The Sun, The Moon, and Their Stars

25 : Red

January 2005

Benjamin

I can hear a high-pitched voice, so I must be having a nightmare. And the voice keeps telling me to wake up.

"Wake up, birthday boy," it says.

I bury my head deeper into my pillow and tell it to go away.

"No can do," the voice replies.

I lift the pillow, slowly open my eyes, and my older sister's blurry figure begins to register. Jessy is standing in the middle of my room, with her eyes shut.

"Why are your eyes closed?" I ask.

"I don't know if you're decent or not."

I sit up, lean my back on the wall, and rub my eyes. "Open your eyes and see for yourself," my sleepy voice says.

She does and blinks her eyes to adjust. Then she says, "okay, good."

I glance at the clock on my bedside table. It's already nine in the morning, and it's the third of January. So, it's my birthday, and I'm seventeen.

"How did you get in here?" I ask my sister.

She lifts a set of keys her right hand is holding and dangles them toward my head. "It's called a key, genius," she says with a laugh.

"But why are you in here?"

"Get up. It's late. It may be your birthday, but you still have chores."

I rest my head back down on the pillows and close my eyes.

"Can I have five more minutes?"

"No," she says. "What time is the rest of the Congress coming here?"

"Same as always. Lunch."

"Okay. Oh, I invited Therese over."

"Daryl will be pleased."

"Eew... Your friend likes my best friend?"

"Five minutes, Jessy."

I don't hear footsteps of someone leaving, so she's still here. I open my eyes and stare at her, pleading to give me back my much-needed sleep.

"Did you invite Kimberly?"

I lift my head and start to get up. "What?" I didn't anticipate that one.

She puts her hands on her hips. "That woke you up, huh?" And she gives me a knowing smile.

I just stare at her, while thoughts of Kim randomly fly around inside my head.

"Did you really think that you can have a girl over, and I wouldn't know about it?" Jessy leans forward a little. "I may be in college, but I still know what goes around here." She stands up straight again. "Sooo...did you invite her or not?"

"No."

She sighs and slowly shakes her head.

"Should I?" I ask.

"I don't know, you baboon, should you?"

I run my hands on my face. "I don't know," I mumble.

She looks dissatisfied, drops her hands, and tells me I'm hopeless.

I lie back on the bed and stare directly at the ceiling.

She sighs. "Why don't you get up now," she says, "and contemplate more on that while you take a shower and get ready...wait, that didn't sound right...eew, gross."