She would persevere

chapter 28

You're stuck in the playground
And I'm a grown woman now
Considering you hate me
You're stalking like you made me
So why you acting like you're tough?
By now I thought you'd had enough
Don't you get tired of being rude?
(Aww come and give me a hug dude)

Waking up to an alarm clock is no fun. Especially when it is a boring beep one instead of an upbeat song. Turning my head, I recognised the individual next to me. Waking up a bit more, I noticed my throat being scratchy and dry, as if I had been screaming at a concert last night, which i didn't and therefore it was weird.
Speaking of concerts, I have to check when Imagine Dragons perform again.

"Morning birthday girl." Kiel said with a smile on his face. I smiled back.
"Good morning big bro, how'd you sleep?" I asked sheepishly, knowing I had confiscated half his bed and most of the duvet.
"Like a baby." He laughed before he turned serious. "How are you feeling?"
"The same as yesterday? Turning 17 hasn't really done anything for me yet, still a big kid."
"Alright get ready for school, I have to work but I'll immediately go to the restaurant for your birthday dinner."
"You better not be late! Oh you picking Em up, or is she coming to the restaurant by herself?"
"She's meeting me at the hospital." He smiled.
I nodded my head and got out of bed to get ready.

Getting close to the kitchen, I heard so many congratulations to Adaline.
Apparently she starts with presents before morning coffee... How do you survive like that? I need morning coffee before I can operate.

"Happy birthday Adele, this is for you, from James and me." Aquila was the first to congratulate me and he even had a present for me. I thanked him while opening the box after a sip of coffee.
It had a few awesome displate's, a new table length mouse pad that lit up, skins for my PS 5 and the new Razer Basilisk v3.0 gaming mouse. The last box was also wrapped up, which contained the 'NVIDIA TITAN V' graphics card.  These guys know their sister well. My current pc already runs on a RTX 3090, so this bad boy is going into my program's computer.

"Best present so far, Jay and Qui, and for that I'm giving you a free ride to school." I got a few other presents from the rest, which were mostly gift cards that I couldn't hate on. They always come in handy. I was drinking up the rest of my coffee when I noticed the sad look on Noah's face while watching me. Weird.
"Aqui, you can ride with me. I mean my car is so much better."  Aquila had a confused face.
"Which car are you talking about, Addie?"
"Duh, the Bugatti."
I butted in. "You mean the white and pink monstrosity?"
"It's not a monstrosity, it even has crystals on the front and side." Narcissist says what?
I looked at her, before having a little extra confidence. It was my birthday after all.
"Uh... Bitch please! That car is a Barbie toy car, not an actual driving car. I wouldn't be caught dead in that thing. Qui your riding shotgun lets go!" I walked out of the kitchen without even the simplest conversation to any of the others.
I, soooo, did not want to be at school today.

It was finally lunch time and I didn't feel like eating cafeteria food. Noticing Qui walking with a couple of his friends just a few metres away, I sprinted towards him.
"Hey Qui, quick question. You feel like skipping the rest of the day with me?"
"uhm... Sure, but after food, cause I'm hungry."
"Let's go eat out and then drive to the arcade."
Aquila's smile lit up. "Best plan ever! Bye guys!"
With that we ran to my car and drove off.
We got some lunch at the Mac and played for hours in the arcade, which also had VR headsets and games. It was almost time for us to get home so we could change for my birthday dinner.

"That was the best way to enjoy my birthday! I had fun."
"Me too, we should actually do this more often." Aquila grinned at me. I simply grinned back.
Walking into the door we were still adamantly talking about the new type of VR games that were about to come out and that we both still needed to buy our own headsets, when we were called over to the living room.
Adaline was crying.... Oh god! What did she do now?
"Why did you do it Adelaide?" My dad asked me.
Being as confused as I was. "Uh, hello to you too. Please explain to me what I did, cause I have no idea what you're talking about."
"You know what you did, I saw you do it! I know you don't like my car, but I do!" Adaline screamed out.
"What the fuck did I do, then?!" I was getting annoyed, this was not the way I wanted to end this awesome day.
"You keyed her car! She saw you do it right after school!" Ezra yelled out.
I stood there, flabbergasted.
One, Ezra, yelled at me. He never yells.
Two, I keyed her car? Like what the hell?!

"Adele didn't key her car after school, I was with her the entire time. We weren't even at school." Aquila spoke up.
"Don't make excuses for your sister, Aquila. She did it, now she has to own up to the responsibility." my dad reacted.
"You, young lady, are grounded. You won't be joining us for dinner tonight and I want your electronics." I stood shocked.
"When are you going to learn your lesson?" I heard him mutter out.
"That's it? You're taking her side while I have an alibi?! How is that fair! I wasn't even at school when it ended like Qui said, since I skipped school during lunch period. But of course I shouldn't even think that you would hear me out, since your princess has spoken, right? When will you ever listen to me or take my side for once, dad?"

"I am always on your side Adelaide, but that doesn't excuse your behaviour!" Dad roared out.
"My side? My SIDE?! Since when? You have always been on her side. You always listen to her, no matter who speaks up for me, cause you believe no one else. Not uncle Beck, not your own son, not even me. Tell me, dad, since you're always on my side. Where were you when Adaline accused me of stabbing her? Where were you when Candace beat the hell out of me? Where were you when she branded me? Where were you when she sold me again and again and again?! Where were YOU when my demons took over my mind because of what happened in the past? Where were YOU when Candace invited uncle Tommy and his friends huh? Where were you?! Oh, I know, you were with Adaline... It has always been Adaline and it will always be Adaline, right?" I sniffed.

"Cause I will never be good enough, I will never be perfect enough, right?" I looked from my dad to my sister.
"I hope you're happy now, you won! congratu- Fucking- Lations Adaline." I looked at the rest of the family and nodded.
"I get it now." I started looking at my father. "I am your child, but I'm not your daughter." I looked towards my siblings.
"I am your sibling but not your sister. Adaline is. Right? I get it, I do. I just don't understand it." I started laughing and crying at the same time and started to walk away. "I am done! I am moving away and none of you can do anything about it! I AM DONE!!"

I ran up to my room and banged the door shut. Leaning my back against the wall, I shimmied down the wall and cried all my frustrations out. I had not been back here for more than a few weeks and they managed to undo every bit of self healing I acquired. I would wait for Kiel and Lee to come back and then I would leave this place, I couldn't take it anymore.
Why can I not have the love I wish for?
Why can I not be cared for as I wished?
Why does karma hate me so much?

Before I could contemplate even more, there was a soft knock on my door.
"Lainy? Are you there, sissy?" Teddy spoke out from the other side. Wiping away the tears, I opened the door for him. I crouched down and smiled at him. He instantly buried himself in hugging me.
"I made this for you Lainy, for your birthday!" Teddy showed me a drawing. To be honest, the kid can't draw for shit, but it didn't matter. The picture was heartwarming. He drew both of us with the sun and Gen's handwriting was underneath it. 'Best sister ever!' was written and Teddy wrote his own name underneath the text.
"Thank you so much, Teddy, this is awesome! Let's find a place to put it or hang it up." He immediately took the picture and set it on my bedside table. "Now you can see it everyday! You are the best sissy ever, Lainy. I love you so much!" I proceeded to hug the life out of Teddy and kiss him everywhere on his face as a thank you. Before I knew it everyone was ready to leave and Qui came to pick Teddy up. He wanted to say something but before he could I thanked him for standing up for me.
And before I knew it, I was alone.
I felt alone.
I was alone.
I felt empty.
I was empty.

I shook myself out of my thoughts and started packing everything up. I wasn't joking about leaving. I would place everything in the car tomorrow morning and would drive all the way back to Miami. There was no chance I was leaving my car behind. No sir!.
I was in the middle of making up a text to maman when someone knocked on the door.  Maybe it was Kiel or Lee. Maybe they stormed out of the restaurant when they heard I wouldn't be there.
I wished I had never let my guard down in this house. I wished I had never opened that door.

Uhm.... Hehehe.. #don'tkillme #please....
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Love, Sarah