My Identity Was Stolen

und that felt completely wrong. It was my mother' s n

d you see them? Did

hat felt like it belonged to another lifetime. My father' s vo

, sweetheart! We' re booking our flights right now. We' re g

memory of being locked out, of watching Emily steal my life

e to sound normal, to sound like

eat, Mom. I'

The girl who believed in the good of people had been suffocated in a dark room. The per

d, oblivious to the darkness coiling in my chest. "We' ll have to give her a huge bonus.

. The irony was

en. Emily Davis stood there, a bright

rents? Did you get your results?" she aske

er wide eyes, the ambition that flickered in her smile. This was the girl who wo

said, my

ught up in her performance. She bounced i

py for you! We ha

de to a nightmare. I remembered all the little things that had led to my down

ring on her social media, her posts getting comments meant for me. When I was busy studying, she would offer to answer my

ed it, calling it

y with a gentle smile. "Emily just wants

my parents proud. I saw a lonely girl and a caring m

but I had accounts my parents followed to see updates. Emily, knowing this, offered to "m

Sarah," she had said. "

d posting photos of herself, subtly at first, then more frequently. She replied to comments from my parents' frien

mic award from her own school, but the caption was all about my achievement. "Feeling so honored and

o everyone who only knew me through a screen, Emily was Sarah Mille

d, she was already pl

id, her eyes gleaming. "What are you go

hinking about the

, laughing while I was locked outside,

e a party. But she would

n event in a very di