was the worst kind of parasite.

My parents always had me and my sister maintain a safe distance from him, because of how much he indulged in drinking and raving. But unlike me who strictly hated the stench of alcohol, my sister Maeve seemed to be attracted to the same. Not only was she obsessed with Felix Montgomery, she would often go out of her way to be noticed by him.

The day I turned 15, Maeve told me about her little crush on the man-whore.

And god I wish, she hadn't. Cause for me, ignorance is truly always a bliss.

For two excruciating years, I had to watch her go above and beyond to make him notice her, to have clandestine meetings under the moonlight and what not. I had to pretend I didn't hear her sneak out every night just to get a glimpse of his crooked smile. She was drunk in love and he was her muse.

It was pathetic to me but she insisted that she could "fix" him.

Side note: why are women so interested in doing that?

I watched her change in milliseconds. The once bright student with the greatest potential in our family turned into a girl whose eyes held more eyebags than dreams. She became hollow as the days passed by.

Felix and her were never actually in a relationship. He flirted with her occasionally, whenever he was bored or didn't have a drug-buddie to mingle with and she accepted his advances each time with open arms. His usual charms persisted around the months between halloween and christmas and once that was over, he would revert back to ignoring her and she would revert back to obsessing over why he didn't want her anymore.

It made me sad more than angry.

Growing up, Maeve and I were always pittied against each other to compete. Our parents wanted to see who could handle more pressure. But what they didn't know was that Maeve was already a genius. She didn't have to work hard to get medals. She finessed her way through exams, was never bothered by how difficult the art exams were, and could speak in public without feeling a knot in her stomach.

I envied her. So much.

She could have everything in the palm of her hands if she just wished for them. I, on the other hand, had to work hard for everything I wanted. I had to sit at the table for extra hours just to get the syllabus inside my head while she only studied for one hour before every exam and got As in every exam. I practiced ballet every day while she just 'had' the perfect body posture. I struggled with being open with people while she could charm her way out of a crime.

She was always the better sibling. The better version of me.

And even though she often made me feel inferior, I still loved her with all my heart.

We were inseparable, each other's strongest confidants.

But what I didn't know then was.... betrayal always seemed to come from the ones you trust most.

When I found out that Felix had dumped her again for the sixtieth time, I had confronted her,

"Don't you see what he's doing to you?"

"Oh please, Cairo. I'm already upset. Please don't start with me right now." Came her taunt reply.

"I'm not starting anything." I defended. "I can see that this is bothering you that's why I'm trying to help-"

"Who said I needed your help?" She snapped.

"Well you don't need to. You're my sister." I reasoned. She gave me a glare.

"Right now I need you to leave me alone." Saying that, she picked up her phone and started dialling and I immediately knew whom she was calling.

"Are you seriously calling him right now?" I was baffled. I didn't know how to talk sense into her.

"Hi, this is Felix. If I'm not picking up your call, I probably have a reason. So don't send me a message either..." Came an automated reply.

"Hi, Felix. This is Maeve. I need to see you. Right now. Meet me at the trailer park." She spoke into her phone and grabbed her bag.

"Wha- what are you doing?" I asked, grabbing her arm.

"I'm gonna go meet him."

"It's midnight." I threw. "It's too late to go out, Maeve. And the trailer park isn't the best place to be right now..."

"Look, I just need to talk to him, alright? Get closure." She responded.

"Get closure? How many more times are you planning to get closure?" I taunted.

"Gosh, will you stop?!" She yanked her arm back and walked towards the open window. "This doesn't concern you."

"Why can't you see how toxic this relationship is? I mean, he's clearly using you for his entertainment. Don't you get it?" I questioned, hoping it would knock some sense.

But she turned on her heels and looked at me, her eyes filled with rage.

"You're so full of it, Cairo."

"What?"

She scoffed, laughing. "I mean, I hadn't even considered this... but now I see it. You're jealous."

This time it was my turn to scoff. "Jealous? Of what?"

"Of me. Of my relationship."

"Please, don't flatter yourself, Maeve." I shook my head.

"Oh I'm not. Because I know it's true. You're clearly jealous of me and my relationship with Felix because you know damn well, you're never gonna have that."

When I didn't say anything, she continued,

"You go around acting all high and mighty but guess what? I see right through you. You're so insecure. You pretend to hate all guys because you know damn well, no one wants you. Infact, no one will ever want you."

"Maeve...." I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe what my ears had just registered. I couldn't believe what my own blood sister was saying.

"I mean, look at yourself. What are you?" She spew. "Just an average looking fat girl with acne,....a member of the herd. Nobody knows who you are. Nobody cares."

"Tha-that's not true." I choked.

"Oh please! don't kid yourself," she said. "You're nothing. You're actually nothing."

I blinked twice, afraid the onslaught of tears piercing the back of my eyes were gonna have their release.

"So I'm sorry if I don't wanna be an invisible person like you and live all my life in somebody else's shadow because I can't seem to grow a goddamn identity for myself." She threw at me before walking and hooking one leg out the windowsill.

"And for the record, you can tell mom and dad I snuck out." She said, glaring at me. "All it'll do is prove how you don't have a fucking life."

And with that, she was gone in the blink of an eye, leaving me hollow and empty.

I never held what she said against her. Because at the time, it was the worst thing someone could've possibly said to me. And also, maybe because I knew that part of it....was true.

I was invisible.

And there was no denying that.

But what 17 year old Cairo Hart didn't know....was that she was gonna become more than just visible.

And it was gonna be for reasons she couldn't imagine in her wildest dreams.

______________

this conversation is a word-by-word rip off from my diary from three years back.

looking back at it,
it almost feels surreal how much shit i took from people.

anyways, do lemme know your thoughts!

xoxo,
Bosedisha