meant to be | j. parker¹

THIRTY-SEVEN

"Hey! Are you dressed?" Jordan asked knocking on his sister's door. "Um, yes," Aaliyah said, walking over to the door and opening it. "Do you wanna tell me why we're dressed alike...Are you going through a midlife crisis?"

"It's spirit week. Did you forget what today was?" Jordan asked waving his arms around excitedly.

"Um, twin Tuesday. Oh..." she said in realization. "Jordan, you're so corny. I'll meet you downstairs I'm not done with my makeup."

"You still look like a rat," he hummed, shrugging his shoulders and walking away. After finishing up her makeup, Aaliyah walked down the steps alerting the attention of both her mom and brother. "Morning," she muttered grabbing an apple from the counter.

"Wow, nice shirts," Laura told her kids, glancing at their outfits. "Is this some weird triplet thing? Bit of a bold choice, no?"

"It gets bolder. I got one for Liv, too. Aaliyah's their favorite," Jordan said snapping his fingers. "Plus, it's spirit week at school and I figured it might cheer her up."

"Or traumatize her," Laura teased. "This was Jordan's idea. Not mine," Aaliyah quickly cleared up.

"I don't know. I just know she hasn't really been feeling school lately. You know running into Asher and seeing Layla and just hearing all the rumors, it can't be fun," Jordan explained.

"Mmm. Maybe she should take a mental health today," Laura suggested.

Jordan and Aaliyah shared a look with each other clearly thinking the same thing. "Wait, seriously? You mean, like, ditch school?" he asked.

"Well, I mean, sacrificing a day of classes to focus on your mental health is more important, so yeah, seriously," she confirmed.

"Yeah, yeah. Of course, it's important," Aaliyah grinned at her mom, wrapping an arm around her brother's shoulder. "I just think Liv needs the support of her siblings. So, Jordan and I should also take a mental health day."

"Nice try, guys. Liv needs this. You two don't. You're going to school," Laura told them.

"Okay, hold on. What about our needs? Look, I hear you. Liv needs a mental health day, alright? But, look, she's still a recovering alcoholic," Jordan said looking at his sister.

"Hey!" Aaliyah yelled defensively.

"Do you want to skip school or not?" he whispered before looking back over at their mom. "I think I need a taking care of my sister's day, too. Please?" he begged.

"Fine," she sighed. "But both of you make it back to school in time for your practices," Laura bargained to the two.

"Deal! Thank you!" the two yelled, running up the stairs in search of Liv.

After convincing Liv to put the matching Aaliyah shirts on. Jordan had the great idea of renting out a karaoke room for the three. So, there they were, the two sisters watched as their brother sang a terrible and off-key rendition of Aaliyah's Try Again.

"I'm honestly impressed that you remembered that much," Liv laughed after Jordan finished singing. "Well, considering that this was the same song that you two made me sing every single time we came here, I'm not so much surprised. Oh, okay, we got 5 minutes left in the room," he said looking down at his watch.

"Perfect enough time for us to sing one last duet," Liv said, nudging her sister. Jordan and Aaliyah both shared the same look before stopping Liv from getting off of the couch. "Actually, we were thinking maybe we could just talk," Aaliyah suggested.

"Here we go," Liv sighed. "Guys, I'm fine, okay? Yeah, Layla's still giving me the cold shoulder, and every run-in with Asher is awkward, to say the least, but I am fine."