Worth It

(2) Next Chapter

"Zara, get your ass down here!" Someone yells my name from downstairs.

"Five more minutes." I mumble, as I move to the side of the bed and pull the sheet closer to me.

"Zara!" Someone yells again. "You're gonna be late if you don't come down here right now!" Another voice, more squeaky -- almost mouse-like -- warns me. 

I blink my eyes a couple of times, trying to remember what I'd be late for.

Just then, someone opens the door and pulls on my shoulder so that I am laying on my back. I come face to face with my older brother, Zayne and then it clicks! 

I look to the right side of my bed where my alarm clock is and glance at the time. Then, my eyes go wide. "Shit!" I spring out of bed and frantically grab random underwear so that I can change out of my pj's into random clothes in my closet, not bothering to see what I grab. Then, I change right in front of my brother. 

"Whoa!" Zayne exclaims as he frantically jumps off the bed. "I didn't come here to get a free strip show from my young sis." He says as he opens the door to leave.

"Sorry!" I yell at his back, since he fanatically leaves. 

I can't believe I forgot to set my alarm clock last night! I was so busy looking at my big--ass wound, I had forgotten all about college.

I finish getting dressed and go out into the hallway towards the bathroom to put a bit of toothpaste on my tongue, not having time to commit to the full act of actually brushing said teeth. Then I travel downstairs into the kitchen where I see the owner of the mouse-like voice I heard earlier from upstairs. Anita, my brother's on-again/off-again girl--toy.

As you can see, from the way she is pouring a cup of coffee in one of my brother's shirts that they are very much on as of right now.

She hands me coffee in a travel sized mug. "Thank you." I tell her gratefully, as I take a sip out of it. Black coffee nearly scorches my tongue. I sputter and spit a little out onto the counter top feeling the hot liquid slowly drip down my chin and onto my black long sleeved shirt. 

"Sorry!" She cringes and quickly grabs a few paper towels for me to clean myself up with.

I take them from her with a grateful smile on my face and try to wipe the liquid that clings to my blonde hair and face.

"What did you do to Zayne?" She asks me skeptically, as she puts her own cup of coffee to her lips and sighs with appreciation. Apparently her coffee doesn't burn her tongue. "He looked like he had seen a ghost." Her eyes glint with humor.

I laugh, but before I can tell her what happened, my brother comes into my line of sight, holding the keys to my truck. "She stripped naked in front of me, is what she did." He chokes out the words, almost as if he has to force himself to say the words. He rolls his eyes at me, trying to be all casual about it, but I can he's just messing around with me and that it didn't really affect him too much.

"Wow, Zara." Anita says and I try to psyche myself up for some lecture on indecency. "You must have some body. I dress in front of your brother all the time and I never get this reaction from him. I could learn some tips from you!" She tells me, surprising me and shocking Zayne as his eyes go wide and his blonde eyebrows shoot up, bringing extra attention to the two silver hoops on his right brow.

"Anita, that's my sister we're talking about here." He says and he walks over to me and I assume he is going to give me my keys, but when I hold out my palm for him to do exactly that, he ignores my outstretched hand. 

I roll my eyes at him. "Don't be such a prude." I tell him as I snatch the keys out of his hand and go to our coat rack. As I grab my black leather jacket and put it on, Zayne takes the opportunity to grab the keys from out of my hand.

"Hey, give them back." I exclaim as I attempt to grab them back, but he's too quick and puts them up and over his head. 

Now, I may not be short, but last time I checked 5'5 isn't exactly tall either. So, I have a little trouble retrieving my keys from the giant beanstalk that is my brother. He laughs, clearly having the time of his life as I'm over here, jumping and reaching up high in the air with both my hands, making a complete ass of myself.

"I'm gonna be late!" I yell at him, frustration clear in my tone. I stuff my hands in the pockets of my faded jeans and huff out an annoyed breath. My face all scrunched up in frustration.

"Just let me get to have the privilege of sending my sister off to the airport for college." He finally says, as he lets his hand that holds the key to my freedom drop to his side. His tone is soft and serious. I'm touched, but at the same time...

"I thought we agreed to not do the whole goodbye thing." I tell him. "That we were just going to pretend that this was an everyday thing and I'd be on my way."

"Yeah, we did agree to do that." He admits begrudgingly. "But, I realized I don't want to do that. I mean, you got into Princeton!" He exclaims, putting his hands up in the air, just before he drops them. "That is a fancy-ass school. I mean, don't you understand what a privilege that is? How hard you worked for this moment?" He asks me. "You deserve the recognition from what little is left of our family." 

He steps closer to me so that he can take both of my hands in his. I stare into his eyes and I see the intensity that lies in them. He really does mean the words that he is saying. "You deserve for this moment to be a big deal." He tells me. "I never got the chance to go to college." He says and I feel an immediate jolt of guilt because I know the reason as to why he didn't go to college.

Me. The reason was me. He chose to drop out of college a few months before he was supposed to graduate and took care of me after our parents had died. He sacrificed his future just so I could have one.

"Hey, don't go feeling guilty now." He tells me in that stern tone I have never been able to get used to hearing my brother have with me. "I chose to take care of you. You didn't force me to. I wanted to." He says in a gentle tone, his eyes fierce. 

Suddenly, a little whimper is heard, jolting both my brother and I from the intensity the moment had held.

We both look back to see who the culprit of that whimper is and realize it was Anita. "You have to let him drive you now!" she exclaims.

Me and my brother both laugh at the intensity her tone held. 

"Alright!" I say with a resigned sigh, pulling my hands back from my brother's grip. "You can take me to the damn airport. Just get ready within five minutes tops before I lose my shit and don't make it to the airport in time." I tell him as I make my way to my truck. I still want him to drive my truck because I just want to be in it one last time before I'm off.

I stop as my hand grips the door and look back to Anita. "Tell your girlfriend to put on some pants. Assuming she wants to come along because I don't think she'll get very far with just a shirt on." I snicker to myself as I go outside to my truck. I hear the faint noises of laughter from inside the house and I shake my head, a hint of a smile playing on my lips. As I keep walking, I don't look back because the more I look back the harder it'll be for me to move forward and I want so desperately to move forward. 

So, I don't look back. I just keep walking until I don't hear the faint noises of laughter anymore. I keep walking until I don't have to walk anymore and sit in my truck and wait. 

"You ready to do this?" Zayne asks me as he hops in and puts the keys into the ignition. Anita climbs into the back, squealing excitedly.

"As ready as I'll ever be." I sigh the words. My breath fogs up the glass, since I'm gazing out of it trying to memorize every last part of this journey that I won't be making for a long time to come. I try to memorize as much of it as I can so that I never forget where I came from and who I am.