The One He's Not

Unladylike & Familiar Thieves

Unladylike & Familiar Thieves

KAT

“Wake up, Kat! You have to wake up!”

A knee to the gut caused me a moan in protest. I pulled the covers over the top of my head, in hopes that if I didn’t respond to the voice then maybe they would just give up and go away.

“Kat, come on, I want to go out and play!”

Suddenly, my covers were torn from my clutches, so I no longer had anything to shield me. I opened one eye to take a peek at my attacker, but I couldn’t hold a straight face. She was just too adorable that it made me smile.

My younger sister Ella was on her knees at the foot of my bed with her arms crossed. Her blond curls were tangled and her bright blue eyes were filled with excitement. It was obvious that someone had their morning coffee.

I grabbed a pillow from the side of my bed and lightly threw it at her. “It’s sleepy time, Ella. Go back to bed…” I groaned while stuffing my face into my other pillow.

Ella wasn’t having it, so she pulled on my arms with all her strength and forced me to sit up.

“Kat, I’m ten years old, not four. You don’t have to use the words ‘sleepy time’ around me,” Ella grumbled while taking my hands in hers and pulling me up from my bed.

As she walked away from me while throwing a tiny tantrum, I couldn’t help but sadly smile. Ella was so innocent and oblivious to everything.

Ella looked nothing like our father, apart from his blue eyes that I didn’t inherit (thankfully, I was lucky enough to inherit my mother’s chocolate brown ones) She looked just like a mini Veronica with her dimples, pale complexion, and her fare blond locks.

Seeing Ella was proof that my father, Simon Andrews, had stopped loving my mother. Ella was a blessing, but knowing that she was brought into this world because of a big secret just made me feel ashamed. I was ashamed of my father, Veronica and their foolish actions. I also felt guilty that in the past, I didn’t even see the signs of my father becoming distant. He had a whole separate life that my mother and I didn’t know about.

I know that I will never hold Ella accountable for my father’s mistake. She is innocent and I love her like any sister should. She is bubbly and full of energy, like any ten year old and she is the only thing that I will accept when it comes to Veronica and my father’s relationship.

“Hey sis, are you okay?”

Ella was looking up at me and my heart just felt like melting. She was so cute, I couldn’t even take it.

“Yeah, munchkin. I’m fine,” I whispered while patting the top of her head.

SLAM

Suddenly, my bedroom door swung open and thousands of papers of different colours and sizes came flying into the room. They swirled in a spiral, as if a tornado was forming and then darted in my direction.

To duck for cover, Ella and I ran laughing behind the other side of my bed. When the papers all floated to the ground like a colourful carpet, Ella and I came out from hiding and fell to the floor laughing.

She sure knows how to make an entrance, I thought.

“Come on out, Karina. I know you’re here!” I shouted.

Karina stepped out from behind the door and laughed. She was wearing a seafoam green summer dress that was decorated with multiple flowers and her dark thick hair was pulled up into a messy bun. Let’s just say that she looked way better than me and my extra baggy sweats.