Arjun's POV :

"Ananya it's really not that bad", mom was saying.

"It will get worse mom", Ananya grumbled "I can't go to school with that thing on Monday."

It was evening and we were packed in Ananya's bedroom where she was still fussing about the 'injury' I had given her.

Ananya's room barely had an inch of wall that was not tapered with some poster of Chris Hemsworth or Robert Downey Jr.

As a result, on, the very rare occasions that Ananya failed to hit a good score in the exams, the poor marvel heros would be blamed for distracting her.

On the other hand, in my case, my parents never blamed the posters in my room when I messed up my exams (which was much more often than Ananya) They blamed something else and you'll find out soon, what that is.

Right then, I knew where my sister was going with her tantrum. She was trying to get mom to allow her to take leave on Monday. She was also trying to make as big a racket as possible to get me some punishment.

"Arjun, tell me what you think", ordered mom.

I glanced at my sister's forehead. This was certainly one of the worst bruises I had given Ananya in seventeen years. And that's saying something because I had actually given her a toe fracture once. Though that hadn't become a big issue because it wasn't really visible. But this was right on the face and couldn't be hidden inside a shoe.

Hey! Why was I expected to feel guilty? It was not like Ananya had never tried to hit me. I was just good at dodging. At least, most of the time.

The space above Ananya's left eye seemed to be mutilated. It was yellowing now. I knew from experience that it would turn purple the next day. But I obviously wasn't supposed to say that.

"I can't see it", I declared.

"See?" said mom.

"Of course he would say that", complained Ananya, "He gave me the bruise. Why would he want to make what he did seem horrible?"

"It's really not so horrible", said Arav who was standing next to me.

"He's right" said dad practically, "I wouldn't notice it if I didn't know it was there."

"For heavens sake, enough with that bruise", said my favourite person in the house entering into the room. It was my dad's younger sister Janvi who lived with us. "You're all acting like Ananya has come out of a coma."

Finally! Someone had said it.

But mom changed the topic, "Arav go and feed Kuhu". Kuhu was our pet hamster.

"Why should I always give take care of that stupid hamster?" Arav sulked.

"Because you were the one who wanted a hamster", mom replied, "Go now".

"What was the use? You didn't even let me name her", Arav complained.

Almost about a year ago, Arav had managed to convince dad to buy him the hamster. He had badly wanted to name her Ariana because he loved Ariana Grande.

"It even fits perfectly with the three of us. Arjun, Ananya, Arav, Ariana!" he had said.

But mom was not having any of those stylish American names. So Ariana became Kuhu. Kuhu was a weird name too but to be honest, if there was anyone who was normal in this house it was Kuhu, the hamster.

Mom now turned to Ananya, "Do you want me to stay here for some more time?" she asked.

"No mom. You can go".

"I think you should also get out of this room", suggested Janvi "You'll feel sick if you keep sitting on the bed. Maybe come out and watch some TV".

"Yeah let's get out", said mom as she wiped the sweat from her forehead with the end of her saree and picked up an empty coffee mug from Ananya's bedstead.

"Do you want some more coffee?" mom asked her.

"No mom", she said.

"Okay. You're fine now aren't you?" she wanted to make sure.

"Yeah mom I'm fine now, except for the slight headache. Maybe I should take leave on Monday, if it gets worse".

A-ha!

See? I know my wretched twin sister more than anyone!

I went back into my room to have a quick look at my Instagram and when I came back out, Ananya was settled in front of the TV, a jar of Nutella placed in front of her, the remote in her hand and a spoon hanging out of her mouth.

Seriously! Someone needs to remind the girl that she's seventeen! And as the responsible older brother who had seen the world, eleven minutes more than her, I decided that the someone was going to be me.

"What are you doing with the spoon? That is so gross! Are you a two year old?" I asked in a tone that I never get bored of using.

She turned and looked at me, her face expressionless. She pulled out the spoon from her mouth to mutter "Bloody hypocrite", loud enough for me to hear and then started licking the back of the spoon.

"If you eat that now, who will eat dinner?" I snapped.

No reply.

"What are you watching?" I tried again "Mahabharat?" I knew she was a binge watcher of that thing.

"No, Sex and The City", she said "There's no Mahabharat on Saturday".

"Very good. Continue", I said "I think I can hear mom coming".

She quickly flipped to HBO where Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1 was going on.

In two seconds the living room door was pushed open and mom entered.

"Arjun, what are you doing here? Why aren't you studying for the NEET class test tomorrow?"

Did I tell you how much it sucks to be a biology student? Specifically when you don't like biology? More specifically, when you have no passion for medical science but you are forced to prepare for NEET because your parents have a dammed hospital and want you to be a doctor?

"Why just me?" I asked, "Tell Ananya also!"

"I would have, if you hadn't given her that big bruise", said mom coldly.

"I didn't give her the bruise. I just pushed her slightly. She went and fell over like an idiot", I said.

"That's enough!" said mom in a dangerous voice "She's really upset Arjun. Let her relax for a bit. Anyway she can get up early and learn. It's you I'm scared about".

And did I tell you how much more it sucks when you have a twin sister who takes biology seriously and wants to be a doctor?

Ananya stuck her tongue out at me from behind mom.

"And for heavens sake, don't bunk anymore NEET classes", mom said "I don't want to hear anymore complaints that you're fooling around the town".

"Mom! I'm not fooling around!" I argued "I am either at choir practice or music rehearsals".

"That's what fooling around means", said mom defiantly, "Please concentrate on your studies for one more year Arjun! Enough of this singing thing for sometime!".

Okay, here's the thing that sucks the most. My parents detest my passion and want me to follow their passion. Hey! I really appreciate and admire how they had started from nothing and had earned so much wealth and popularity.

But I didn't want to do the same thing. I had a different dream. I wanted to become a singer but as far as I could see, it was only going to be a dream until I did something on my own. That was my secret. I was trying on my own to collaborate with a music studio.

Well, it wasn't really my secret. Ananya knew about it. And she kept on oscillating between being a supportive sibling and a bitchy backstabber.

And, that's one more thing about having a twin. You can't really keep any secrets. Because being twins means you share a lot more than just the same genotype.