Taken by My Forever | ✓

Chapter #10

Wednesday.

Day three...

I sighed as I got out of bed; the lack of motivation to get through another day had me dragging my feet on the floor of my house. Going down the stairs, I saw my sister blankly staring at the screen of phone. She wasn't even blinking, just the light of her phone screen changing as she scrolled through her feed. Probably Instagram.

I sat on my seat quietly as I put on my shoes.

"What wrong with you?" She asked me dumbly.

She didn't sound fed up, but she sounded a little agitated from my lack of speech in general, at home, at dinner, at school... and her tone had a caring undertone regardless of how rude she sounded.

A tone she only used when she wanted to know something quickly, hear the end of without having to listen to the emotional investment of it.

"Nothing." I said.

"You've been quiet at dinner for the past three days, and you don't even laugh at school anymore." She rolled her eyes at me, as if I'd cut to the chase if she said it that way.

I glared at my hands as they worked on the laces of my shoes, "I laughed yesterday at lunch."

"Ugh. You know what I mean." She added in frustration.

"Nothing's wrong. I'm just tired." I lied and tried smiling as brightly as I could.

She didn't say anything, and she turned her attention back to her phone and continued scrolling through her feed.

I went to the kitchen to get something small to eat, as I settled on a cup of tea and a buttered slice of bread. I came back to the dinning table, and sat down. Just as I was about to start eating, my sister spoke, "Why are you even wearing a scarf, it's going to get hot." She asked me like I was stupid.

"I have a sore throat." I replied calmly, biting into my bread, "It's way too hot for you to even get a cold." She said countered.

I sighed, "Amy, if you have a problem with me wearing a scarf in the middle of the dry season, then just deal with it."

Her eyes rounded slightly in surprise by my reply, "Wow. I was just saying."

"Yeah, well, I was just replying" I matched her sass, "you don't need to tell me. I've been getting enough of that specific question for the past few days." I retorted.

She stood up, pushing her chair away from the table, which made it groan against the floor. I didn't flinch; it's what she was trying to achieve. I glared back at her and she left which a sour expression on her face, "You don't have to be a bitch when people are just looking out for you."

And she left. Now I was alone at the table. I looked at the bread I had left on my plate, and didn't touch it. I drank my cup of tea and left my plate on the table as I went to brush my teeth. I felt a pang of guilt as I brushed my teeth, but my sister usually asked rudely and then she would realize she didn't have to be.

***
After what happened this morning, my sister's last words replayed in my head, over and over and over again throughout the day.

"You don't have to be a bitch when people are just looking out for you."

I kept asking myself where this ever happened and wondering if I had done it any time before this morning, and then it clicked.

Ethan.

I remember how she seemed to have approved of him at dinner... kind of. I mean, she hadn't said anything bad about him and my friends seemed to be fond of him too, they all thought he was 'the one.'