Love Story

Caroline Ware

     "Why must you sleep underneath your bed? I'm sure it could be much more comfortable on top." Zalen lifted the sheets up from where they were draped over the side of my bed, covering the light from reaching my sleep crusted eyes.

     "Why are you even in here? I never see you in the morning." I reached out a hand to flick his nose, but ended up sticking my thumb in his mouth. He laughed and bit down as hard as he could on my finger, but I was way too tired to react. Slowly I opened my eyes to see my brother's ugly face with his lips curled around my tiny purple digit that was fast reaching blue. I recoiled further under the bed once I got my finger back,  and wrapped my other hand around it to comfort the new acquiring pain.

     "Do you want to be late for school?" Zalen wrapped his hand around my wrist and swung me out from the comforting darkness. For whatever reason he loved school, not that he was popular or anything because there were way too many students for any one person to be recognized. I watched him turn around and try to figure out which button would turn off my blaring alarm clock before I grabbed a handful of sheets and yanked them down on top of me. "Breakfast is ready!" he shouted before he left.

     I had a permanent frown on my face as I emerged from the land of Nod and stood up to stretch. My room was small with burgundy walls, a white ceiling and carpet, black trim, and a black and white bed. There was only one dresser with a mirror on top next to a matching oak desk. I headed over to the dresser and sat down in the chair facing it. My black hair was straight down to mid waist because I had straightened it last night, and my skin was a dark brown still partly from the tan I had gotten during summer a couple months ago. It was now March and I sighed while running the comb through my hair a couple more times. Junior year was tough, and I was crying tears of joy that it was Friday.

     The red flashing lights from my clock read 6:30 and I sluggishly walked over to my closet. I pulled out a dress. The top was heart shaped and black with spaghetti straps, where under the bust it flowed out with tiny black, white, and blue aztec pattering that went to mid thigh. I slipped on a pair of black flat footed boots and a jean jacket and went across the hall to get to the bathroom. Zalen was already in there gelling back his curly black hair that matched mine, and shaving the last of his beard off before he started over reacting over a pimple on his chin.

     "Damnit!" he threw the razor down in the sink and it bounced slightly before settling.

     "You're acting like a girl. Come here." I laughed and examined his chin closely. "You'll be fine." I grabbed some Ativan from the cabinet and rubbed it on his chin before using a dab of concealer to cover it up. "Ta-dahh." I slapped his cheek and finished putting my hair up in a high ponytail creating a bump in the front.

     "Thanks Ty." my brother pulled me in for a hug and for the first millisecond I enjoyed it before I began to suffocate.

     "Can't…. Breathe." I whispered and Zalen threw me over his shoulder before racing to the kitchen. I was seated in a chair at the kitchen island and inhaled my bagel while my mom scrunched her nose up in disgust.

     "Tyler Reyez, it is important that you begin to act a bit more lady like. How do you expect to get a husband behaving like that?" she pulled the empty plate from under my stuffed face and placed it in the sink.

     "I'm sixteen mom." I drank the rest of the water in my glass and ran back upstairs to brush my teeth and grab my tote bag.

     By seven o'clock I was running to the bus stop while Zalen waited patiently by the front door for one of his friends to pick him up. The bus pulled around the corner as I slumped over and tried to catch my breath from being slightly late.