my adopted sister

Okay, so after the SATs, my so-called sister got a free ride to Harvard, and my foster mom pulled the plug on me in the hospital. Yeah, you heard that right.

She said my "energy" was boosting her daughter, like, the harder I worked, the more amazing she became. And the worse things got for me.

So, last time around, I’d practically danced and played piano ‘til I was falling apart, while my sister was living it up overseas and became some ballet prodigy. I was grinding on my textbooks, like a zombie, until I had a brain hemorrhage, and she was topping the class every freaking year, the golden girl.

Turns out, they kept me around as a freakin' battery, just a stand-in for her to steal all my hard work.

This time? I’m done. I’m gonna coast, and I'm gonna make sure her brain’s filled with nothing but trash.

Scene 1

After they swapped me and Tiffany, I decided it was time to pack my bags and bail on the house.

My name’s Ashley, and I’m a fake-out Foster kid, adopted by these people and raised like their own for 18 years.

On my 18th birthday, my “mom” tells me, hey, I’m not her real kid. Her real kid, Tiffany, is overseas getting treatment. Now, she's coming home, and it’s time for the big reveal.

Just like that, I’m downgraded from the Foster family princess to a damn imposter. Tiffany waltzes in, and suddenly she’s this brainy, beautiful, social media influencer.

Since the whole switch-up, everyone’s acting like I ripped off Tiffany, like she suffered out there because of me, and I'm the bad guy. Tiffany gets all the pity and sympathy.

When I tried to leave, Tiffany latched onto my bags like her life depended on it. “Ash, I don’t want you to go! Please stay!”

When that didn’t work, she turned on the waterworks for my foster mom. “Mom...”

My foster mom, Brenda, cleared her throat, all “concerned” and said, "Ashley, you may not be our biological daughter, but you grew up here, and we love you like our own, both Tiffany and I. Now, with the SATs coming up, it’s a major moment for you girls. Why don’t you just stick around and we can figure the move out later?”

Then, she piled up a stack of workbooks, that was as tall as my head, and said, all sweet, but with this look that said or else, “Now, be a good girl and get these done before bedtime. No dinner, no sleep if you don't."

I just rolled my eyes at them.

Did you think they’re caring about me? Nah, this is all about them. Tiffany is sucking my life force, and I’m gonna be her stepping stone, no matter how hard I try.

Brenda forced me into dance and piano as a kid, yelling if I didn’t do it right. Everyone thought she was being tough but loving, and that I was a screw-up for being bad at it all.

But… it was all going to Tiffany. That's why she was out there partying and came back like some shining star.

Last time, I studied until I had a brain hemorrhage and missed the SATs. Tiffany got a free ticket to a top school.

The night she got that acceptance, my “mom” smiled, all sweet, and p...