Unlucky

Chapter II : The Same World

"Are you alright?"

"Fuchsia, will you stop asking? I already said, I'm fine!" Tristan glared at me, ashamed of how he'd reacted afterwards. He had nearly started crying, and we both knew it.

"Well you're still my brother, and I'm worried about you! You don't seem 'fine' in the slightest," I replied, folding my arms.

"Well you can drop it, because even if I wasn't fine, I wouldn't say anything!" he said, raising his voice. A few kids turned around to look at us, some angry, others concerned. I glared right back at him and resorted to staring out the window. I couldn't imagine how he was feeling, and my mind was moving sluggishly, as if it were trying to climb up a mountain of mud.

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Rain.

The sound of raindrops on the window began to sound as the dark clouds from above started to sag. All of the mixed thoughts and emotions that had built up inside of me just turned into steam and vanished. I was finally able to think clearly.

The ride to school was about twenty minutes away, so we had to wake up early. One might think that I finally got what I wanted, that I was finally able to have something good happen, but really, I felt worse. My brother was upset and didn't even want to talk to me, I felt like a different person, and the usually peaceful rain seemed like it had been tampered with. Nothing was right, not the swapped roles, the odd rain, Tristan's scraped knees... Tristan!

I had completely forgotten about him, and when I looked back at him, I saw a tear slip down his cheek.

"I'm sorry."

"What?" Tristan said, "Did I mishear you, or are you out of your mind?"

"I said, 'I'm sorry!'" I said, gazing into his distraught green eyes. "I'm sorry I wouldn't leave you alone, that I never really appreciated your company, that I didn't notice how upset you were when I did leave you alone!"

We sat in silence the rest of the way to school as the rain continued to pour down, Tristan with his umbrella in his hand.