The Big Brother's Mission (#3)

Chapter 26

I tilted my head up with my eyes closed, trying to just absorb the fresh air and let it cool my insides and help me relax.

I opened my eyes and watched as the wind shook the branches of the tree we were sitting under. Fall was already here and winter was just right around the corner, approaching fast. The branches were already balding, giving it a bare look, making the tree seem almost naked without its green. The leaves that managed to stay on the branches had already turned colors, pulling different shades of orange, yellow and sometimes even a beautiful bright red. The sight made by the tree branches reaching out and creating a web right above us, mapping across the space between us and the sky, was entrancing, at least to me. I could never get enough of it.

The sun was nowhere to be seen today, hidden behind some clouds. The air around us was a bit chilly but it was still a nice day out. I just hope that Maddy thought so too.

She was laying beside me, her head resting on my lap and her body resting on one side of me as the flowers I got her and what was left of the food I bought for our picnic date sat on the other side.

I barely managed to get her flowers and all the restaurants I could think of bringing Maddy to were fully booked for today. It looked like I was the only dumbshit that forgot what day it is today. I was lucky enough that Casey found this picnic date idea on the internet while reading someone's blog yesterday.

So far, Maddy seems to be enjoying it too. I should be in the clear.

After a moment of silence where we just enjoyed each other's company, eyes closed as we enjoyed just being out in the park and breathing in the cold autumn air, Maddy slowly sat up and turned to face me, laying her hand on my knee.

"Is Casey alright? I've been meaning to ask but it had completely slipped my mind."

"Yeah, why?" I asked, confused, looking at Maddy's face that was etched with concern.

"Some of the girls told me what happened at one of their houses the other day. Apparently Casey was there and Sonia was there too." Maddy didn't need to say any more. I immediately knew which house and what day she was referring to. The second that she mentioned Sonia, I also knew that whatever happened must've been ugly.

I knew what Sonia has been doing to Casey. I knew how they shunned her of any clique or clubs in school. Casey might have told me that she only had a few friends by choice because she suspected that most people approach her and try to be friends with her to be closer to me, but I knew that she had started losing friends around the time that Sonia found out she was my sister. Friends that she made on her first day as a freshman and friends that she knew from middle school started leaving her because they were told that sticking around Casey was social suicide. 

I saw the toll it took on Casey and how beat up she was about it but I could never do anything about it. I couldn't exactly force people to befriend my sister no matter how much I wanted to and I couldn't intimidate Sonia into backing off either. There wasn't much I could do.

I remembered the first time she started going into my room for two nights in a row just a few days at the start of freshman year, right after her closest friend, I think it was Chloe or whatever her name was, left Casey's side because Sonia had ridiculed her for being friends with Casey.

It was stupid and I couldn't even be bothered to remember the girl's name. She didn't deserve Casey as a friend; she wasn't even there to stand by Casey's side to defend her; instead she left Casey to fend for herself.

I felt my chest burn with hatred. Hate was a strong word, I was well aware of that. But Sonia - I never thought I'd say this about someone but she honestly deserved all the hate I was feeling towards her.