Priceless

Day Three

"So what are some things you've always wanted to do?"

Dear jumps at my sudden arrival and nearly spills her orange juice. "Stop...doing that!"

I laugh at this and sit in front of her. I keep seeing her in my head every so often. But my sister's face slowly appears in her eyes. So I don't let it haunt me. I let it help me save Dear.

Mom and Dad immediately noticed a sudden change in my mood. I've been thinking all day yesterday about what to do with her to show her why she's worth living. I couldn't think of anything but to ask what she wants to do so she could stay alive.

Dad eyed me at dinner and said, "Son. You haven't taken a single bite of your food."

I looked down and realized he was right. I laughed at this and put a spoonful of my soup.

Mom furrowed her brows at my playful smile. "I haven't seen that smile in a long time. Have you met someone?"

"What? No. I mean yes, but it's not what you think. She's my friend. A friend that needs my help."

"So it is a girl," Dad quietly said.

"Help in what?" Mom now paid her full attention to me as I said, "Well...she's in trouble. I'm like her...emotional helper. A friend."

"I see..." That's all they said. After that, they didn't pay much attention to my deep thought process until I finally found my conclusion.

I watch Dear munch on her fries. She finally gives me a shrug and says, "I never really thought of it."

"Well start thinking."

"Wait. I'm eating."

"Eat and think."

She lifts her eyebrows at me and softly says, "He's pushy. Noted."

I sigh and say, "Okay. I'm sorry. I just...never mind. Go ahead." I sit back in my chair and watch her eat. My mind slowly drifts away from my idea of a bucket list and goes to her odd beauty.

Like how her brown hair has its really wavy days compared to its semi-wavy days like today. It's almost like a light brown color of hair that fits with her light brown eyes. That old guy from the mail center was right. They are quite shiny eyes along with their sadness holding them back. She barely wears any makeup. Just...what was it? Mascara and a little eyeliner? I remember my sister used to wear those things, but rarely the other stuff.

Dear senses that I'm staring at her and looks up from her fries. "What is it?"

"Hm? Oh, nothing."

Dear rolls her eyes and closes the lid of her container. "Fine. I'll listen to you just so you could leave already. Um..." She gives my question a long thought until she says, "I've always wanted to go to the beach."

"Okay." I take out a piece of paper and put at the top: Dear's Bucket List to Stay Alive. She scoffs when she sees this and I give her a playful smile. "Alright. What else?"

She gives it another long thought until she gets frustrated and says, "I don't know! I've never really...had these wishes before! I've always just...gone with the flow..."

I scratch the back of my head when I hear this. She's harder than I thought. "Okay...Uh...We'll leave this to the side and I guess I'll just do it myself."

"Do what?"

"Convince you."

Dear rolls her eyes at me and stands up to throw away her trash. "Look. If you have no friends and have nothing else to do, find someone else to experiment on."