"Sherri?" Ariel called.
"What?"
Ariel recoiled when her sister snapped at her in irritation. Sherri Holland turned to look up at her little sister by three minutes.
"Um, I - I just wanted to know if I could borrow this." Ariel was holding up a black overall zip up dress that she knew Sherri had just bought. The twins shared clothes all the time but they had a rule that if one of them hadn't put the clothes on before, the other wasn't allowed to wear it.
Sherri shoved something that looked like their dad's old Walkman into her backpack. "Yeah, whatever. Just get dressed already, we're gonna be late."
Sherri spoke before shouldering her back pack and pushing past her sister..
Ariel frowned at her sister's attitude wondering what exactly could have pissed her off so early in the morning.
But then again, this had been typical Sherri lately. Sometimes she was overly helpful and ever present, other times she was moody, detached and quiet.
As Ariel walked back to her room and saw the funeral program that sat on her dresser, she suddenly felt guilty for judging her sister so harshly.
Of course she was moody and detached.
Ariel looked at the picture of Hannah Baker printed on the front.
She was so pretty.
Ariel suddenly felt guilty. Should she have told her that more often instead of just thinking it now? Would it have even changed anything?
Could she have changed anything?
Ariel didn't even know if Hannah really considered her a friend. Like a real friend. She had been wondering if any of the people she hang out with lately considered her a real friend.
If she was really Hannah Baker's friend, why hadn't she known that she was contemplating suicide?
How many times had Ariel struck up a conversation with her, saying, 'hi, how are you doing?'
How many times had she done that?
I hadn't really been listening to the answer, had I? Ariel thought to herself.
"Hey." Sherri appeared at Ariel's bedroom door.
"I'll be done in a minute." Ariel told her, quickly stashing away the program and feeling embarrassed because she had spaced out instead of getting dressed.
"No, that's not why I'm here." Sherri spoke as she stepped into the room looking guilty. "I just wanted to apologise for snapping at you earlier."
Growing up Sherri never apologised to her and it always frustrated Ariel. She had always been the more emotional twin and Sherri had always been the more dominant and strong one.
So needless to say, Ariel always got pushed around by her sister more. And that hadn't changed one bit as they grew up into their teenage years. It's not like Sherri was a bully, she was just the more assertive and outgoing one. The one who decided where they sat at lunch or who they hang out with.
Well that is until after the accident. Everyone walked on eggshells around Ariel, her sister included. Being overly gentle and hyper aware of her feelings, things she never used to do.
"It's fine." Ariel told her sister. "I mean I understand."
Sherri nodded. "Thanks."
"Sher, if you want to talk about Hannah - you can." Ariel assured her.
She knew that she wasn't as close to Hannah as Sherri had been but she felt that she had known her enough to empathise to some degree.
Sherri walked up to her sister and wrapped her hands around her in a hug. "You don't need to worry about me, Ari. Now go on and get dressed, dad already made breakfast."
