Love Bites

Alice is Actually Friendly

The door of the refrigerator loudly slammed shut and shook the whole appliance. I looked at the culprit, my little sister who was more focused on pouring a cup of orange juice than being gentle. "Raine, could you possibly be any louder?"

"Sorry, Penny." Raine apologized.

I opened my mouth to tell her not to slam the door again, but I decided that the apology would suffice. "Cereal or waffles?" It was useless asking, I knew my sister would request waffles and eggs like she did every morning. Part of me was hoping that she would want cereal instead since we were already going to be late for school.

Raine didn't even hesitate to answer with her usual order. "Waffles and eggs."

I sighed, our mother had made the last of the eggs for her special guest. But Raine didn't know that because our mother liked to sneak around and hide her guests from Raine. "We don't have eggs but we have bacon."

"Who ate the eggs?" Raine pouted. "I hate bacon."

"I know. I'll tell Mom to get some more while we're at school, okay?" Our mom was likely still hiding out in her room with whoever she came home with last night. Her work shift was supposed to start a while ago, so if she was still here, she clearly didn't plan on going to work.

"Why isn't Mommy at work?" Raine questioned.

"She's feeling under the weather." I noticed that my sister was still dressed in her pajamas. "Raine we're going to be late, why don't you have your clothes on?"

"Why don't you?" Raine asked.

I reached into the cupboard to get pancake mix. "I woke up late. So now I'm running around like a chicken with its head cut off loose trying to get you to school. If you could do me a favor and get dressed that would be much appreciated." I slammed the cupboard door.

"Fine," Raine mumbled.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you." I sighed. I'd been in a bad mood ever since I woke up, and it was definitely showing. "Could you just get dressed, please? Your outfit is laid out on the dresser."

"You've been really mean for the past two days," Raine complained. "Did something happen at school? Are you being bullied?"

I laughed. "I'm doing just fine at school." No one at my school seemed like bully material despite their lack of friendliness.

"Can I pick my own outfit for today?" Raine asked.

I shrugged. Usually, my mother liked to dress Raine because Raine couldn't dress for shit. "Sure just make sure it matches."

Even though I said yes, Raine stayed in the kitchen awkwardly swinging back and forth. "Can I pick your outfit for today?"

Hell no. "Sure, after you get dressed. Make sure my pants are dark."

"Why?" Raine asked.

I thought about it for a while. An answer was at the back of my head, but I just couldn't remember why. "Cuz I said so."

"Also I wanted waffles, not pancakes." Raine reminded me before running off.

. . . . . ╰──╮╭──╯ . . . . .

Mrs. Cope shook her head, disapprovingly. Honestly, I had gotten very used to that reaction from her. "Being late is not a good way to start this week off."

"Sorry Mrs. Cope, I had to take my little sister to school today," I explained. That wasn't really the problem, as I had to take her to school every day. I had just woken late.