𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐃𝐄𝐃

CHAPTER TWELVE

Twelve

    That night, Nora found herself staring at a blank document and a blinking cursor. It was almost as if was mocking her as it sat dormant, waiting for her to just write something. Well, something other than her MLA format setup. She may have a month to write this essay, but that month was going to get shorter and shorter as her senior year drew nearer to a close. She lost count of how many nights she found herself staring at this stupid computer screen.

A knock on the door caused her to jump nearly out of her skin. Figuring it was her mother, Nora shouted, "Come in, it's unlocked!"

"Hey, stranger," a familiar voice greeted and Nora turned around with a gasp.

"Eloise!" she yelled as she jumped up to grab her older sister in a hug, "I thought you weren't gonna be home for spring break?"

Eloise just laughed and squeezed her sister tightly, "A bunch of people bailed on our plans so I decided it was best just to come home. Besides, I missed you! More than mom and dad, if I'm being honest, but don't tell them that."

"Your secret's safe with me," Nora giggled as she finally let go of the other girl. People often believed the two of them were twins. At least, that was until Nora got her growth spurt and Eloise, well, didn't. The pair used to be attached at the hip, but it had been months since they had a real conversation and to be honest, Nora needed a big sister right now. Her friends knew her well, but not in the way Eloise did.

The older girl's eyes drifted to the computer screen as she moved to sit down at the desk, "What's this? Is my good little student procrastinating homework? Who are you and what have you done with my sister?"

"Shut up," Nora teased with a small laugh as she leaned on her sister's shoulders from behind the chair, "I'm so fucking lost. Mason and I broke up and it's all gone downhill from there."

"You and Mason broke up?" she asked in disbelief, turning around to gawk at her sister, "And you didn't tell me right away? What happened? How long ago? Are you messing with me? You guys were so cute, I loved him."

Nora shook her head, sighing deeply as she tried to find the words. "Yeah. I loved him, too. Until he cheated on me."

"I'm going to fuck him up," Eloise seethed. It was funny to see her angry because she had such kind features. Not to mention, despite her usually punk attire, an incredibly gentle personality. She moved to get up from the chair, but Nora held her in her place.

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure his nose is already broken," she explained. Seeing her sister's understandably confused expression, she explained further, "A... friend of mine saw him out with the girl he initially cheated on me with and she decked him square in the face. So, someone beat you to the punch... literally."

"Sounds like a damn good friend to me, give her my regards whenever you see her," the girl remarked with a loud laugh. One of Nora's favorite things about her sister was the small snorts that always accompanied her laughter; it was impossible not to laugh along with her. In her laughter, Nora neglected to mention that there was a very little chance she was going to be seeing this "friend" of hers again. Yeah, that wasn't so much of a laughing matter. Eloise, however, didn't need to know that much information. What was the point?

Sighing, Nora decided she would say at least one thing that was on her mind, "I'm sorry for being distant. I mean, all of this is stuff I should have told you right away and I'm sorry. I missed you more than how I made it seem, El."

Eloise stood up and pulled her sister into another hug, squeezing almost to the point of suffocation, "I missed you, too, Nor. Next time I leave we have to stay in each other's lives or else I think I'm gonna go insane."