The Forgotten (Toby McDonough)

✏Ch. 9: One Problem Fixed

Amy's POV

So after that drama back in school, I lazily sat on the couch and watched TV while eating ice cream. That was when Hazel came from upstairs and put the TV off. "What's this mean?" she asked, waving a notebook around.

I mumbled. "Not now Hazel."

Sitting beside me, she said, "Seriously." She opened the notebook and revealed one of my writings. This was supposed to be my writing notebook, but I secretly put an entry about my issues. It read:

Do I even matter? Sometimes I have the feeling that my own sister belittles me too much. She even says stuff. She overshadows me. She's everything. What am I to her? I've always wanted to get along with a sister but I guess that isn't what she wants. I'm invisible to her anyway. Then there's my parents. They only see Hazel's achievements. Why not mine? Is wanting to be a writer that bad? Am I doing something wrong? I wonder if they think I'm their daughter. Or maybe I'm adopted. All I want are a few words of approval or encouragement. Nobody wants me. I should probably just disappear. Only Bella and Bridget are there for me. It hurts...

"Care to explain?" she nagged.

"There's no need to. It's obvious." I stated.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?”

"Hazel, you should know that what you do and say to me aren't exactly nice." I cleared.

She gave a sigh. "I've been a horrible little sister."

"At least you realized." I shrugged.

Hazel threw herself back. "Seriously though, Amy. I've been horrible to you."

I gave a smile. "Maybe, but I don't hate you."

Hazel looked down. "You wanted to get along with me like real sisters, but I was too arrogant and stupid."

I said, "You shouldn't say that. You weren't the only one. And I guess we can still do something about it. You're only 14, and I'm still 16. We have time to fix this."

"Can we? I feel bad." she admitted.

I smiled. "Of course."

She flashed her smirkish grin and hugged me. She never did that. Not until now. I hugged her back. "Thanks sis." she said.

I replied, "Thank you, too."

We spent time together like real sisters. I'd give her facts about random stuff which she surprisingly found interesting and amusing. In return, she played around with my hair and told me all sorts of things happening in her life.

Afterwards, I took a shower and changed into comfortable clothes. I went downstairs to Hazel, who was sitting in the living room with my parents. They were holding my notebook. "Oh. Hi Mom. Hi Dad." I said.

Hazel declared, "They have the right to know."

I nodded slowly. My mom stood up. "Well, this is a good time to finally get to talk to us."

I sighed for the hundredth time. "It's exactly as what the writing says. Am I even important to you two?"

"Take a seat." my Dad said.

I slowly walked to the couches and sat beside Hazel. "To answer your question, yes. You're important to us just as much as Hazel is." Dad said.

Right then, I let it all out. I cried and protested. "Then why don't you ever pay attention to me? I've tried so many times."

Mom was very stylish and had high standards. But Hazel had mentioned that she was very gentle too. And I could see that. She calmly spoke. "Amy. It's our mistake for ignoring you. We turned our attention to Hazel because her aspiration was more challenging. You've proven to us that you're very independent, so we turned to her. But we were proven wrong."

"We were definitely proven wrong. We didn't realize that we slowly neglected to see you. It's a mistake on our parenting part." Dad added.

I nodded. "You should've said so." Mom whispered. "No matter how cold we were."

I sniffed. "You might have shunned me away as well."

"But believe us. We wish we could've done better. It's a good thing this finally came out." Mom said.

Dad said, "Right. We know that an apology won't fox everything. We'll be better parents from now on. We're sorry."

I nodded, and they hugged me. The last time they did was when I was a little kid. Tears stopped flowing and I just treasured the hug. Hazel joined in as well.

After all the mushy, touching moments, my parents wanted me to say everything I wanted to say before. And so I did. I told them I loved them, I shared what happens in school, and finally, I've proudly shown them my grades. Thy were delighted. And when it became late, I said to them, "Hazel, Mom, Dad. Thanks for everything."

Hazel gave a thumbs up. "Thanks for being such a patient sister."

Mom smiled. "Thanks for telling us so much."

"And thank you for forgiving us." Dad finished.

I smiled and hugged each of them. "Love you all."

"We love you too."

----------

Updated. I'm not very good with these type of chapters, so I hope it's alright.

Enjoy! ❤