Deal With It ✓

Twenty-Two: The Same Person

Song: And All That Jazz // Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renée Zellweger & Taye Diggs

THANKS FOR 3K READS I LOVE U ALL.

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A WEEK LATER

One thing I've learned this past week was that Amber was a bigger nuisance when she didn't have her phone than when she did.

You'd think that taking her phone away would allow her to focus on more important things, like school for example. I was hoping that maybe she'd discover a new hobby, or work on improving her artistic skills.

But no.

The absence of her phone allowed her to take out all her frustrations on me. When she got bored at home, she'd come over to my office and disturb my work. When she had nobody to complain to, she'd interrupt Rose and I's time together so that she could rant about some girl who 'snaked' her friend.

I drew the line when she interrupted my nap so that I could teach her how to play the guitar. In return, I told her to go away and pulled the covers over my head. She must've mistaken that action as an invitation to disturb me even more because she decided to fucking shake me, screaming about how I promised I'd teach her.

I was thankful she went to school during the day. I don't know how I'd be able to deal with her annoying me every single second while I was awake.

I relented, though, and decided to teach her how to play the electric guitar. Despite the list of things I found annoying about my younger sister, I always admired her determination to be the best she could be.

I started off the 'lesson' by teaching her how to read the guitar tabs and what the numbers meant before moving onto chords. She made a shitton of mistakes, and while she grew frustrated, she refused to let me leave the music room until she learned to transition between two chords seamlessly.

After that lesson, her need to incessantly pester me lessened. When I got home, I'd catch her in the music room, practicing, and I'd occasionally join her. Other times, I'd kick her out and tell her to finish her homework.

Amber thought that being the smartest student in her grade gave her the right to slack off on homework and essays. Sometimes, I didn't understand how she'd score those high grades she'd boast about.

When I peer-reviewed her analytical essays, though, I understood why teachers praised her work during our parent-teacher conferences.

Despite being a fucking pain in the ass, I was still proud of all her academic and personal accomplishments.

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The sun's rays peeking through my blinds woke me up from the best sleep I've had in weeks. I felt Rose get up an hour earlier, but I was too out of it to pull her back to me. She'd given me her pillow to cuddle, and I didn't complain because it smelt like her.

I checked the clock on my nightstand only to find that it was six AM.

I picked up the clothes lying around my room and chucked them onto the ottoman in my closet. I put on a pair of sweatpants and walked into my en suite bathroom to freshen up.

When I made my way to the kitchen, I was surprised to find Amber already up. She was sitting at the counter, her arms folded onto it as she rested her head in the nook she'd created. Before I could walk in, the scent of crêpes wafted through the doorway.

I ruffled Amber's hair before entering, dodging the kick that was aimed at the back of my knee. Rose stood at the stovetop, tilting a pan while she simultaneously poured the batter into it. She wore one of my shirts that fell down to her midthighs, and she had an apron tied around her waist to protect the article of clothing.