Get You The Moon ✓ [published 2021]

1 | Scarlet

To Sera,
For not giving up.

I, Scarlet Bridge, was straight up having a bad time. To start off with, the Auckland weather was as cold as the twilight zone. That meant getting dressed for school at 6am while trembling with goosebumps. On top of that, everything I had planned for the first day of the last term was going wrong.

"You need to stop stressing," Sawyer, the token disaster of every family called out. I stared at the papers in my hand for a moment longer, letting the plastic frames slide further down my nose. I really needed to get those adjusted.

I peered at Sawyer over the top of my glassses. "Just 'cause it works for you, doesn't mean it will work for everyone."

Sawyer didn't answer. He had received the the barely disguised message in my sentence, loud and clear. Unfortunately, the 'no stress vibe' wasn't working for him. I knew it was a bitch move, but he could deal with it the same way he was dealing with everything else. By not dealing with it at all.

Sawyer Bridge was older than me by a single year, and my once upon adored older brother was headed towards the road of success much faster than I was – and that was saying something. Until everyone found out about his dirty little secret.

By association, his downfall led to mine.

It started off with the little things. I could deal with the stares, waiting for me to screw up. But then they refused to give me head girl, and I ended up with a lame deputy badge while Poppy Carter got a handshake for doing nothing.

I bit into the slightly burned toasted. If Sawyer hadn't spent longer than necessary singing to Elvis Presley in the shower, I would've had time to slide in another bread into the toaster. Alas, I had to settle for the burnt sensation on my taste buds. I shot Sawyer a sour look, one that went ignored while he focused on the birds flying.

Sawyer did that a lot post-downfall. He would stare out of the window and fixate on the most mundane things. The creepy bit was, he would stare for so long without blinking. As if he was worried, he would miss something life shattering.  Considering his life was pretty much shattered, I didn't know why he didn't look away. Maybe if I was a better sister and had more time, I would have asked him if he was okay.