[Drabble] Match

When Jessica was younger, she understood that she was just another match in the box. Each sibling had the same cascading blonde locks; the same pair of brown eyes, the same oval face and well, you get the picture.

She was the youngest out of the five sisters, and also the one who protested the most when their parents handed them matching clothes to wear during the holiday seasons in their earlier years. The sisters were also almost identical in height, almost being the key word. If you arranged the five in accordance to height, Jessica would probably be somewhere in the middle, where she always had been.

There was nothing she could do to make things better for herself, unfortunately. In school, she was always being confused by her schoolmates. Her sister’s friend would come up to her and pat her back and she always had to apologise for being the wrong sibling. Jessica was tired of all it. Even if she wore something different, people would still mistaken her for somebody else. Relatives, friends, teachers, the folks around the neighbourhood, the list would never end. Beside her parents, nobody could tell her apart from the rest of her sisters, even then they might let another slip by mistake.

When she was nine, her father had a job transfer to another state and so the whole family went along. For Jessica, it made no difference. Pretty soon everything would be just the way it was. She would be mistaken for one of her sisters again, even more so because they would be in a new environment where people hadn’t known them for years. She silently prayed and hoped that her new neighbours would at least make an effort to identify the five siblings.

The first day of class in her new school, her new classmates were thrilled to have twins in their class. Jessica felt as though she was an exhibit on display by the way they gawked at the two of them. Her sister, on the other hand, was enjoying the attention. The five of them were split into two classes; she was with her oldest sister while the rest were in the neighbouring class. They caused quite a commotion during their first day, it was not every day you see five identical people walking around the hallways.

An incident a few days later would forever be etched into her mind in the years to come. It was science period and everybody had to go to the lab for it. She took the first vacant seat she saw when she entered the room ad settled down while her sister took the seat beside hers. She kept her gaze focused on the black board in front and didn’t notice a figure walking up to her until she felt a few taps on her shoulder.

“That’s my seat, Jessica. But since you’re new, I’ll let you have it for today. I’d like it back for the next class.”

Jessica was stunned. Nobody, except her parents, had been able to confidently call her by her name before. There was always hesitation when people called her by her name because they didn’t know which twin she was.

“Oh..I’m sorry, I didn’t know. Here you can have it back.” She offered but was declined.

“It’s fine, there’s no seating plan actually so we can sit wherever we want but I’m familiar with that seat, that’s all. No big.”

“Oh..uhm..thank you?”

“You’re welcome, but I’d still like it back next time though..”

“Of course..” the figure walked away and Jessica slumped onto the chair. Her sister had declined to comment but was busy reading her new story book.

Just as she had settled, another tap came from behind.

“Hey, you know..he almost never gives that seat to anybody..that’s his favourite seat”

“Really? But he said I can have it for this class though..” Jessica trailed off

“Who knows? Maybe he can be nice after all” the kid behind her shrugged.

“Be nice? Why? He isn’t nice?”

"Not really..he.."

Before her classmate could explain further, their teacher had entered the lab and signalled the start of the class. Jessica quickly turned back around facing front to avoid being scolded in her first lesson. She paid no attention in that class, her mind was too busy repeating a line like a broken record.

He said my name right the first time.

End.

A/N: something short i had to get out from my systems