DIFFERENT BUT SAME

As Emma made herself comfortable, laughing and making small talk, her voice drifted over the air until it faded, echoing from the direction in which she was headed. Not alone, of course - she had that gift of drawing along a tow of handsome looking blokes and some ladies too.

Cecily shifted uncomfortably in her blue sapphire dress as she gulped down a tropical non-alcoholic mojito - her second one for the evening. No, she wasn't that thirsty - she was nervous. She kept glancing around as the university's A-listers strutted their way to the red carpet for pictures, flashes of fake teeth and peace signs - anything for the media and paparazzi. After all, it was the University's annual charity ball. Good looks and smart talk made for great networking here.

Which is why Cecily asked herself for the umpteenth time:

What am I doing here?

From a distance, Cecily Smotherfent embodied what people loved to call the gracefulness of a lady who wasn't fazed by what trended. She was quite grateful she was blessed with an average-sized body, although her chubbiness sometimes took over during stressful periods like exams. She had, however found a way to rise above body-esteem challenges and was very comfortable in her skin. After all, ancestry did answer for some things and she came from a mixed heritage that had somehow allowed the Afro-Caribbean part of her lineage to find expression in her personality. And with that package came a slight dash of "introvert" as her family had very conservative roots.

Which was why her bond and friendship with Emma Sinurt was seen as a rare oddity to most people. Emma's olive coloured skin and wavy brunette hair were also the dividends of a mixed heritage that decided to choose the Irish part and embody it in a spirited, slender-bodied freckled lady who was considered the "life of the party". Emma and Cecily had been friends since high school - bunk mates, classmates, cry mates.

The whole lot of it.

"There you are, gorgeous!"

Cecily turned around to see her bestie holding two cocktail glasses. There was just a hint of suggestion that Emma was of a mixed race - right now she looked absolutely splendid in a maroon strapless dress that had a slit as high as the mid part of her thigh.

Always the wild one, Cecily mused as she gave Emma the eye. Emma's eyes rolled.

"Okay, I promise it's 8% alcohol, nothing more". The two girls gave each other a truce-like smile. They never drank anything that had more than 10% alcohol content.

And they never drank more than two glasses each at events.

The evening breeze made Cecily shudder, and for the first time Emma was painfully aware of how uncomfortable her bestie was. She squeezed her arm reassuringly.

"I wanted you to have some fun, you know. Something different from home". Both of them came from divorced parents who had remarried, and their partners were giving each girl a hard time at home. For Cecily, it was as if her step mom had a special seed of hatred for her. Emma thought the same of her own step father too. And being the more outspoken one of the two, she always tried to get them around the 'happening' events as a distraction of the lives they separately had to put up with for the meantime.

Cecily smiled. "I know. Maybe it is time I tried opening up a little". Cecily had always been the painfully quiet one. She had learnt to internalize her hurt before Providence brought her in touch with Emma. Now She felt the little dark cloud in her heart lifting slowly. Her eyes lit up.

"I tell you what: let's find a comfortable couch and discuss the fashion choices of the A-listers". Cecily's ideas, though rare were always mischief-filled and always worked great for Emma, who wished her friend could have such ideas more often.

And so the two girls found a comfortable spot and transformed themselves into fashion police while enjoying their drinks. For the unsuspecting passer-by, these were two young women having fun and pointing interestingly at something most people didn't bother to check further. But these girls both knew they were more than besties.

Their sacred bond was considered a taboo by their parents due to irrevocable details of the past, and while they kept their friendship top secret, they were preparing for the big day.

The day when they would defend what they shared and were ready to stand their ground for each other.

Because what they shared transcended the normal bonds of life.

Cecily and Emma were in fact, biological twin sisters.

Somehow, no one ever had a clue.