𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐬 [𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐮]

i. teeny weeny bit of favoritism

♡ ♡ ♡

When Nini was a little girl, she watched a lot of sitcoms.

There the little girl sat on the red ripped sofa in front of the small rinky-dink television, with her little sister's head on her lap, the harsh blue light reflecting on her face. 

"Don't talk to me like that! You're such a loser, James!" Her mom screamed from her parent's room in the small house.

"I'm working as hard as I can Caroline! But you can't appreciate anything!" The girl's father yelled back.

At six year old, she blocked the noise out of her parents hurling insults at each other as the Full House theme song played indicating the start of a new episode.

It gave the mini Nini solace. To know that no matter what happened throughout the episode, the ups and downs, the arguments or the mean words, everyone would be all made up by the end of the twenty three minute episode. It was the little bit of constancy in the ever changing drama of her family life.

"Nini?" Her four year old sister mumbled as she sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Yes, El?" She asked, pushing the hair out the little one's eyes.

"I'm hungry." Her sister cried.

"Let's get some PB&Js." She pulled her sister to the kitchen despite all the fighting amiss.

Nini is no longer a little girl anymore.

"Mom? Eleanor and I are leaving for school." She touches her mother, who was seemingly, permanently in a comatose state.

"Huh? Alright James." Her mom speaks as her head tilts back in the couch and her light snoring continues.

"I'm Nina." The girl mumbles walking away from her once again unconscious mother. It's not like it mattered to her anyway. "El?" She calls lightly to the back of the small apartment, being sure to not wake up their mother's boyfriend, who was asleep in Caroline's room.

"I'm coming." She calls lightly from their bedroom.

"This is why I told you to get up early when I did." She lectures her as she always does walking into the room.

Nina's side of the room has pictures of memories, posters of rockstars, and other musicians; some included are Elvis, MGK, Megan Thee Stallion, Britney Spears, and Rihanna. Eleanor has some musicians; Beethoven, Tupac, Mozart, Elvis and One Direction are plastered on her wall among other things.

The sisters share a rickety, but reliable double bed in the center of their room, covered with older blankets and throw pillows, and a quilt their grandmother knitted for them years back.

Eleanor's side of the room has an old jukebox, bought from the dinner in town that Nina works at for only fifty bucks, which she sees as completely worth it— Nini did too.