"Sydnei!" my mother yelled up the stairs for me. I tossed and turned in my bed and waited for her to say something else. "I have to get into work early, I'll be home by four!"
I looked at the clock that read five-o'clock. In the morning. "Mom? It's really early, are you on the right schedule?"
She giggles at the bottom of the stairs. "Yes, I am. If you need anything, you've got Sarah here. Or just call me, okay? I love you."
"I love you, too," I yawn out as she creeps away from the stairs.
Down stairs, I can hear pots and pans banging and it gets hot under my bedroom. Is Sarah already up and making breakfast?
I creep down stairs and peek over the wall to the kitchen. And there she is, my twenty year old sister making peppered eggs at five in the morning.
"Why are you making breakfast so early?" I ask, walking into the kitchen and taking a seat at the table.
Sarah turns to face me for a quick glance, then goes back to cooking her eggs. "It's eleven, Syd. It's not that early."
I tilt my head. "My clock says five...?"
Sarah chuckles with slight evil in her voice. "I changed it to make mom think she was up five hours early. But she didn't come into your room this morning."
"You're terrible," I say, shaking my head. "No job, no pay."
"I work a great job, I can pay for this entire family," Sarah says.
I scoff. "Yeah, I know. Olive Garden's real classy."
Sarah rolls her eyes at me. "At least I don't despise my job. I just want her to take one day off to relax a little. One day. One. That's all I'm asking of her."
"She wants to make the money, Sarah," I say.
"That job doesn't pay shit," she says while yawning. "Dad's the one paying for my college tuition, she shouldn't worry about the money."
"Who said Dad doesn't need money?" I say. "Because he does. He's not in the best financial spot for himself, either."
"He does what he loves, though."
I roll my eyes. "You know, our parents don't just get money to support your college funds, you know?"
Sarah slapped her eggs on a plate and turned to face me, leaning against the now cool stove. "Sydnei, I--"
"Not everything is about your college, okay? There's such thing called loans, where after you get a job, you can pay them off yourself," I angrily rant. "I mean, there's other important stuff that they need. You know, like food, clothes, a home, a car. And even some of my shit. Not everything revolves around Sarah going to college."
She looks at me, dumbfounded. I can't really read the expression on her face, but she just sits there and stares at me.
She moves her plate of peppered eggs onto the table where I sit and says, "I made brioche, if you want any. This is the last of the peppers we've got."
Was she trying to turn the subject of the conversation around? I didn't care at this point. I nodded, and grabbed the loaf of homemade brioche.
