Fairness Ruined My Life

As soon as I got home, Mom shot up and walked toward me. Frowning, she gave me a once-over.

"I don't see any missing limbs. You look perfectly fine to me," she said with an exasperated sigh. "What's this nonsense about you having cancer? If you were going to lie, Cassie, you should've at least come up with something more believable.

"Now hurry up and wash your hands. Don't bring any germs into the house. I don't know what's wrong with you anyway. You spend all your time coming up with the most ridiculous things."

I tried to give Mom the medical report with my diagnosis. Pulling it out of my pocket, I said, "Mom, take a look at this—"

"Mom, come quick! Check out this video. It's hilarious!" My older twin sister, Cheryl Moore, waved at Mom from the couch.

Mom immediately pushed my hand aside and hurried over to Cheryl. "I'm coming. What's so hilarious?"

My hand hung in the air.

Mom chuckled along with Cheryl for a while before finally remembering me. She pointed toward the dining table.

"I'm not playing favorites. I took Cheryl out to eat, but I didn't forget to save half of the food for you."

I looked toward the dining table and saw a plate of leftover seafood, mostly half-eaten. Dumped next to the seafood was part of a cake that looked like it'd been hacked into haphazardly.

My abdomen started cramping again.

I was allergic to seafood. Every time I ate it, I would break out in hives all over. The itching was unbearable.

However, Cheryl loved seafood, and in a show of fairness, Mom would always make some every few days. She would tell me she was just using desensitization therapy to help with my seafood allergy.

It didn't matter how many times I explained that a seafood allergy couldn't be overcome with just a few additional meals of seafood. Mom and Dad firmly believed I was just using that as an excuse to refuse to go along with the rest of the family—that I was willfully trying to break their rule of equality.

When Mom noticed that I hadn't moved, she urged me, "Hurry up and eat! Some of the seafood is raw. If you leave it out too long, it'll go bad."

I had no choice but to leave the seafood untouched and gingerly serve myself a slice of cake that didn't touch any of it.

The moment I took the first bite, a strange taste filled my mouth. I couldn't resist spitting it all out.

A greenish worm wriggled around in the piece of cake I spat out.

Hearing the commotion, Mom came over and took a look.

"Oh, dear! Why did I forget to pick out the worm? I didn't think it'd get into the cake. We spotted the worm when we left the house this morning. Cheryl thought it looked quite adorable.

"In the spirit of fairness, we wanted to make sure you got to see the cute little worm, too, so I kept it in my bag to bring it home to you.

"Who would've thought it would climb into the cake? But anyway, why are you overreacting like that?"

Cheryl doubled over laughing. "Hahaha! You're such a scaredy-cat, Cassie! Don't you think this worm is adorable?"

I stared at her cheerful, breezy expression.

Honestly, I wanted to question them on whether fairness truly looked like this. Nevertheless, even though the words were on the tip of my tongue, I stayed silent.

I'd tried arguing with them before. It always ended with Mom and Dad thinking I was rebelling against their teaching and deliberately kicking up a fuss. All I ever got was Dad punishing me while Mom sighed beside him.

Once Cheryl was done laughing, she came closer and eyed me. "It's our birthday today. Do you have any birthday wishes?"

"I want to see the ocean," I replied without hesitation.

She pursed her lips. "What's so great about seeing the ocean? I want to see the northern lights. Now that's way cooler."

Mom chuckled. "Since the two of you want different things, let's put it to a vote. That's the fairest way to deal with this situation."