Then I heard muffled crying coming from it.
“She invited a friend, but they didn’t show, so
<
she’s sad. Don’t bug her.”
I pushed past him and went to my room.
A few minutes later, Dad knocked on the
door. “How’s your hand? What did the doctor
say?”
He held out a pretty gift box. “This is from me. I bought it specially for you.”
It was probably a hair clip. I’d gotten a million of them.
Every time he yelled at me because of Carrie, he’d buy me something to make up for it.
<
They weren’t expensive, nothing compared to
Carrie’s gifts, but he always wrapped them
himself, all fancy and pretty, like he really
cared about his daughter.
But, I was always a sucker for it.
Every time, all my anger would melt away, and
I’d sit there, telling myself he really loved me,
and that he only treated Carrie like that
because she was sick.
“Thanks.” I took the gift, put it on the desk,
and went back to studying.
He stood there for a long time, then sighed
and left.
<
After I showered, I saw Carrie standing at my
desk in her new dress.
She didn’t see me come in, she was just
staring at my test, her hands shaking a little.
“What are you doing in here?”
She turned around, her eyes all red.
I saw she was holding the test I stole from
Jason.
“Where…where did you get this?”
Teenage girls are so predictable. Actually, I knew before her that she had a crush on
<
Jason.
“You think I stole it?”
I went over to her and took the test. It didn’t
have a name on it, but she recognized it
instantly.
She likes him that much?
“Jessica,” she said, realizing she’d slipped up,
and quickly changed the subject. “I brought
you cake, I saved you some.”
She held the cake out, looking at me.
“Thanks, but I went to the diner with Jason
<
today, and I’m stuffed.”
Her smile almost broke, but she kept it up.
“Oh, really? Well, I’ll put it in the fridge then.”
I watched her slink out of the room, feeling a
little satisfied, but the feeling didn’t last long.
Over the past few years, Carrie had tried
everything to win me and Mom over.
No matter how much I tormented her, she’d
just cry, then follow me around, calling me
“sister” this and “sister” that.
But, no matter how hard she tried, it couldn’t
change the fact that our family fell apart
<
because of her.
The next day, as soon as I walked into class,
Jason swaggered over and snatched my
backpack. “Let me see if you slacked off last
night.”
Then, he started going over the test, calling
me an idiot for every wrong answer.
I looked up and saw Carrie watching Jason,
looking all pathetic.
Is that all it takes?
Maybe I should get even closer to Jason,
make her suffer even more.
く
But, I just couldn’t do it. I just sat down at my
desk.
“How did you get this wrong? Are you really
that dumb, or are you just messing with me?”
I rested my head on the desk. “Really that
dumb.”
Jason looked surprised, coughed a couple of times, and actually started explaining the
problem.
With Jason’s help, my grades started going
up pretty fast.
<
By the end of the first semester, I wasn’t at
the bottom of the class anymore.
The teacher even gave me an award for
improving, and asked me to bring my dad in so he could give it to me in front of him.
Ever since I went rebellious, I hadn’t gotten an award.
“My dad’s busy.”
The teacher looked disappointed.
But when I got home, Dad had made a huge
dinner to celebrate my improvement.
L
Seeing Carrie next to him, I knew what was
- up.
“Jessica, Dad made all this specially for you.”
I looked at the bland food on the table.
For me?
“Let’s eat.”
I ate without tasting anything, then went to
my room.
Carrie muttered, “Jess looks kinda sad?”
Dad told her, “She’s always had a bad
く
temper, just ignore her.”
Later, Dad knocked on my door, praising my
progress and promising to make me healthy
meals every day.
“Just get to the point.”
He stopped, thinking for a second. “I
remember your mom had a couple of gold
bracelets, right?”
