Come Be My Teacher

sister sister

setting her dog back down on the floor, daphne stood up and made her way to the kitchen. "french toast or pancakes?" she asked herself out loud as she brought out a crate of eggs and opened it, tilting her head slightly.

"french toast it is." she said when she remembered she only had four more slices left of the loaf.

she cracked two eggs into a shallow bowl she had 'borrowed' from ty over the christmas holidays, whisking them before pouring in her milk and other ingredients.

do i still have syrup or will i have to use honey instead? not too fond of that sickly sweetness of it-

ding dong!

daphne furrowed her eyebrows in confusion "i don't remember ordering anything recently." she mumbled as she dropped the whisk and quickly went to the front door to see who or what exactly was there.

looking through the stained glass of her front door, she could tell that it was either a young teen- most likely just a girl scout trying to sell cookies- or a short adult. without much hesitation, she twisted her door knob and pulled the door open.

fuck. so much for not hesitating.

"what are you doing here?" she asked the girl with a heavy sigh, trying her best to be civil even though she wanted nothing more than to slam the door in her face.

the girl scrunched up her nose, making an exaggerated expression with her face, "you look like shit... smell like it too."

this is what i get for trying to be the bigger person.

"don't make me ask you a second time."

"geez, i can't even crack a joke with my older sister? harsh." katy said with a false pout but quickly straightened up when she saw that daphne was clearly not in the mood for her 'jokes', "sorry... can i come in?"

"oh, she has manners." daphne scoffed as she stepped aside and let katy in, shutting the door behind her and leaning up against the wall while katy sat on the living room sofa and began talking.

"i need money for groceries." katy said, almost whispering as if she was ashamed to ask her half-sister for the favour.

ordinarily, katy would not be here at daphne's house at all. not even to visit on christmas, so daphne could tell that something serious was up.

"why, what's up with your mum?" daphne asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion, finding it hard to believe that katy was low on funds. after all, she was pretty sure they [katy and her mother] got money from child support in addition to katy's mother's income from whatever job it was that she worked.

"she lost her job a few days ago." katy confessed as she looked down and tapped her foot against the floor repeatedly.

"and the child support from dad?" she asked, still trying to understand katy's situation.

"she blew it all on liquor... fucking relapsed." katy said under her breath, still never speaking up. 

daphne let out a short, quiet hum.

"...damn. that's tough."

"'that's tough?!' i tell you we've run out of money because my mother's fucking relapsed and all you have to say is 'that's tough'?!"

"sorry, sis. but what else am i supposed to say?" daphne responded in question, shrugging slightly. it wasn't that she wanted to give katy the impression that she didn't care about this problem, but really... what else could be said?

katy scoffed and leaned back into the sofa, raising her head up to stare at the ceiling, "never mind, i don't care. i came here for some money not sympathy-"

"i'm not giving you money." daphne said plainly.

the room fell silent for about two minutes as katy tried to process what she had just heard. no money? is she trying to kill me? asking daphne was her one and only option in terms of help. she was her only 'sibling' who lived in the same state as her and even if she wasn't, nobody else would be as willing to help her.

"how am i supposed to feed myself, daphne?" katy asked, still staring up at the ceiling and blinking back her tears.

"why would i give you money when it's gonna end up down the fucking drain?" she replied, averting her gaze from her sister when she realised she was close to crying.

can't look at her when she starts crying, that would be so awkward.

"down the drain?" katy repeated, her voice noticeably cracking as a single tear ran down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away, "you think giving me money to buy some fucking food is a waste?!"

daphne nodded with a 'matter-of-fact' expression on her face. "and i'm not wrong. what do you think your mother's gonna do when she finds you with money?... say 50 bucks for example."

katy's expression softened as she listened to daphne, realising that she had a point and wasn't just saying that to be mean or inconsiderate. if she took the money back home, her mum would end up using it to top up on her alcohol supply.

"exactly." daphne said after a few seconds.

"so what am i supposed to do, starve to death?" katy replied sarcastically.

"you won't starve, i'll take you to the grocery store and we'll buy what you need."

the younger sat up and looked over at daphne, disbelief and joy clear on her face.

"it's the better option." daphne shrugged as she stood straight and stretched out her back.

katy looked down as she fought back a smile, not wanting daphne to think she didn't still hate her guts.

"i'll make breakfast for myself before we head out though, i haven't eaten anything yet." daphne continued, slowly walking away and into the kitchen.

"you sure about that, fatso?" katy joked, with a slight smirk

"at least i have fucking food on my plate. where yours at?"