Forget Me Not

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Picture on the side depicts Jenna's kitchen.

Jenna stretched out on the couch and then curled up like a cat again. The blankets slid off the couch at her movement making her reach downwards. Instead of the soft cotton she expected to touch her hand made contact with a headful of soft hair. Jenna closed her grip and tugged sharply.

“Oww!” Jordan shrieked and grabbed her wrist, trying to free himself “What the hell you maniac?”

Jenna rolled over and looked at her brother sitting up on the floor and looking at her with venom, rubbing his head tenderly. She didn’t bother replying, still stuck in a haze of sleep. Jenna gave a half shrug, half shimmy and turned around again. She was almost into dreamland when she felt a bowl being shoved over her head. The smell of butter and the oily feeling of kernels registered in Jenna’s mind. She jumped upwards, the bowl flying down onto the ground and landing with a clatter.

She aimed a kick at Jordan who rolled away just in time, “Consider that due diligence!”

“My hair’s all buttery!”

“Well it’s good you don’t have anybody to impress then.”

“Oh like you’re a picture of impressive.” Jenna retorted giving Jordan the evil eye and eyeing his ragged shorts with distaste.

“You’re going fat.” She said gleefully as she poked the soft skin of Jordan’s bare stomach.

Jordan flicked her on the nose and ran away down the hall before she could try kicking him again. This morning bought back so many memories of her childhood with Jordan annoying the heck out of her and physically abusing her while she was forced to defend herself from him only to have to explain herself to their mother after Jordan tattled on her.

Ten minutes later after Jordan came out she was still leaning on the ground with her face pressed to the floor in an attempt at gathering the fallen kernels of popcorn.

“Why aren’t you off to work? Playing hooky, sis?” he asked as Jenna heard the sound of the fridge opening and closing.

“It’s a Saturday dumbass; I don’t have any work to do. I can’t say the same thing for you though. Aren’t you supposed to be picking out flowers and whatnot?” she asked, getting up and looking towards the kitchen only to see Jordan cracking about a dozen eggs into bowl.

“Picking flowers, hah.” Jordan scoffed looking back at her, “Your petty attempts at insulting my manliness shall never prevail.”

“The fact that you don’t have a good comeback means I’m right. You’re not gay are you?” Jenna asked, depositing the bowl back into the kitchen and looking at the pizza sized omelet Jordan was making, “What the hell are you doing?”

Jordan shrugged, “Making an omelet which you definitely fail at, by the way you should really pick up some eggs at the store when you go out today.” Jenna mimed strangling him as Jordan turned his back to her.

“Get your eggs yourself. You’re a freeloader-”,

“Baby brother,”

“Who eats my food and cooking,”

“More like poison,”

“And you forgot to send me a present last Christmas.” Jenna finished as she folded her arms across her chest in a defiant stance that Jordan brushed off.

“I sent you a scarf,” Jordan reminded her dismissively.

“Oh my God Jordan don’t think I didn’t recognize that scarf Aunt Ruth made from a rabbit that she once shot and gave to you for your twelfth birthday. Why you still kept that confuses me but the fact that you tried to pass it off as a present?” As Jenna ranted on Jordan continued to ignore her in a scene familiar to when they grew up.