Just Another Emo Boy, Right?

Chapter 4: Sleepy Sister

“So is your dad home?” Anna asked, standing at the end of the driveway. She was very unsteady about meeting Dad, especially now that she knows he is a drunk.

“No, he’s out somewhere. Don’t worry,” I smiled trying to reassure her. I motioned for her to come over to me.

Ashley started to yawn just as we walked in the door.

“Sweetie, do you need a nap?” Anna asked her little sister.

Ashley simply nodded her head and held her arms up, wanting to be picked up.

“She can sleep on the couch out here, right?” Anna asked as she carefully lifted Ashley up and into her arms.

There’s an extra bedroom on the first floor...but that used to be Mom’s crafts room. We haven’t really been in there since she died.

“Come with me,” I told her as I walked down the hall and slowly opened the door to my mom’s art room. It still smelled like her. The aroma filled my lungs and I felt like crying.

I took Ashley from Anna who was in ‘awe’ as she walked into the room. She saw my mom’s paintings and kept staring at them with a soft smile.

I laid Ashley on the bed and tucked her in gently. She looked so cute with her curls flowing all around her pretty little face. I smiled at the sight.

There were miscellaneous art supplies all around the room. Paint, jewelry making supplies, knitting and more.

“These are fantastic,” Anna said as she stared at Mom’s paintings.

I smiled, “Yeah, Mom always did have a knack for making great things out of nothing at all. I always admired her for that. There was a lot about her that I admired though. Like the way she always had this genuine smile that made you want to just run up to her and hug her. Or the way she would sing me to sleep at night with some of my favorite songs,” I stopped and wiped a tear away. “She...she was a wonderful person.” I broke down, falling to my knees on the floor next to where Ashley was still sleeping.

Anna ran up to me and held me close to her. It was surprising, but I was glad that I had her by me. I never really have good friends anymore. Well, not ones that I can cry in front of.

I wiped away the last of my tears and smiled at her, “Thanks.”

“No problem,” she smiled back.

“Look over here,” I got up and pointed to my mother’s jewelry shelves. She had so much stuff. At one point she wanted to sell it, but she just never found the time to bring them to the shops. She told me once that if I ever wanted something to give to a girl...I could look through and choose whatever I wanted.

As Anna was preoccupied with the smaller shelves of necklaces and bracelets, I decided to check out Mom’s hand wound rings. They are hard to make because of all the wiring, but Mom just loved doing it. I looked through for about thirty seconds or so before a spot of purple caught my eye. I grabbed it and put it in my pocket before Anna looked.

I also grabbed a small pink ring with a butterfly on it for little Ashley.

“Hey, since she seems to be fine in here for now...do you want to see my room?” I asked shyly.

“Yeah,” she smiled and followed me out.

We walked up the stairs and up to my closed door. The door itself was black and so was some of the wall that lead to the door. I thought it would be cool to make sort of a fading effect going down the hall. Dad doesn’t care what I do, so I actually spend quite a bit of time painting (outside of the house it’s not always what I am necessarily supposed to or allowed to be painting, though).

She looked at my work, “That’s cool...but it’s so...black.”

I chuckled, scratching the back of my head nervously, “Well, yeah. Black was my mom’s favorite color and it became mine after she died. You haven’t seen anything yet,” I warned.

I opened the door slowly. In fact, I did it so slowly that she got impatient and started laughing and pushing me. I laughed too and opened the door.

“Whoa,” yup. That was all she said.

At this point you can only imagine what I must have been feeling. Yes, I was typically shitting my pants.

She walked around the black room, inspecting everything she saw. I kept a pretty clean room, so I wasn’t worried about that. I was worried about the fact that everything in my room was black and blood red.

My bed was covered in black and red pillows with a black comforter. My walls were completely black with splattered red paint everywhere that made it look like there was a massacre in my room!

There were several band posters hung up. I had a feeling she wouldn’t be too into bands like that. She looks more like a Hannah Montana kind of chick (A/N: Ewwwwwyyyyy!!! GROSS!!!! I hate Miley Cyrus with a passion! Just so you know! Teehee!).

“Uh...yeah, my room is defiantly a little weird. You would think that with what happened to me in the past, red would be my least favorite color,” I thought about what I told her earlier and I shivered.

Once I said that, Anna looked really uneasy.

“I’m sorry,” I apologized. I didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable or anything, “I shouldn’t-”

“No, no. It’s fine, really. You’ve got a very nice---” she stopped suddenly, holding her stomach. I could typically see her face turning green.

‘Shit! Shit! Shit! What do I do?!’ was all I kept thinking.

I quickly lifted her up and carried her across the hall to my bathroom.

I placed her in front of the toilet on her knees, pulling her hair away from her face. I wanted to be a gentleman...even though I would normally say- ‘screw that’ and walk away. I like this girl. Plus it’s kind of my fault that she’s feeling a bit...ill.

At that moment, I found myself looking away and forcing my mind to go blank.

Although, I still winced every time my blank thoughts were interrupted by painful gagging.

It was over soon. She lifted her head up with tears falling from her eyes.

I grabbed a towel and ran it under warm water. Then I leaned her back and cleaned her face a bit. She just sat there on the floor and let me. At that point, I thought, ‘Wow! This chick actually trusts me! Looks like I don’t just f*** everything up!’