Souls

Chapter 2- Sisterly love

The alarm goes off as I jump up from my sleeping position.

Once Ivy left I instantly fell back to sleep.

Fastest 5 hours and 13 minutes of my life. I rub my eyes and slam my hand down on the alarm clock beside me.

Time to get ready for school.

I roll out of bed and trudge to my closet, Now to decide on what to wear...

Hmm... maybe I'll finally wear my flower dress that mom bought me on the day she died,

Otherwise known as my 16th birthday.

I refused to wear it for such a long time that I forgot it still existed. It brought too many memories,

Too many bad memories, to say the least.

But today I think I'll wear it. My self esteem is strangely at an all time high and I know my mom would've killed to see me finally wearing it.

Oh, how I miss you, Mom.

Usually, I save the fancy dresses for Ivy to wear instead.

But today is a special day, today is my 6th month anniversary with Damien. I smile at the thought.

I put on the flower-printed dress and check myself out in the mirror,

Gosh, this dress really shows off my curves. That's a change. "Good choice, Mom", I chuckle to myself.

I grab a pair of beige pumps, throw a bit of black eyeliner on the lids of my green eyes and layer my lashes with some mascara.

I hope Damien finds me attractive; After all, this is all for him.

I rush to the bathroom, hoping to get in there before Ivy does. Unfortunately, I have to share one with her since my father couldn't pay for our old house on his own.

But, as always, she beat me to it. "Dammit" I say under my breath. The door is shut and I can hear music faintly playing, is that Justin Bieber, I hear? I giggle to myself. She always denied liking his music when I'd bicker with her about him.

I decide to knock, hoping she'll share the space.

Surprisingly, she opens the door and I see she is curling her blonde locks into loose curls.

I was gonna do that, I roll my eyes.

"Hey, Em" she grins.

I notice she's wearing my black Rolling Stones T-shirt with a pair of jean shorts and straight black converse. Looks like our appearances have reversed for today.

Ugh, her thighs are to-die for. Stop it, Emory. You're beautiful too, I lie to myself.

"Can I use the bathroom for a few?" I try to force a smile, but she sees right through it.

"Fine." she sighs.

Yes! I move past her towards the sink and grab my toothbrush. I start brushing and Ivy looks at me through the mirror, "You look beautiful."

I blush, "Thanks. It's for-"

"Damien." We say in unison.

I smile. A genuine smile this time.

I ask if she can curl my hair like hers' and spit the excess toothpaste into the sink. She agrees.

..........................................

"I love it, Ivy. Thank you" I say. My brown, straight hair has now transformed into loose wavy curls.

"What else are sisters for?" she smiles, then I notice her expression changes as she noticed mine; Realizing what she had said.

I break our eye contact and focus on her blonde hair. She adds a black bow to the back of her head, holding strands of hair from both sides of her temple.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"It's fine, Ivy. Just forget about it" I snap.

Trying to change the subject, she states, "Beau and I are going to see 22 Jump Street tonight if you & Damien want to join. You are more than welcome too"

I laugh at my thoughts swirling around in my head, let's see how long Beau will last.

Ivy changes boys like they're underwear for Mom's sake.

"No thanks. Damien and I have plans of our own"

Or so I think...

"Emory! Ivy!" I hear dad call from downstairs,

Breakfast time.

I quickly grab my deodorant and smear it on my armpits. No way am I gonna have Damien see sweaty pits in this dress.

Ivy hurries down before me and kisses Dads' cheek.

"Good morning father" I say melodically and embrace him.

He smells like shampoo. I let go & see his hair is wet and he is dressed in a robe. "Good morning, love" he smiles and exposes the gap between his two front teeth. I miss his smile, he rarely does anymore.

He pulls out my chair for me and I see my usual breakfast plate is awaiting my presence. Scrambled eggs and a piece of French toast with a glass of orange juice.

Yum.

I scarf it down and look up to see Ivy is watching me intently from across the table in her usual chair,

"What?!" I snicker.

"Err.. Nothing" she looks away.

Weird.

"Oh Dad! I almost forgot to tell you, it's my 6th month anniversary with Damien today so he might stop by later this evening if that's alright" I smile boldly and glance at Ivy to see if she's listening, which she is.

"I suppose so." He grabs his coffee and leaves the kitchen to enter his room. I try not to bring up Damien a lot ever since my mother's death. I'm sure if I lost the one I've loved and had been married to for 13 years I wouldn't accept others' relationships so easily.

"Let's go, I don't want to be late for school." Ivy commands.

Who made her dictator?

I leave my comment to myself and put my dishes in the sink. She grabs my bag just as I snatch it and we glare at each other. She looks away and we both head out to the driveway,

"I'm driving" I declare.

"No, I rather do so myself." Leave it to Ivy. Always thinking she is the superiority.

Since we're the same age and have one parent that pays the bills, Ivy and I have to share a car.

Hyundai Accent 2013 in Clearwater blue.

Ivy nor I could come to a compromise on which car to get so Mom picked it for us.

God, I hate this car.

"No, Ivy. If you want to get to school on time you'll let me drive."

"Hell, Emory! You'll get us a ticket-"

"Do you wanna make it in time or not?!" I yelp.

She finally gives in and hands me the car keys,

"That's what I thought." I smirk.