𝗦𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗦𝗙𝗬 - 𝗿𝗮𝗳𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗻

𝐨𝐧𝐞

The mischievous smile on her face only grew as the older girl stared her down with warning eyes.

It seemed dangerous to be dancing on the edge of the roof when just below there was a 20 foot drop. But, the care-free girl didn't seem to mind as she freely hopped along the side, feeling as though she was floating. She shot her sister a wink as she made a leap from the flat surface she was frolicking on, onto the slanted one, her feet almost slipping as the girl watching her gasped. 

"Get down from there, Mercy. It isn't funny!" she called, worry etched in her tone. "Oh come on, I'm not going to fall. Loosen up a little sis." she chuckled in response.

"How exactly do I loosen up when my little sister is acting like a nutter dancing on the edge of the roof at a time like this?" she questioned in annoyance.

"Wouldn't be the first time." she heard a familiar voice say as a boy emerged from behind the girl concerned for her sister. 

The younger girl scoffed before carefully walking over to the ladder leaned against the wall and climbing down. "So, you're back." she remarked, walking over to him. "Yeah, I decided college wasn't my thing." he responded, clenching his jaw at her proximity.

"It was about time." she sneered. "You guys can't even last a minute without bickering, my god." the older girl sighed as she pushed her sister away from the boy. The younger girl suddenly realising how close she had been before groaning and walking away to go inside.

"Hey, since you're back after all these months, can you please try to act a little nicer towards her?" the girl said to the boy next to her. He turned to her "And why should I do that?" he asked her. "Because" she sighed, "I just think that maybe you guys should have a fresh start. Believe it or not, it gets really irritating when all you guys do is quarrel over petty inconveniences."

The boy gave her a look of disbelief. "Did you just say start over? Ramona, this is Mercy we're talking about. Even if I was nice to her, she would never consider doing the same."

"You can't be sure without trying, right?".

The boy gave in, rubbing his face with his hands before announcing "Ok fine, but you owe me for this one."

"No problem, name your price." she smiled. "You have to help me out with my dad. Back me up or something. Like make an excuse for me leaving college." he said, a pleading look in his eyes.

"Rafe, just be honest with him." she responded, her smile dropping once she heard the favour her best friend wanted. "No, Mona, you don't understand. My dad, he's gotten stricter with me. And um, he would totally freak out. Please, I need this favour really bad right now." he requested.

"I mean, yeah, I do owe you. But are you sure lying is going to do you justice?" she asked. "Do we have a deal or not?" the boy asked, his tone turning much more stern. The girl responded, taken aback "We have a deal. But uh, do you wanna talk about it? What happened with college or whatever you said about your dad?" she asked sweetly.

"It's not a big deal." he said.

"By the way you were acting, it seems like a pretty big deal." she spoke.

"Forget it. I'll see you tomorrow." he quickly declared before turning away from her.

"Wait, where are you going?" she asked. "Home." he said in an obvious tone.

"But, you normally stay over." she mentioned, causing him to face her again. "Yeah well, not today. Goodnight, Mona." he plainly stated before walking away.

The girl scrunched her eyebrows in confusion at the boys urgency to go home. He's changed, she thought to herself. Shrugging off the strange event, she walked inside. Seeing her sister sitting at the counter, she made her way over, taking a seat next to her. "Is it just me or is Rafe acting really stingy?" she questioned her younger sister. "I wouldn't consider that unusual." she replied.

"No, I mean with me." she explained. "Hate to break it to you, but I kind of left before you guys even spoke to each other just now." she said, slightly confused. "Oh right yeah, I forgot, sorry. I'm being stupid." she chuckled. "Did he say something to you?" she asked in concern. "No, he didn't. I'm just being dramatic." she responded. "Well, something's clearly up. Tell me." she spoke. "He just kind of left in a hurry. And normally, he opens up to me but when I asked if he wanted to talk about college or his dad he shut me down. It's just not like him." she explained.

"His dad? What do you mean?" she questioned.

"He said his dad has gotten stricter with him or something. I don't know exactly what he means because he won't tell me anything." she sighed. "Ok well, maybe it's just because it's not that important." she shrugged.

"Not helping." she shot her sister a glare.

"Sorry, I'm just saying maybe you're worrying too much. That's what you do best, but sometimes you just overwhelm yourself. Like now for instance. Let it go, he'll come around." she spoke.

"And if he doesn't?"

"Then his loss because you give some pretty fire advice." she dismissed.

The girl giggled at her little sisters remark before pulling her into a side hug.

"Yours isn't so bad either. Thank you." she smiled.

"Anytime, loser." she replied.

"Aw, look at my little girls caring for each other." a voice spoke before a pair of arms were wrapped around the two girls from behind. The mother embraced her daughters, kissing each on the forehead. 

As they pulled away, the older woman admired her children's beautiful faces. Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her younger daughters ear, she spoke "It's really late. You should sleep, angels." she pointed out, beginning to walk upstairs; the girls following closely behind.

As they reached the top of the spiral staircase, the delightful woman kissed her daughters on their foreheads again before softly saying "Goodnight, princesses."

"Goodnight, mother." they responded in unison.

The older woman walked away and the two sisters retreated to their own bedrooms.

The family itself, was perfect. The household itself, was perfect. It was what was lurking in the exterior of this flawless facade that would cause the demolition of this consummate story.