The Pursuit

Thirty-Four

⬻Maggie ⤖

"Wake up!" the familiar voice cried above me. I became more aware of my senses slowly and the realization of where I am set in. I groaned inwardly and rolled face into the pillow. I let my body adjust temporarily and the smells rush in. Another groan escaped my lips and I felt the stench of mold and cigarettes consume the air I breathed. "Maggie!" Just gimme a break already.

"I'm up!" I opened my eyes to the brown watermarked ceiling and  cringed. I just want out of this hell hole.

"Sissy", Ellie said to me much slower and calmer than usual for the early morning. I sat up and braced myself up on my arms. The bed cover fell down. Piece of crap anyway. I wiped my face down with my hands and looked to her. She was not usually this patient with me this early. She tied her blonde hair back and turned to me with her deep blue eyes. She was always up before me and always eager to get out of this dump we call a home. "You're gonna be late again", she sat at the end of the double sized bed staring me down with her blue eyes. "You must have been out in lala land again. What was it this time murder mystery? Comedy? Romance?", she teased.

"If you don't stop teasing there will be a murder mystery in this room!", I leaned forward and chucked one of her pillows at her off our shared bed. She doesn't get it, she never did, and never will. It's my escape. I looked at her dressed in her favorite sweater and leggings. She clearly had a better perspective on this high school gig than I did.

"Ugh! Come on already!" She stood up and  off the bed and walked over to the makeshift table we have with the assortment of leftover food we get from school. She reached and grabbed a banana from the basket we weaved out of construction paper. She smoothed her hair out of her face and walked back to the bed. She sat crossing her legs and watched me with hesitation in her face. She took a bite of the banana and then started to speak again, "I think I'm gonna try out for the musical this week", she said quietly.

"That would be nice", I replied meekly and finally moving myself off the old bed. It creaked as my body weight left the springs. I stood up and moved towards the box that held our clothes. In all honesty having her try and possibly get accepted into the musical would be a burden off me. She could use the socialization and I could use more hours at work.  There's only so much time we can spend together before we want to tear each other apart. I loved her to pieces but she's still my sister whom I could call my worst enemy on a good day.

"You think so? I'm nervous I won't get a part but then maybe I could be on the tech crew or something like that, if I don't get a role. Also, Meredith is trying out and I think she's gonna be one of the leads so at least I'll get to hang out with her. Are you alright with me trying out?", Ellie stopped eating and waited for me to respond. I can't stand Meredith, never trusted her. Ellie always shared too much information with her.

I changed my shirt and nodded my head reassuringly, "El, I think it'd be great. You know I work late anyway so it would give you something to do at night". I was pessimistic that  she'd actually keep up with this. She had tried out for the swim team in the fall and made it three days into the practice before she quit. She said the chlorine made her smell too much. I told her it's a free hot shower and she should be grateful for it. She never really did like sports though. Dad had tried to get us both into competitive sports but we really didn't find a niche for anything when he was around.

I finished dressing and moved to grab my bag. "You don't want any  fruit?", Ellie asked me and I hook my head at her. "Alright, I'll have yours then. Don't want it to go to waste", she shrugged her shoulders and moved towards the door to our motel room. I followed in suit and grabbed my bag of toiletries. We've gotten into the habit of primping ourselves once we got to school.