Tears

06 » depressed

.... { " I'm not depressed. } "

I stood in front of the mirror and lifted up my shirt. A large, bluish purple bruise was printed above my third rib and as I ran my cold fingers over it I wimped at the delicate contact. I felt wet tears slide down my face, but when I looked in the mirror nothing leaked from my red eyes. There were no tears. I took in a deep breath and pulled my shirt down, making sure to cover the hideous bruise before I left the bathroom.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out. My sisters name was lit on the screen and I answered. "Amy?"

"Hey sis!" She squealed excitedly. "Guess what? I got a few days off work so I decided to come down for a visit."

"What? You're coming down today?" Worry started to fill me. Why today of all days?

"Yep. In fact I'm only five minutes away, I wanted to surprise you!"

"Amy, you can't--"

"I gotta' go sis, I'll see you soon!"

The line went dead before I could even process what just happened. Amy was just minutes away. She was almost here. What would happen if she bumped into mum? What would happen if she found out what happens to me at school? Or at home?

"Shit." I cursed under my breath as I ran around the house, trying to make everything look tidy and worth living in.

I lit a few candles to brighten up the place as I still had no electricity. I bolted to my bedroom and quickly covered up my baggy eyes with makeup and brightened up my pale lips with a but of lipstick. Once done, I heard a car sound outside along with a horn and I ran to the front door.

There was a short knock before the door opened, revealing Amy with a large brown suitcase by her feet. She held up a set of keys and smiled softly. "I see you haven't changed your locks."

"Y-yeah." I bit my bottom lip hard, tasting blood.

Amy stepped inside and a small gasp escaped her mouth. "It hasn't changed a bit." She whispered as I closed the door. "Why is it so dark in here?"

"Um, mum didn't pay the electricity bill. Well, she didn't pay anything..." I trailed off, looking at my feet as they fiddled with each other.

"Ember, you're telling me that you have no electricity, meaning no food or warmth?" I nodded slowly and she sighed. "How can you live like this? I swear to god Em, I will get you out of this hellhole."

She sounded so determined. I knew she wanted to fix everything, she was my older sister so she felt like the responsible one.

I led her to my bedroom where she would stay. We used to share a room sometimes when mum would yell over the phone at somebody or just go off her wall. Amy would slip into my bed and we'd sleep together. She would always comfort me by singing a happy tune into my ear as I drifted off to sleep.

"Wow." Amy breathed as we entered my bedroom-- our bedroom. "Everything is still in its place."

"Hmm." Was all I said. How could I speak to my sister when she just randomly surprises me by coming over? She couldn't just do that. We could've made plans, I could've gotten the chance to get a job and fix myself up before she came.

Any turned to me and gazed deeply into my eyes. "Ember, I know something's wrong," she walked closer and my hands began to shake nervously. "You're depressed, aren't you?"

I shook my head quickly. "I'm not depressed." I tried to tell her honestly, I almost believed it myself, but my voice cracked at the end and suddenly I was overwhelmed with sadness.

Amy wrapped her arms around my neck and embraced me in a warm, comforting hug, and I cried into her shirt, letting all my feelings leak out of me.

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