The Forgotten Twin in Our Family Portrait

Mason erased the picture and returned Sophie's phone.

"Look through the others. Get rid of whichever ones you don't like."

She hadn't even opened the photo album when an email banner slid across her screen.

Thank you for your interest. After careful consideration...

Another rejection.

Tears sprang to Sophie's eyes.

"Maybe there's something wrong with me," she murmured. "I've sent applications everywhere. Not one place wants me."

Mom wrapped her in a hug.

"There is nothing wrong with you. You've done everything you were supposed to. It's an awful job market."

Then she looked my way.

"We knew Claire might have trouble finding work with such a narrow degree. But you have exactly the kind of personality employers want. That recruiter obviously has no idea how to hire."

I was still in my graduation gown, standing several feet from them.

I hadn't spoken.

Somehow, they had found another way to put me down while reassuring Sophie.

For a long time, I'd wondered if she was their real daughter and I wasn't.

There was one problem with that theory: we were twins.

Our dark hair, gray eyes, and almost identical faces made our relationship obvious. We didn't need a DNA test to establish that.

I kept looking for a different reason.

Was I more difficult to love?

Was I not clever enough? Not sweet or likable enough?

I tried harder. I quit objecting. I made myself into the daughter who asked for nothing, needed no help, and never created a problem.

Eventually, I had accomplishments they could have been proud of. By then, I understood.

It wasn't a question of whether Sophie had earned their attention.

They were used to putting her first.

They were just as used to forgetting me.

Mason spoke softly to Sophie while Dad moved aside and took out his phone.

He called a friend from college who worked in HR at Fairmont Technologies.

"David! Robert Hayes here," he said, cheerful and friendly. "My daughter's just finished college. Could you have a look at her résumé for me?"

When he hung up a few minutes later, he was smiling.

"Email me your résumé tonight, Sophie. David will put it in the right hiring manager's hands. That first position is important. There's no reason you should end up at some little outfit nobody knows."

Whenever Sophie stumbled, there was someone ready to catch her.

There always had been.

In our first year of college, she failed a required economics class.

Mom hired a senior in her department to tutor her for $150 an hour and paid for twenty appointments up front.

That semester, I got the top grade in one of my materials engineering classes.

I sent Mom a screenshot. I wanted, just once, to hear that she was proud of me.

She called instead.

"Sophie just told us she failed her midterm. Was today really the day to send us this?"

"I didn't know about her test."

"She's your sister, Claire. Pay attention to how she's feeling. You don't need to turn everything into a contest."

I never sent my grades home again.

During junior year, I went down outside the engineering building. The pain was so bad I could hardly get to my feet.

I phoned Mason.

I'd never called him asking for help before. I needed him to drive me to the emergency room. That was all.

For a while, he said nothing.

"Sophie's presenting tomorrow," he eventually told me. "She's having a panic attack. I said I'd help her practice."

With a hand pressed to my stomach, I fought to catch my breath.

"Mason, I can't even walk."

"Claire, you always manage things yourself. Could you get an Uber? I'll see how you're doing later."

My Uber driver saw how pale I was and got out to help me from the car. He took me inside the ER and waited until a nurse arrived with a wheelchair.

A man who didn't know me could see that I needed someone.

The man I was dating had decided I didn't.

Perhaps I'd spent too many years making do on my own.

They'd gotten so comfortable with my silence that they seemed to think I couldn't be hurt.

It was much later when Mom remembered my future.

"What about you, Claire? Have you sent out any applications?"

I was about to answer when Dad dismissed it with a wave.

"She'll find something. She can't expect much straight out of school with a specialty like that."

Luke looked over at me.

"Don't hold out for anything fancy. You don't want to be stuck at Mom and Dad's in six months."

Mason offered to check whether his employer needed a receptionist.

He sounded genuinely helpful, as if he'd given my career serious thought.

I looked down and brought up the job offer on my phone.

Evergreen Advanced Materials Institute

Aerospace Materials Program — Seattle, Washington

It was a respected position. The salary exceeded anything I'd hoped for, and the work was what I'd trained for throughout college.

The institute was also almost three thousand miles from my family.

I'd left the offer unsigned for a week.

I kept telling myself I needed to consider it.

But I wasn't considering anything. I was waiting.

For Mom to wonder where I wanted to make a home.

For Dad to help me think through my career the way he had helped Sophie.

For Mason to remember our promise to stay in the same city and build a life together after college.

The offer would expire in six hours. Nobody had asked what I wanted.

They'd gone further than that. They had decided I didn't have a future worth discussing.

I tapped Accept.

The confirmation came up immediately.

Welcome to Evergreen, Claire Hayes. We're excited to have you on our team.

Please report to our Seattle campus in three days.

Well, there it was.

On graduation day, the first people who actually welcomed me were on the other side of the country.

I looked at everyone gathered happily around Sophie. Nothing about that circle seemed to need me.

I bought a ticket to Seattle for three days later.