-look at my lil bean omg <3
the next day at school, i didn't take one single glance at ethan, but arwynn sure did. she seemed to be way more interested about him now that she knew him and i were no longer involved. wow.
between every period i could see her across the hall, where her locker was, making a clear attempt to walk by his locker as well. as she did she would do some weird pursing thing with her lips and she would pop her hips, like she was trying to impress. i couldn't help but notice, i still thought about ethan pretty much all the time.
2nd period was an actual disaster because grayson and i were paired up for a spanish project and i would have to be seeing him tonight to work on it, which means i was probably gonna stumble across ethan too.
when i got home that day, i was expecting a house to myself. but instead i was greeted by a crying alyssa and a yelling mom.
alyssa was sat on the couch, her head in her hands with my mom towering over her, yelling curse words over and over at her, not making the situation any better. on the table in front of alyssa were what looked to be pregnancy tests.
"how stupid can you be alyssa?!? this is bullshit and is definitely not acceptable!!" my mom exclaims, crouching down to get closer to alyssa's tear stained face.
i let my bags drop to the floor, "mom there is no reason to call her stupid." i say, coming to my sisters defense. she always struggled with self esteem issues and was so vulnerable, i was not gonna let my mom talk to her that way.
"really macon? you haven't been around to even see her lately! coming home late and running off and keeping secrets! that's not my alyssa." i tried my hardest not to laugh, because my mom didn't see that i was doing the same thing running around with ethan. but alyssa was difficult to deal with -especially with my mom because my mom didn't understand how she felt and why she was the way she is.
i walk over to the couch alyssa was sitting on and take a seat myself, sneaking a glance at the coffee table to see three pregnancy tests. all reading positive. my heart broke for her. i placed my hand on her back and rubbed up and down, letting her know i was there and that i understood. she was my little sister and i would always be there.
"mom, she is your daughter." i say softly, "she needs your help she can't do this on her own. and you yelling at her won't make her or you feel any better about this. you guys are mother and daughter. you're a team, not enemies." i finish, grasping alyssa's hand, she squeezed it tightly, a sniffle sounding from her lips, "don't give up on her." i look up at my mom, her brown eyes laced with tears, her dark hair cascading over her face to hide the fact she was crying.
she sat down opposite of me and alyssa and took a deep breath, "macon, how is it possible that you're wiser than me?" she laughs, throwing her head back against the wall, "what are we all gonna do?" she cries.
i sigh, "we'll figure it out, we always do." i say, leaning my head against alyssa's shoulder, her small frame shaking as she cried.
"i love you lyss." i whisper as a tear falls down my cheek. i don't know why, but something about seeing my sister so broken made me feel like it was okay to cry. we were so close and i never wanted to see her this way, "it's gonna be okay."
and we just sat there, embracing each other as a family for the first time in what felt like years. we were all quiet, not knowing what to say or how to feel.
