The ABC's of Love

.                                                                A- Admitting mistakes

        Carla was mid-way through her morning routine when it happened. "Where the hell is it?" A shout rang out through the house as the girl threw open her door. "Good morning to you, too," her older sister, Maria, mumbled under her breath as she walked past her with her face buried in a book. 

        Carla's stomach twisted into a nervous knot as she swiped the book out of her sister's hands. "Hey!" But the shorter girl paid no attention to her sister's protests as she examined the cover, "I knew it! You took The Merchant of Venice!" Maria folded her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes at her younger sister.

        They were very similar, without a doubt. They were both slim, with the same shade of black hair, and the same hazel colored eyes. At the moment, though, Maria's hair was cut so it barely reached her shoulders while Carla's was long and reaching to almost her mid back. Maria's nails were neatly filed and clean of polish while Carla's alternated between being bitten down to almost the skin of her finger to long depending on the amount of stress she felt she was under. The most noticeable difference, however, was their height. Maria was 5'6, making her 3 inches taller than her younger sister.

        That didn't stop the younger girl from glaring up at her. "I thought you were on the letter L," Maria tilted her head. "I was," Carla snapped at her as she turned on her heel and walked back into her room and back over to her bookshelf. "So why can't I..."

        "Until Luke broke up with me last night at 11:30," Carla's bright tone never dropped as she squinted at her bookshelf before finding the spot for the missing book. "Here!" Carla handed her sister another book. "Lament?" Maria raised an eyebrow. 

        "It's about a soulless fairy assassin named Luke," Carla smiled slightly as she walked over and shut her bedroom door. Maria nodded slowly as she leaned against her sister's neatly organized desk and began flipping through the book. 

        Living with Carla, the book snatching was something that she'd gotten used to. Carla had a thing. Whatever letter of the alphabet she was on, the letter had to be ever-present in her life. When she'd dated Adam, it had been apples for breakfast and apricot scented shampoo. When it was Eric, it had been earrings and eggplant parmesan as much as possible. To Maria, her sister’s compulsions were as normal as anything in the house. The books were another story. Whatever letter she was on, all those books had to be present on her shelf. No exceptions.

        “So you’re on to ‘M’ now?” Maria asked absentmindedly as she continued to flick through the book. Carla mumbled an answer as she searched through her closet and picked out a maroon t-shirt. Quickly shedding the over-sized shirt that she wore to bed, she got dressed. Pairing the maroon shirt with a pair of black skinny jeans and black ankle boots.

        “’M’ might be harder though. Marcus was the original plan because he’s had a crush on me since like the sixth grade, but he’s dating Marcia now,” Carla shook her head as she nudged her sister out of the way and took her seat in front of the desk mirror.

        “You want to talk about it?” Maria frowned slightly as her sister plugged in the hair straightener and put on some eye shadow while she waited for it to warm up. There were a few seconds of silence before Carla sighed, “A for asshole. B for bad boy….” And she kept going until she slammed down the makeup brush with a final, “L for loser.”

        It was another ritual of hers. One that Maria would admit she’d helped start after her sister’s first break up. It had started as a sort of joke to Maria but Carla had latched onto it like it was some sort of genius invention.

        A phone ringing stopped Maria from questioning her sister any further. “Hello? Yeah, hi, Liz!” Carla said into the phone as she set down the hair straightener and looked at herself one last time in the mirror before she stood up. “Yeah, I’m almost ready, let me just brush my teeth! I…ok, I’ll be out in 5.”

        Maria was at the door by the time Carla set down her cellphone. “Sorry, Mar. Did you want something else?” The older girl turned her head slightly and looked back at her younger sister, her nose wrinkled in concentration. “Have a nice day at school, Car.”

*

        Liz Martin had been friends with Carla since the fourth grade and was fully used to her friend’s odd habits. So, the blonde girl with dark eye-makeup did nothing but listen as her friend got in the car and locked and unlocked the door twice before buckling her seatbelt and sinking into the seat.

        “So L is done for, huh,” Liz questioned her and bit her lip as she put the old beat up convertible that she’d inherited from her grandfather in drive. The forest green car rounded the corner just as Carla launched into her story. “He was cheating on me with Sarah.” “Sarah?” Liz raised a light eyebrow as she pulled up to a stop sign and let another car go before she passed through the intersection.

        “Sarah Anders,” Carla mumbled as she tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. Liz whistled in amazement. “Yeah,” Carla chuckled. “So he was a fuck up. Time to cheer up, Buttercup, there’s fresh meat today,” Liz grinned as she pulled up to the last stoplight, the school was in view now. Living a few blocks away from school did have its perks.

        “New meat?” Carla turned her head and smiled a little at her friend and it turned into a full blown smirk as her friend nodded. Liz’s dad was the principal of the school, so she knew these things. New students were one of Carla’s favorite things.

        New faces. New people to bother. And, possibly, more letters to add to her list. As Liz took a sharp right turn into the school parking lot, Carla’s stomach lurched as they came to a sudden stop in a parking spot near the front. “Careful,” she hissed at her friend.

        Liz only laughed as she unbuckled her own seatbelt before she said, “Calm down, sweetheart. Now put on a happy face before we’re late for homeroom.”

        Carla simply rolled her eyes before pulling a compact mirror out of her purse. Checking herself out one last time, she forced a smile and unbuckled her own seatbelt. Time for 7 hours of Hell.