Love Bites

A So-Called "Fresh Start"

Tiny water droplets slowly slid down the foggy glass window. I took my pinkie and slowly wiped away some of the fog to display my initials on the window. Before I could think of something else to write the sound of a deep sigh disrupted my concentration.

"Aspen, can you stop sulking on the new couch and help me with my bags?" I looked behind me to find my mom holding a big duffle bag.

God, I could go for a smoke right about now. "No can do, Mother," I turned back to the almost frosted window. "I'm wallowing in self-pity right now. It's very time-consuming."

"Now isn't the time for self-pity, Pen. You can wallow after you help out." My mother said.

"It's not like I own anything and neither does Raine," I grumbled. My mother didn't seem to have much money to spend on her daughters or anyone except for herself. Anything Raine and I owned came from our father but he wasn't good at holding down a job. So, Raine and I didn't own much except for clothes.

"You both own a bag full of clothes so put them in your rooms. And when you're done help me out with my bags. Please." My mother asked... well demanded.

I didn't bother moving an inch. I looked at my little sister who was practicing walking on her hands. "Raine, could you get our bags and take them to our room when you're done?"

"There's three rooms." My mother reminded me.

"I'm aware." I shrugged. There was no way in Hell my sister would end up wanting her own room. We'd been sharing the same room since she was born and because of that she never liked to sleep without me.

"You don't need to share a room with your sister anymore. Plus moving two beds into one room would be annoying." My mother complained.

"Then she'll sleep in my bed like she always does," I argued.

My mom rolled her eyes. "Did you even ask her if she wanted to be in your room?"

I sighed and waved my sister over. "Raine, come here." My sister carefully stood back onto her feet and came over. "Why don't you move your duffle bag into your room?"

As I knew she would, Raine started to pout. "Why can't I be in the same room as you?"

"Don't you want your own room?" My mom smiled and soothingly rubbed Raine's back.

"No." Raine shook her head. "Can I stay with Penny?"

"I don't know, Sweetheart. You and your sister are big girls now. And big girls get their own rooms." My mother said. Raine frowned and looked at me with puppy-dog eyes.

"You can stay with me all you want. Make sure you pick the biggest room for us." I said. My sister squealed and rushed to get our bags.

My mom kissed her teeth and huffed, upset that things didn't pan out her way. "Since you have your seven-year-old sister doing everything for you, can you help me with my bags?"

I looked at the huge pile of bags that sat by the front door. "All fifteen of them?" Sure, fifteen was an over-exaggeration but my mom did have an abundance of stuff.

"Yes." My mom said.

I lazily got off of the couch and grabbed a heavy ass bag. "Whatever, which one is your room?"

"I'll let your sister pick her room first." My mom grabbed a bag and threw it over her shoulder with a grunt. As if on cue, Raine came happily skipping into the living room. "Which room did you pick, Raine?"

"The one with green wallpaper. The other ones had yellow wallpaper and Penny hates yellow." She wasn't wrong. I absolutely loathed the color yellow. "Do you need help with your bags, Mommy?"