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03

"I'm home!" I yelled as I stepped inside the doorway. I tossed my backpack onto the chair next to me and walked up the stairs to my mother's bedroom. She sat on her bed, as usual, with a glass of wine and a cooking show on her television. She had good reason to, and I didn't blame her for being so depressed after she lost her leg in a car accident. I loved her anyways and I knew she would be herself again as soon as she felt comfortable.

"Hey, mom, I'm home. Need anything?" I said. Her face was paler than usual. I could tell she hadn't been eating. She shook her head and took another sip of her wine. "Are you sure? Have you eaten anything today?"

"Cole, leave me alone." She snapped. I turned around and left the room. Resting my back against the wall outside the door, I sighed. I knew she was in there, but I really missed my mother.

I decided that, despite her wishes, I would make her some food. She always loved tortellini, so I thought she might appreciate a big plate of cheese tortellini with marinara sauce. I prepared the dish and wrote a note, saying

mom, i love you.
please eat something.
i made you some tortellini.
love,
Cole

I opened her door just a touch and found her fast asleep with the wine spilled halfway across the bed. set the tortellini on her side table and used a dish rag to soak up as much of the wine as I could. I left her room as softly as I could and went to go do the homework I'd gotten.

I picked up my backpack and started walking to the living room when my sister, Kasey, walked through the door. She was a junior in high school and could have been home a lot earlier, but went out with her friends after school and just got home. I was surprised she was even home this early.

"Hey, Cole! How's my favorite freshman?" she asked. She really was like my best friend, because we could just talk for hours. She'd been my rock since childhood.

"Great! Today was amazing! How's my favorite junior?" I asked her. She smiled and dropped her backpack next to where I'd dropped mine when she came through the door.

"Also great! Tell me about your amazing day." She said with the upbeat attitude she always had.

"Okay, so I met a girl. Two, actually. One is Swiss. The other's a junior, like you. Maybe you know her." I said. I had the biggest grin stretching across my face.

"What are their names?"

"Mae and Ryder. Mae is a freshman who just moved here from Switzerland. Ryder is a junior who decided to take me in as her fresh-baby. Mae is mysteriously beautiful, while Ryder is obviously beautiful. I think I've fallen in love with both of them, honestly." I said, in about half a second. Kasey's eyes got as wide as the moon. "Is... something wrong?"

"No, it's just... Ryder? The blonde with gorgeously curly hair and eyes that could make you melt? That Ryder took in my baby brother as her fresh-baby? Nah, man, you're my fresh-baby. Whatever. It's fine. Anyways... tell me about Mae!" She said, quite annoyed. I didn't want to piss off my rock, but how was I supposed to know she didn't like Ryder?

"Okay, so Mae is Swiss. She's a freshman who moved here from Switzerland a month ago. She's crazy pretty, but in a less obvious way," and I went on to tell Kasey about all the crazy stuff she'd done that day.

"Mae. Go with Mae." She said, and I realized I hadn't told her about the end of the day, with Chase and Mae.

"Well, here's the thing about Mae," I started. Kasey rolled her eyes as if she'd heard it before. I told her about the bus, and how I met Ryder.

"Okay, you've got a problem. My vote: neither. Don't go for either of them! They both suck." She said, smirking like she usually would.

"Okay, whatever. What's your problem with Ryder?" I asked. She was so nice!

"Well, you see, Ryder and I used to be super close, but then, like you and Chase, she decided to take a route I wasn't interested in, so I stopped hanging out with her. You can, if you want to, but my vote is no." She explained. I wanted more information, but I was also sort of curious, so I didn't ask. I wanted to find out for myself.

"Well, I have some homework. I'm gonna go." I said, with more salt than the average pretzel.

"Okay, loser. I'll talk to you in a bit, once you've calmed down." She said, slumping onto a chair and giggling. "Oh! Wait, Cole!" she screamed, jumping up at me and grabbing my sleeve.

"What do you want?" I yelled. I didn't want to get in a fight with her, but I didn't see a choice. What else was I supposed to do?

"How's Mom?" She said softly, with a certain amount of pain in her eyes. She was closer to our mother than I was, and naturally, it hurt her a lot worse than it hurt me.

"Kasey, she's not doing too well. I don't think she'd eaten anything today, but I made her some tortellini. Last I checked, she fell asleep and spilled her wine. Kasey, I really think you should talk to her. She liked you more, we both know it." I told her.

"You know I can't do that. I can't stand to see her like this!" She shouted. I knew it, but I also knew that our mother would benefit a lot from talking to her daughter.

"I know, I know. I think it would help."

"I'm sorry, Cole, but until she's feeling better, I refuse to see her. It would only make things worse." She seemed so sure of herself, and yet, I couldn't believe it was true.

"Okay, whatever. If she gets much worse though, I'm calling Grandma." I threatened. Our grandma was one of the worst people I'd ever met. She was horrible for a grandma, but amazing as a mother, so our mother, her daughter, absolutely loved her. Kasey and I did everything we could to try and avoid her, but I was willing to sacrifice anything to see my mother get better.

"You wouldn't dare."

"I would. I don't know what else to do! It's either she miraculously gets better, you talk to her and help me nurse her back to health, or Grandma can. It's up to you." I picked up my backpack for the third time and jogged up the stairs into my room. I had to be very quiet because my room was right next door to my mother's.

I closed my door, turned on my music, and started the worksheets my teachers had assigned for the day. I could already tell, freshman year would be crazy.