Ready? Not Really.. (Fem USUK) •IN EDITING•

Maddie

Saturdays were always much worse than I remembered during the weekdays.
Sure, there wasn't class or anything, but teachers always decided to pile homework on us right before class ended. I'm glad you all finished your class work, so write a five page essay on the history of erasers over your weekend! That kind of garbage.
I tapped my pencil against the corner of my mouth, my eyes narrowing as I read the same question on my history homework for the sixteenth time. It still made no sense whatsoever. I swung my legs back and forth and sighed. My neck hurt from doing my homework on my stomach, so I laid my head in my arms.
I had just began to relax when a harsh knock on my door made me snap back to reality. Who the hell could possibly want me on a Saturday afternoon? I checked my phone. It was lunchtime. Shouldn't this person be eating or something? I got up with a grunt and went to answer my door.
And of course, it was my twin. A very similar pair of eyes to mine stared back at me, huge and framed with glasses.
"Hey, Ames," I said. Amelia just stared blankly at me. I frowned. "Amelia?"
She sniffled, and my body immediately tensed up when I saw the first tear roll down her cheek.
Oh, hell no.
No one was allowed to make my sister cry.
I dragged her over to my bed to get her to a comfortable spot and sat down. She collapsed into a tight ball beside me, curling into my side.
We had always been there for each other when one of us was hurt. It was an unspoken thing that we were to come into each others room when we were especially upset and just stay together until the other felt better. Amelia had held me close when my first and only boyfriend broke my heart, and she had fallen asleep in my arms when Alice slapped her across the face during an especially heated argument a few months back. The whole twin telepathy thing was sort of bullshit, but the sisterly bond we felt was stronger than anything describable. I loved my baby-sister-by-a-few-minutes, and no girlfriend or friend or person could ever split us apart.
Which was why I was instantly furious at whoever made her cry like this.
"What is it?" I asked. Amelia shook her head and buried her face in my shirt. Her tears soaked through the fabric, but I didn't even notice. "Who did this? What's wrong?" I stroked her hair and tucked a few strands behind her ear. "Did someone hurt you? Amelia, say something, dammit."
"Alice," she croaked.
I frowned. "What about her? I thought you guys were moving in today before the semester starts." A sob racked through her body. Okay, touchy subject. I backed up a step. "What happened between you two?"
Amelia glanced up. Her glasses were crooked on her face, and smudges left behind from crying partially hid her eyes. "She doesn't love me, Maddie," she said. "She doesn't. She loves Fran. I..." She tucked her head back into the crook of my arm. I frowned. What the hell was that supposed to mean?
"Fran, like, our cousin?" Amelia nodded quickly and sniffed loudly. "Ames, Alice does not love Fran at all. She can barely stand her to begin with, so I can't see how-"
"I walked in on them kissing," Amelia interrupted.
What?
My eyes grew huge. "Excuse me?"
She rubbed her eyes with her shirt sleeve. "They... I was going to give Alice back her journal, and I opened the door, and they were-" her breath hitched. "And they were touching each other... And-and Fran said she..." Amelia shivered and looked up at me. My heart lurched. She looked so small and so sad in that moment, and it made me remember that she wasn't only my twin: she was my best friend and my soulmate. The other half of me. I felt her emotions almost as if they were mine.
"Are you sure?" I asked slowly.
She wrinkled her nose. "I wouldn't imagine this shit, Maddie. I saw Fran's hands under her shirt and..." Amelia shook her head. "Not even that. Alice kissed her back. She liked it. She..."
I wanted to murder both of those girls. I narrowed my eyes and pulled Amelia's head to my chest. She calmed down a little when I stroked her hair. "I'll talk to them," I promised.
She peeked up. "I have to live with her," she whispered. "I can't do this. I can't look at her. I was going to tell her I loved her, Maddie." I closed my eyes. "For real this time. But now I can't ever be with her. I-"
"Talk to the dorm advisor," I cut her off. She couldn't get more worked up or she would do something she'd regret later, if she hadn't already. "Tell her that you want a different roommate."
Amelia rubbed her nose. Snot got all over her sleeve. I sighed and made a mental note to let her have one of my shirts. "I'd think you would want me and Alice to be together," she said, mocking me halfheartedly.
"I don't need you two to get in an argument and do things you can't take back." I looked up at my ceiling. Somehow, I was always in the middle of this crap. "Just... do it later. Stay here and calm down a little."
Amelia didn't say anything but snuggled into my side, closing her eyes and wrapping her arms around me. I looked down at her. Small, fragile. So happy and now...
I narrowed my eyes.
I was going to find Alice and fucking blow up on her.
But for now, I stayed in the same spot and watched Amelia fall asleep, shivering every now and then.