Life Lessons and Love

Chapter 14

Mia's POV

Tuesday came and I was actually kind of on time today because I forced Bella to get up when I got up, shoved her out of her room, and locked it so she couldn't get back to sleep. As soon as I took a shower and got dressed, I took Bella to the bathroom, splashed icy water on her face, and unlocked her bedroom door.

"Mia, why are you doing this to me? Now I'm wide awake!" She whines.

With extreme difficulty, I shove my reactive emotions down and figuratively stomp on them. "That's the point, Bella. You need to be awake at the necessary time to get ready for school! Or else your classmates will make fun of you for being late because everyone who's late is considered a loser to them!"

"What?! I don't want to be a loser! Help me, Mia!!" She exclaims anxiously.

"OK, then let me help you pick out an outfit that's actually cute. Your friends may not care about what you wear now, but there are always old pictures of you that will embarrass you in the future."

I start rummaging through my sister's dresser and I find pink leggings, some purple skorts, a white t-shirt, and a "jeans" jacket.

"Really? How would you know?" She asks.

I close the drawers and start looking at the top of the dresser for some accessories. "Oh, there are pictures of me when I was your age, wearing the most atrocious clothes in the world!"

Bella cocks her head to one side.

"Atrocious means awful. Oh, my gosh, I once wore a neon orange shirt with a pink skirt, dark blue sneakers, and a ginormous bright yellow bow in the back of my head. Mom has the picture somewhere and when I find it, I'm going to hide it underneath the floorboards of this house!"

At last, I find a bright green barrette, a few rubber bands, and a small hairbrush.

"That doesn't sound so bad," Bella says.

I hand her the clothes I picked out, "Oh, trust me! It's REALLY bad! You'll see when you grow up. Here, put these on, and then I'll fix your hair. I'm gonna go pack lunch while you get dressed."

I leave the room and close the door and head downstairs to pack myself a lunch. I'm feeling strangely generous and nice today, so I'm going to pack Bella's lunch, too.

When I finish, I go back upstairs to find my little sister fully and correctly dressed in the outfit I picked out for her.

"Huh, I expected you to put the jacket on first and then the t-shirt, but I guess you're actually smarter than I thought you were,"

She sticks out her tongue. "And how smart do you think I am?"

I laugh and start brushing her hair, "I've actually always thought you were the dumbest spoiled brat in the universe, but I guess you're not so bad."

"Hmph!"

"For now," I add, smirking, and take two strands of Bella's hair from the front of her head and tie them together in the back. Then I secure some of her loose hair in the front with the green barrette.

She turns around to face me. I remark proudly, "Hah, I'm actually pretty decent with fashion, actually!" Bella rushes to the full-length mirror in her room.

"Eh, I guess I look OK,"

I shake my head and chuckle, "Well, you don't have eyes for fashion at your current age, but you'll thank me when you're fifteen like me!"

We go downstairs to eat breakfast and I make sure that Bella doesn't fill her entire bowl with cereal and doesn't go for a second bowl. I make myself some quick yogurt-fruit-granola parfait, scarf it down and then pack up my backpack and check my Instagram.