When Tanya Found Her Voice

Tanya and Olivia were twins, but you would never have guessed it if you met them.

Olivia was the loud one, the mischievous one, the one who could convince a squirrel to give her its last nut just by flashing her cheeky grin.

Tanya, on the other hand, was quiet, thoughtful, and preferred the company of books over people.

Despite their differences, the two were inseparable at home. Olivia would come up with the wildest ideas, and Tanya would shake her head, saying, “We’ll get in trouble.” But somehow, she always got roped into Olivia’s plans.

Like the time Olivia decided to turn the living room into a roller rink using their mum’s cooking oil. Let’s just say their mum was NOT impressed when she nearly skated straight into the TV.

Tanya adored Olivia’s confidence but wished she had a little bit of it herself. School wasn’t easy for her.

Olivia made friends like it was her superpower, while Tanya found herself shrinking away from groups. It didn’t help that there were a few kids in her class who had decided she was an easy target.

They called her names. Whispered about her when she walked past.

Once, one of them “accidentally” knocked her books out of her hands. Tanya never told Olivia. She didn’t want her sister to worry or, worse, do something ridiculous.

But Olivia noticed anyway. One evening, while they were building a fort out of bedsheets and fairy lights, she saw the sadness in Tanya’s eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Olivia asked, munching on a stolen chocolate biscuit.

“Nothing,” Tanya said too quickly.

Olivia wasn’t buying it. “Did someone upset you?”

Tanya hesitated. Then, in a small voice, she said, “School is just… hard sometimes.”

Olivia’s mischievous grin faded. “Who is it?” she demanded. “Tell me, and I’ll make sure they never bother you again.”

Tanya smiled weakly. “It’s fine. I’ll just ignore them.”

But Olivia had already decided. She was going to fix this.

The next morning, Olivia strutted into school with a plan. Step one: Observe. Step two: Conquer. She watched from a distance as Tanya sat quietly at her desk, pretending not to hear the snide remarks from the kids behind her.

At break time, Olivia found the leader of the group, Jake, and casually strolled up to him. “Hey, Jake. Ever heard of the Great Water Balloon Incident?”

Jake blinked. “Huh?”

“Oh, it’s a legendary prank I pulled on my neighbour once. But you know, I’ve been meaning to test my upgraded version. I wonder who the first target should be…” She gave him an innocent smile, her eyes twinkling with mischief.

Jake paled slightly. He had heard of Olivia. Everyone had. She was the kind of person you did NOT want to mess with unless you wanted to find your backpack mysteriously filled with mashed potatoes.

From that day on, Tanya noticed something strange. The bullies left her alone. In fact, they even seemed a little nervous around Olivia. Tanya had no idea what her sister had done, but she had a feeling she didn’t want to know.

With Olivia by her side, Tanya slowly started to come out of her shell. She made her first friend, a girl named Lily, who loved books just as much as she did. She even started speaking up in class.

One afternoon, she came home and found Olivia balancing on the armrest of the couch, pretending to be a pirate. “Guess what?” Tanya said, a little breathless.

Olivia jumped down dramatically. “You finally figured out how to steal extra cookies without Mum noticing?”

Tanya giggled. “No. I answered a question in class today. In front of everyone.”

Olivia gasped, clutching her heart. “My shy little twin sister is growing up!” She wiped away imaginary tears. “I’m so proud.”

Tanya rolled her eyes but grinned. “Thanks for… whatever you did.”

Olivia smirked. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Tanya didn’t press. She just hugged her sister tightly. Because even if Olivia never admitted it, Tanya knew that her mischievous, over-the-top, roller-rink-in-the-living-room sister had saved her.

And that was the best part of being twins.

That night, as they lay in their bunk beds, Olivia whispered, “Hey, Tanya?”

“Yeah?”

“You ever think about what it’d be like if we weren’t twins?”

Tanya thought for a moment. Then she smiled. “Nope. And I don’t want to.”

Olivia grinned in the dark. “Me neither.”

And with that, the two drifted off to sleep, knowing that whatever happened, they would always have each other.