My friend: I'm having problems with a guy....
Me: Like his dead body won't fit in this bag kind of problems or you like him problems?
Later that day, I sat on my desk, tapping my pen and rubbing my temple to figure out a math problem. I usually never had problems with almost - I am a perfectionist - anything, something felt off today.
I heard a knock on my door. The person peeped in, scanned the room until her gaze fell on the figure sitting on the desk. She smiled.
"Jakey, race you to the dinning table!" She rushed out, laughing her butt off.
"You're on." I whispered to myself with a smirk as I sped off to the dining table.
If you didn't know who it was - which I know you don't- that my friends, was my baby sister, Nicoletta Elena Matthews. She became ten last month - July. She inherited the same brown hair and brown eyes from our parents.She had a slightly darker complexion than mine and a cute dimple formed on her cheek whenever she smiled. It was our way of telling each other the meal was ready and we would race to the dining table to see who won.
Obviously, I let her win. She was the only one who was closest to me. As a sister and also as a friend. My parents -as I might've mentioned before- were wealthy businessman and woman. They had to make trips to different countries, so it was usually my sister, I and three other servants living with us in our mansion.
Yeah, MANSION! WOW!
It was okay to me, though. My parents had a lot of bungalows and villas bought around the globe and this bungalow was one of them. It wasn't much to me, though. I liked it for its comfort. Though, a couple of classmates from Berry High freaked out when they found out where I lived. Now, that was one reason I never told my new classmates - I was rich and lived in a mansion.
After I reached the dining table, I pretended to be out of breath as I panted like a dog - holding one of the chairs as support and meanwhile my sister laughed (the rolling on the floor kind of laughter) as she clutched her chest. I drank water from the glass on the table and finally took a seat across my sister.
"Brother.You.Hilarious!" She spoke in between her laughter. Her laughter was contagious. Anyone could fall in love with her laughter. It was adorable-to say the least. The male servant- Dave- set the plates on the table.
"Hey, I'm not a much of an athlete. You know that!" I whined.
"Aww." She said and I pretended to roll my eyes but my smile gave it away- that I liked it.
Elena and I were always like this since she was born. We were the kind of siblings who would always fight but at the end, I would let her win. She would rub her victory on my face, but I wouldn't mind. Our parents didn't stay around much for us to be close to them, so we had each other for entertainment and also we confided in each other.
Our relationship was built on trust.
No one knew I had a little sister, and I'd rather keep it that way. When I find people and if I found people- who'd be my true best friends- I'll let them in. This is my vulnerable part and seeing Elena meant that I had let my walls come down and appreciated them and much as they did. Until now, I didn't find anyone.
Maybe, someday.
(Future Jake: I just didn't know it back then. And I'm glad I didn't. The best decision I took, but I'll tell that later)
"Elena...." I drawled, dramatically.
"Jakey...." She drawled too.
The food was on the table. Chicken pasta, salad, mac n cheese, chicken burger, beef curry, tortillas, kebab and finally two bottles of coke. We eyed the food like two hungry gorillas or- two stranded strangers on the desert.
"Hands off my food!" I threatened.
She smirked. "Oh, brother!"
And we dug in.
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We burped, rubbing our tummies. Dave, Daisy and Pocahontas (The other maids and don't ask me why their names are like that! -It is related to my problem) cleared out the table. We were still sitting there, smirking at each other and also gulping down the bottles of coke.
After a long while, we retreated back to her room for some late night talks. We sluggishly went upstairs and fell on her bed with a thump. For a few seconds, we lied there watching the ceiling and enjoying the comfortable silence. That was the thing with us - we never had to talk to fill the silence. It was never needed. Hopefully, it'd never be needed in the future, too.
But she had to break it. "I wish mom and dad were here."
I sighed. Sometimes, even I wanted that. I wished that they cared enough.
But they didn't.
"Me too."
"Why don't we have a normal childhood, Jakey?" She asked, her voice soft and quiet.
"Don't you like what we have?" I asked her back, still staring at the ceiling.
She was quiet for a while, perhaps thinking what to say next.
"I do." She whispered.
"Then....what's the problem?"
She was quiet again.
"I feel like we are Augustus and Hazel, right now looking at the stars. Their love was so beautiful." A smile was evident in her voice. I didn't have to look at her to check if she was smiling or not. I just knew. She changed the subject. Maybe, she didn't wanna talk about it. Although, my curious brain was telling me to press the subject, my other side was telling me not to.
It was my sister. I could trust her. And I didn't wanna lose her or let her think I was being nosy. I had to give her space and I had to respect that. And also, she was way mature than her age. She grew up pretty quickly. So did I.
"Yeah, it was beautiful." I turned my face to look at her. She still focused on the ceiling. "You're beautiful. Always remember that, okay Hazel Grace?"
She smiled, turning to face me. "Okay."
________________________________________________________
"Don't tell me Hazel Grace, you spent your only wish to go to Disneyland!" I cried out.
Elena giggled.
"HAZEL GRACE!"
"I want to go to Amsterdam and sing songs and fall in love with you!" She cried out. "And then, you can go do whatever you want!"
I laughed, shutting the book close.
"I am a hundred and ten percent sure, that was not the line!"
"I wanted to improvise." She defended.
I clapped for her. "That was pretty good, also you did not ruin the book for the readers who didn't read it."
"I know it's bad to give spoilers."
I wiped an imaginary tear. "I taught you well, young one."
We both laughed for a couple of minutes and did role-play from our favorite books until Elena was completely worn out. We did that every night back when we were kids- Scratch that- back when I was a kid, because she was still a kid. It was the kind of pleasure that only kids could afford. The imaginary worlds, the role-play, the care-free attitude. I never had that and so I wanted to change it for my sister.
I wanted Elena to have a childhood worth remembering.
And also, I wanted to re-write my childhood with her.
"Remember how you once dressed up as Peter Pan and knocked on my window, telling me 'Wendy Darling, I came to take you to Never-land with me'." She reminisced, mimicking a male voice that was supposed to sound like Peter Pan.
"And you even agreed to come with me. I thought for a second you'd reject me."
"I could reject you, not Peter Pan!"
I fake-gasped, clutching the side of my chest where my heart was located. "Oh dear, you wound me!"
She playfully shoved my arm.
"Aww, c'mon. No one rejects Peter Pan, it's harsh. Besides, Peter Pan is actually someone who died at a young age and now it is his duty to take the souls of kids who die young too, to Heaven. That is, Never-land."
I stared at her, wide eyed before narrowing it. "Way to destroy my childhood, sis."
She crossed her arms. "Really? You didn't know that?"
I crossed my arms. "I didn't want to. But thanks to you, I know now."
After a staring competition -mind I tell you that she was awesome at it- I broke off our contact.
She smirked. "Role-play of Cinderella, the waltz with me?"
"Challenge accepted."