Chapter Seventy-Two Savannah
| Seventy-Two |
Savannah
Savannah would never think of herself again as Millie, who had always been the less beautiful sister to the amazing Poppy.
But now, standing in front of her fraternal twin, she felt her pulse racing and sweat breaking out on her forehead.
She fought a wave of nausea as memories exploded in her mind.
She and Poppy when they were ten, their mother fussing over them in the dressing room as they prepared for one of the many beauty pageants she made them compete in.
Fawning over Poppy, commenting on how beautiful she was, while Millie was the plain Jane.
It was torture. The scratching tulle, the itchy wigs, and the blinding lights.
But no matter how hard she pleaded, her mother made her compete.
Poppy always won. And she always had a perfect smile for the judges, as though she had been born to be a beauty queen.
Their room overflowed with trophies and crowns, all belonging to Poppy.
Finally, when they turned thirteen, the two of them told their mother they were finished with it.
Their mother was devastated. But no matter how much she cried and begged, they remained firm, the one time that Savannah could remember them aligned.
When the teenage years were upon them, Poppy was Miss Popularity.
Girls would always comment that they couldn’t believe they were twins and wasn’t Millie sorry she didn’t look exactly like Poppy.
She had to remind them that fraternal twins were not carbon copies of each other.
And then came her first real boyfriend at fifteen.
They dated for three months until the night Millie found Poppy and him talking behind the football field, his face close to hers, ready to kiss her when she found them.
Poppy played innocent, swearing she hadn’t done anything.
It had been that way all her life. Living in her sister’s golden shadow.
By the time they’d both finished college, Savannah had completely cut her off.
She was finally going to live her own life, one in which she would never again be overshadowed by Poppy.
And then Poppy had done the unthinkable.
She married Bennett Bryson. The man Millie had idolized for years.
Once again, Poppy was living the life that Millie was supposed to live.
Fortunately for her, fate had intervened.
Poppy died and Millie won the prize. But here she was. Back again.