As the day wore on, Silvia’s eyelids grew heavy, and the difficulties of her responsibilities bore down on her. She managed to shed the Silus persona just in time, slipping out of her brother’s identity like a second skin. With meticulous care, she donned her next disguise—a fluffy rabbit costume that concealed her entire body, allowing her to blend seamlessly into her role as the mascot for Twinkle Toys, a popular toy store in the local mall.

Outside the store, Silvia handed out colourful pamphlets to passersby. Her voice, muffled by the costume, called out to potential customers in a cheerful tone.

“Rabbit-o!” a voice exclaimed, cutting through the monotony of her task.

Silvia perked up, her hidden eyes searching for the source of the voice. Her gaze fell upon a boy, supposedly around her age, approaching. Dark chestnut locks cascaded elegantly over his forehead, lending an air of effortless charm. Deep sapphire eyes sparkled with an unmistakable intrigue, hinting at a hidden world of mysteries beneath their surface. His arms and shoulders, chiselled and defined, created a captivating juxtaposition against his overall demeanour.

With a burst of enthusiasm, she responded, her voice emanating from the rabbit’s mouth. “Hey, Jared! How are you?”

Jared approached with a smile. "The usual," His smile quickly transformed into a more solemn expression, “…until today.”

Curious, Silvia continued her task while lending an ear to Jared’s concerns. “What’s wrong?”

“Remember that guy I briefly mentioned about before? Well, he came back to school.”

“Oh, that jerk.”

“Don’t fret. I can handle him now if anything happens. What about you? How are things going for you?”

Silvia’s response carried a hint of melancholy, though she did her best to maintain the cheerful façade. “I’m fine.”

Jared checked his wristwatch and exhaled regretfully. “Damn, I have to go now. Sorry I was only here for a couple of minutes. I need to pick up my little sister from daycare since my mum’s got something urgent at work.”

She waved a paw in understanding. “I’ll see you next time then.”

With a hurried goodbye, Jared departed, leaving Silvia to her mascot duties. As she watched him go, she felt a twinge of sadness but also a sense of pride in how he had grown stronger since their first encounter.

Exhausted from her gruelling shift at Twinkle Toys, Silvia stumbled wearily into her bedroom. The dimly lit room embraced her, the shadows cloaking her as she collapsed onto her bed without bothering to reach for the light switch. The first day of school, living the life of her twin brother, had exacted a far greater toll than she had initially anticipated.

Lying there in the semi-darkness, Silvia’s thoughts drifted back to her encounter with Felicia earlier in the day. “Why does she remind me so much of Silus?” she pondered, her mind wandering to a past interaction with Silus.

Silus had been on the verge of leaving the house, his rebellious spirit evident in every step. Silvia, ever the concerned sister, had reached out and grabbed his sleeve.

“You’re going out so late again?” she asked, her worry exuding from her voice.

Silus snatched his sleeve away from her grasp with a harsh jerk. “Yeah, the outside world feels like a better home than this shit hole.”

“Is it because Mum’s not here anymore? Do you not like Dad?”

Silus shot her a bitter glare, his tongue clicking in vexation. “Stop getting worked up about me and worry about yourself. You’ve always been the smarter one. No wonder Dad favours you more. So just leave me alone.”

With those caustic words still ringing in her ears, Silus had dashed out of the front door. Silvia had been left alone in the wake of his departure, the sharp sting of his brutally honest remarks piercing her heart.

In the enveloping darkness of her bedroom, Silvia’s forlorn memories hung in the air like a sombre fog. She opened her eyes, greeted by the shadows that appeared to mirror the darkness that had begun to seep into her mind. It was in this gloomy phase of introspection that she found herself grappling with a disconcerting revelation.

She contemplated Felicia’s striking resemblance to Silus, and her thoughts spiralled into an abyss of self-examination. “Do I make people feel so insecure? Even when Mum was here, is that how Silus felt all this time? Why did I delude myself into thinking that our family was perfect from the beginning?”

As the pessimistic notions flooded her, Silvia felt herself sinking deeper into a pool of self-doubt and despair. Her fatigue body, finally succumbing to the relentless strain of the day, allowed her eyes to shut, ushering her into a troubled slumber haunted by questions left unanswered.

Silvia’s gradual return to consciousness was accompanied by the gentle intrusion of a sunray that pierced through the parted curtains. As her eyes fluttered open, she was met with the radiant morning light, casting an ethereal glow upon her surroundings.

With a sudden jolt of realisation, she shifted her gaze towards her phone resting on the side-table. A gasp escaped her lips as she took in the time displayed on the screen—a startling half past eight.

In an instant, panic coursed through her veins like a surge of electricity. She knew, with certainty, that she was perilously behind schedule for school. Without a moment to spare, she sprang into action, her every moment a frantic dance as she hastily prepared herself.

There was no time to savour breakfast or linger in the comfort of her home. Silvia raced against the ticking clock, her heart pounding in her chest—she needed to get dressed and ensure her disguise as Silus was perfect. With each hurried step, she was propelled forward by the unwavering resolve to reach school on time, her world driven by urgency.

Silvia’s tardy entrance into the homeroom ignited a tempest of anger within Miss Cowan. Her fury was a tangible force, as she unleashed her scolding in front of the entire class, her voice a thunder of reprimand that filled the room.

“Do you never learn from your mistakes, Silus?” Miss Cowan’s words carried the weight of countless previous transgressions, each one etching deeper into her patience. “How many times do I have to tell you before you start listening to me?!”

Silvia, engulfed in a shroud of shame, could only bow her head, her response a mere whisper in the face of her teacher’s fury. “Sorry, Miss Cowan…”

The command that followed was sharp and final. “Sit down.”

Silvia, bearing the force of her teacher’s condemnation, sank into her seat, her spirit burdened by the public humiliation. Camila, her ever-watchful friend, monitored her with growing concern, fully aware that Silvia wasn’t the type to arrive late to anything, even if it meant traversing the farthest corners of the world.

Sivia lugged herself through the hallway, her spirit weighed down by exhaustion and the elusive spectre of sleep. In this subdued state, she encountered Camila, who promptly interposed herself in Silvia’s path, her curiosity a beacon of concern.

“Hey, why were you late today?” Camila’s question, though gentle, underscored the abnormality of Silvia’s tardiness.

Silvia, still grappling with the remnants of her fatigue, responded with a resigned sigh. “I slept through my alarm.”

“That’s not like you.”

In the midst of their conversation, Felicia passed by, and Silvia, almost instinctively, greeted her. “Hey, Felicia.”

Felicia’s reaction was a twitch of surprise, her sharp retort cutting through the air. “What the heck?”

With Felicia’s abrupt bypass, Camila was left perplexed by Silvia’s gesture, which seemed out of place for someone embodying Silus’ persona. “Why’d you say hi to her? You’re not even friends.”

“I don’t know. Maybe because she reminds me of Silus.”

“Huh? They’re nothing alike.”

Before they could delve further into the matter, Silvia diverted the conversation, shifting their focus. “Anyway, Miss Cowan wanted to talk to me before the bell rings. I’ll catch you later—actually, probably not. I don’t want people to start talking about you if they see you with me.”

Camila’s growing concern for her best friend was apparent, but Silvia left her behind as she made her way to the English faculty room. Lost in her thoughts and navigating the narrow hallway on autopilot, Silvia inadvertently collided with a passerby. As she looked up, she was startled to find the friendly face from her part-time job, Jared, standing before her.

Silvia couldn’t contain her genuine excitement upon seeing him. “Jared!”

However, Jared’s reaction was far from friendly. He rebuffed her bubbly manner with a sharp edge. “So, you remember who I am, asshole.”

Silvia, taken aback by his abrupt change in behaviour, recalled Camila’s earlier warning about Jared—the student who harboured deep loathing for Silus. As the pieces of the puzzle fell into place, an alarming revelation emerged.

Jared continued to glare at her with a malicious intensity, his eyes piercing into her with contempt. His words were meant to inflict pain. “You’re pathetic.”

With a forceful shove of his shoulder, he sent Silvia crashing against the lockers. As he walked away, leaving Silvia bewildered and shaken by his sudden display of hostility, the bell rang to signal the start of the next lesson.