Memories Bequeathed

Chapter 9

"I hate them so much." Sophia would always say, gazing at some group of kids.

It got irritating after a while. It was  just the same girl spouting the same line about her same dislike of the same kids. I didn't mind that she hated people. It just hurt a little that she didn't hate the people that would verbally hurt me. I told Sera everything, so she hated Sophie for how she spoke to me; why couldn't Sophie hate the kids like Jake and Sean?

The two assholes in my class were friends of Sophie, but they wouldn't leave me alone. They were always raving on about how amazing my brothers were, then they would compare me to them or to others, myself being the inferior being.

"You know," Jake once said, "Al is so awesome. He's smart, he's funny, he's cool. How are you related to him?" He picked at a lock of my hair, slowly twisting it around his finger. "So here's the thing, I have met your mother, she's a great person: kind and smart. I've met your other brother, Jay, he seems like a cool kid, too. But- " He snarled, pulling my hair in tighter, "I have not yet met your father. But, somehow, I already know that I would like him more than you. Heck, your dogs are probably better than you." He threw my hair away and stormed off.

He and Sean said things like that all the time. Sophie never stopped them.

---------------------------

"I hate them so much." Sophie had said one day when she had particularly been getting on my nerves.

Previously, I had ignored her snide comments, but then I started to reply. I tried to talk back to her. It's just that she had said that phrase so many times already. It was too much.

"You hate everyone." I replied.

"No, I don't. And, for your information, I really don't like that group of kids."

I looked over at the group which she spoke of. It was my brother Al's group of friends.

"Those are nice kids." I had told her. "They are at my house all the time to hang out with Al. They're always respectful and nice. You really should get to know them. They're probably the best people in the school." I had said to her, sighing.

"Besides us, obviously." Hailey chirped, giggling.

"Obviously," I replied.

"You don't know what they did to me." Sophie was pissed off.

"No, you're right, I don't. Why don't you tell me?" I replied to her harshness.

"Nothing, whatever." With that, she walked away.

Later, I found out that Ben, one of Al's friends, used to be friends with Sophie. But, when he went to high school, they lost contact. When she joined him in high school the next year, he had moved on and didn't make an extra effort to hang out with her. That was it. That's all that happened between them. That's all it took to piss her off. All it takes to have Sophie hold a grudge against you forever is not making the extra effort to do exactly what she wants.

But, those kids were actually nice. From the distance, Ben waved at me. I raised a hand in reply, knowing what a sweet guy he was. Ben, Lorance, Ethan, Greg, Al. They had a good group. Ben was always too kind to me. He was so inclusive, too. Lorance never complained about me hanging out with them. Ethan was nice. Greg was a character. But, they were Al's friends. They liked me because they had to. They tolerated me when they had to. Ethan was in my grade, we had classes together, yet he only talked to me when it considered Al. It was always "Did you hear what your brother said?" or "You will not believe what your brother just did." Everything was always centered around him. Plus, Al had told me to keep my distance sometimes.

"It's fine if you join us sometimes," He had once told me, "Just know your place and when it's time to leave me alone with my friends. They're not your friends".

Yet, I was never sure what to think because sometimes, just sometimes, they would act differently. Sometimes, one of Al's friends would have a moment with me in which I felt like I was part of their world.

With Ethan, it was small. Once when he came over to hang out with Al, Al would act silly; He always did when he had friends around. Whenever Al would say anything particularly stupid, Ethan would look and me, I would shrug, then he would nod as if he understood something that I said when I, in fact, hadn't said anything. We repeated it over and over again. It was cute.

Once with Ben, he ate lunch over at my house. We kept on exchanging glances. I would look at him, then as he turned to look at me, I would turn away. My father caught on and cleared his throat. Again, it was cute.

Unfortunately, those were only moments. They never turned into anything. I tried to pursue the friendship, make lasting relationships. But I couldn't. I was their friend's little sister. I would always be the obligatory friend of theirs. I would never be a true friend whom they truly liked.

It wasn't fair.

--------------------------------------

Author's Note

Chapter nine is here! Thank you all for reading all this time. What do you guys think? What do you think of Jake and Sean? What do you think about Al and Ben? Do you like them? Who do you like/dislike the most?

Don't forget to comment and vote. I love you guys. Thanks for reading!

- NerdilyNerdy