365 New Days

Chapter 12

"Ok," Jacob said as he tried to take it all in. "Let's start with something small. Tell me about your sister."

"Heh. Small. She's just- I wish I could be close to her."

"Do you know why she's so...mad?"

"It's a long story pal." Jacob squeezed his shoulder a little and mark gave in. "My parents thought they couldn't have a kid. They adopted my sister and, a few years later, found out that they were going to have me. Yaaay..." he smiled sadly and waved his hands. He looked at them and frowned. "I don't know. I loved her so much when I was little. I followed her around, annoyed the heck out of her every day, I couldn't be with her for more than an hour at a time or she'd yell. Marie barely tolerated me back then and she doesn't even try now." Mark wanted to stop talking. He felt like he already said way too much. But he never got a chance like this and it felt good to rant. "We tried set up a time for Marie to meet her biological parents." He continued. "It was my stupid idea. She was fine up until they day we had to go. She locked herself in her room and cried. I've never seen her so upset. She didn't talk to me for a month afterward. So, yeah. That's that." He wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "Thanks. It Feels good to get that off my chest."

"Do you want to talk about anything else?"

"I do, but I think I'll wait for another day." He looked at the door as if he were waiting for someone to barge in. Instead he heard angry footsteps and a door slam. "There goes any chance I had of developing a good relationship with her." he laughed sadly while held his pillow tighter. "Why do I have to mess everything up?"

"You didn't mess it up." Jacob assured him. "I think you did the right thing. She knows how you really feel."

"That's what I mean! She's going to kill me now!"

"She won't kill you. If I was her-"

"You're not her though!"

"I-I know. It'll be ok..."

"What do I do now?"

"Talk to her."

Mark looked at him in disbelief. "Are you insane?"

"The only way you two are going to get along now is if you tell her what you told me. To her face this time."

"How would you know how to handle this? You don't have any siblings!"

Jacob took a breath to keep himself from yelling back. "I have parents. They fought sometimes and when they did, I got really scared. But my mom told me that It's better to tell them how they make you feel. They have a better chance of changing their attitude if you do. I'm lucky that they made up so often. If they didn't...I don't want to think about what would happen."

When Mark didn't respond right away, Jacob wrapped his arms around him and let his friend sniffle on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry I snapped." Mark whispered.

"It's ok."

"I want to talk to her now."

"Are you sure?" Jacob let him go and Mark straightened up.

"Yeah." He grabbed a tissue from his nightstand and cleaned himself up. "Now or never right? Um, do you mind waiting for me? I don't know how long It'll take but...Just in case?"

"Sure. Good luck."

"Thanks." He gave a tiny smile, opened the door, and walked to his sisters room.

It took all of his courage to knock on her door but once he did, he had to muster even more to ask, "Hey, Marie. Can I come in?"

He heard the lock on the door click and he made his way inside.

The room was exactly how he remembered it years ago. The walls were baby blue and covered in posters from different bands and TV shows. Her bed was neat and perfectly made as always. The only major difference he saw was he desk. It was covered in papers, pens, photos and awards that she had accumulated over the years. Mark found his sister sitting on the floor next to her bed. She never sat anywhere but the floor when she was upset. He joined her and sighed. "So, you heard all that huh?" She wouldn't look at him. "Look, I didn't mean to make you upset. Can you just tell me what I did wrong?"

Marie started to play with a volleyball trophy she got in the eighth grade. "You didn't do anything wrong idiot."

"So why-"

"Mom and Dad looked so happy when they had you."

"W-what?"

"When they found out they could have you, when you were born, they gave me this whole speech about loving me the same even though there was another baby in the house. I still felt like an unwanted kid. I tried so hard to do well in every subject and sport in the hopes that they would love me like their own even though I wasn't. This has nothing to do with you."

Mark almost laughed. "Are you kidding? I was the one who felt like a waste of space! You're this perfect girl with good grades, a car, a boyfriend. Mom and Dad love you so much. I always thought that I had to be better so they wouldn't feel like they went through nine months of pain for nothing."

"But they didn't. Don't you see? You're wonderful! I didn't mean to hate you, I just let my own thoughts get in the way. A lot."

"I love you, Marie."

"I love you too."

They sat on the floor silently until Marie spoke up. "We should do something together."

"Like what?"

"I don't know." she threw the trophy in the air and caught it with ease. "A movie? Yeah, let's see a movie tomorrow."

"Sounds good, sis." The word felt odd on his tongue but he liked it. Sis fit her well.

She kissed his cheek. "Go back to your BF, dork."

His face went pink. "He's not my "BF"! Just a friend."

"Just go! He's been waiting."

He grinned and she grinned back. It was the first time they had a real talk.

Jacob looked up from his phone when Mark came back."Hey! How'd it go?"

"Did I tell ever tell you that you're the best at giving advice?" Mark asked. "Seriously, Really great."

Jacob blushed and beamed. "So, you made up?! That's amazing!"

"We're going to see a movie." He said as he got his papers organized on his bed. "She's going to take me to the movies! The movies!" His eyes sparkled as he talked. "We actually had a conversation! It wasn't weird, our parents didn't force us to spend time together, I called her sis and she didn't hit me, it felt good. I feel good. Thank you so much!"

"Stop! You're gonna make my face melt!"

Mark chuckled while Jacob hid himself in his hoodie. "C'mon let's keep studding. I've got a test tomorrow."