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Eli was born ten minutes earlier than Emi and so by default she is first in everything.
Eli is older, smarter and generally the better twin. Emi always comes second but it never became an issue as they were always mistaken for the other with only a handful of instances people get it right.
Emi had never minded being mistaken for Eli. It was simply the air she breathed: two faces, one identity. People mixed them up, laughed it off, and kept going. Even Eli joked that they shared a single life between them. Emi played along because it was easier than correcting everyone. Until that day when the girl in the library noticed her.
It started with Eli’s forgotten notebook. A quiet junior, a girl, found it and wandered through the shelves until she spotted her.
Emi didn’t recognize her; she barely had time to react before the girl stopped in front of her.
“Yes?” Emi asked with raised eyebrow
“You’re P' Emi, right?” the girl said.
“No, I’m Eli. Why?”
The girl handed over the notebook. “P' Eli left this over there.”
“Thanks,” Emi said automatically. “I forgot I left it there.”
The girl’s gaze didn’t waver.
“Please give it to P' Eli.”
“I’m Eli.”
“You’re P' Emi.”
Then she walked away as if that was that.
Emi held the notebook, stunned. People guessed wrong all the time. No one calmly corrected the correction. No one walked away certain. Before she could stop herself she called out, “How can you tell I’m not her?”
The girl didn’t turn. “You just admitted it.”
Emi felt her cheeks warm as a smile crept up. Someone had seen her. Not Eli. Her.
Emi ran to her and stopped infront of her
"What's your name?"
"Bonnie." she said and walked past her
The next day, Emi sought her out. She found the girl reading a "How to Play Guitar" book in a table near the same corner of the library Bonnie first found her.
“Hi. Bonnie, right?”
Bonnie shifted her graze up from her book
“Emi said you can tell us apart,” Emi said, trying to hide the fact she's Emi. “Can you tell if I’m not who I say I am?”
“Why,” Bonnie answered, face blank
“I’m just curious.”
Bonnie looked around Emi for a good minute. “You’re P' Emi still,” Bonnie said and went back to reading her book. “And you clearly haven’t told your twin, right?”
Emi froze. “You could tell?”
“If you had told your twin, both of you will be here.”
Emi felt something flutter in her chest. “I like you.”
“Thanks,” Bonnie said, already turning a page.
Emi left Bonnie in the library floating in happiness.
Bonnie could see her. Bonnie recognized her without effort, without doubt, maybe even without needing Eli as a reference. Emi felt singular for the first time in her life. Not half of a pair. Not interchangeable. Herself.
She couldn’t keep it to herself. She told Eli everything. Eli was amused and immediately insisted on testing this strange skill. They tried switching clothes, swapping hairstyles, copying each other’s posture. It didn’t matter. Bonnie took one glance and pointed.
“That’s P' Emi.”
And then, by default, “So that’s P' Eli.”
Every single time.
A single glance. A single certainty. Emi’s chest tightened with every instant recognition. She wasn’t interchangeable to Bonnie. She wasn’t the leftover half. She was seen first.
Soon the three of them were spending time together, though Emi pretended it wasn’t because she wanted to be near Bonnie. She kept stealing glances, hoping Bonnie didn’t notice the way her heartbeat sped up when Bonnie said her name. Always hers first then Eli.
One afternoon, her twin, Eli finally asked out loud what both of them had been wondering.
“How can you tell? I’m really curious.”
Bonnie answered simply. “I don’t know. I just know which one is P' Emi.”
Emi blinked. “What do you mean?”
“Like I said, I don’t know. But I can recognize you from far away. And if that person is P' Emi, then that leaves P' Eli.”
Eli laughed and was delighted. Emi felt her heart skipped a beat so sharply she almost missed her next breath. Bonnie do recognized her. Not Eli. Not the pair. Her. Bonnie could tell them apart because she recognized her first. She was first in something and someone. And Emi couldn't even be happier.
For the whole week since that statement Emi was smiling like crazy.
Emi was looking for Bonnie with a piece of gift she wanted to give her. She took one glance at that gift and realized Bonnie might like it. It was a simple guitar pick. One side had a lavender color the other side had orange with a small butterfly in it. She had placed in a small red velvet box meant for a ring.
It didn't mean anything but Emi wanted Bonnie to have it. It was of something she recalled seeing Bonnie read a book of and had stated in one of their conversations that it was an instrument she wanted to play.
After a while of searching, Emi found Bonnie talking with a friend in the corner of the library Bonnie first found her talking. Both sitting with their table scattered with books.
Emi didn’t mean neither to overhear nor didn't want to ask but she accidentally heard the conversation where Bonnie was asked so casually of her friend who does she like more in the twins. It almost didn’t sound matter to Emi till she heard Bonnie say—that she liked Eli more.
The words landed like a quiet blow suddenly the air around them seem like it was taken around her.
Emi slid back her gift in her pocket and approached Bonnie and her friend.
"Bonnie, guess who I am?" Emi asked like usual.
Bonnie took only a second before. "You're P' Emi."
Emi smiled pretending she didn't hear those words that came from Bonnie's mouth. The smile, polite, practiced, perfect. She’d been all of those for most of her life. She knew how to hide in the twin-shaped space everyone expected her to occupy. The one she lived her entire life.
But walking home that day, the gift was still in her pocket, she felt the truth settle heavily inside her.
Bonnie could tell her apart from Eli.
And Bonnie still wanted Eli.
---
Bonnie couldn't pin point but she could tell Emi apart from Eli like the back of her hand. A skill she didn't knew existed till that day in the library.
Yet for some reason, Bonnie longed for the other older twin Eli who never looked at her the same way.
So it didn't made sense she's here at her apartment with Emi after a drinking session.
Bonnie stumbled into the apartment, cheeks flushed from too much wine. Her laughter echoed, but her eyes never left Emi.
She reached out, cupping Emi’s face with both hands. “I’ve always wanted to look at you this close.”
Emi’s smile curved slowly, teasing. “Don’t get too close. I might kiss you.”
Bonnie smirked. “Then do it.”
The smile faltered on Emi’s lips. Bonnie laughed softly, letting go. “Still a coward, huh?”
But before she could step away, Emi grabbed her face and kissed her hard. Bonnie froze, shocked, and Emi pulled back with a smirk. “Who’s the coward now?”
Breathless, Bonnie surged forward, pressing her lips against Emi’s. The kiss deepened, grew hungrier. Their hands roamed, tugging clothes loose, pulling each other closer until hesitation burned away.
Heat built between them as kisses trailed down skin, fingers mapped curves, and laughter tangled with gasps. They tumbled into the bed, sheets twisting around their bodies as they surrendered to every desperate pull.
Hours later, sweat-slicked and tangled together, Bonnie drifted into sleep with Emi’s warmth pressed against her.
But when morning came, reality would not be so simple.