I Can't Change

Chapter Two

When I was fifteen years old my parents died in a plane crash, leaving me and my brother with their will. It stated that we inherit the house, the money, the cars, and most of their belongings. All of this was to be given to make to handle when I came of age, so Aunt Julia lived with my brother and I until I turned eighteen. Legally, I was an adult. My Aunt Julia insisted on keeping custody of Christian because I wasn't old enough to take care of myself, let alone another person. But I persisted, and she reluctantly agreed.

My Aunt Julia is a very carefree person. She is my mother's younger sister. She is around 30 and has long wavy dark brown hair, everyone on my mother's side has it and I do too. Her eyes are a milk chocolate color, which I always envied. Mine are a dull blue-grey color, which have no shine or sparkle to them. Aunt Julia wears long skirts and loose fitting tops, she may sound like a hippie, but she is a responsible person. 

I have been living with Christian for about a year now, and things are pretty normal. We have gotten into the routine of things quickly. I finished school last year, graduation was very hard without my parents there. Christian goes to school every morning while I go to work (which isn't particularly necessary since we have more money than we even need) and hang out with Alexa. Aunt Julia takes care of the bills because she is a bit more responsible than I am. Every weekend, Julia either comes to my house and watches Christian, or he goes to her house. It was part of the agreement between her and I, she stated that she still wanted me to be a teenager, which meant I get the weekends off. 

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After a forty minute drive to the outlet mall, we hop out of the car. 

"Isn't place huge?" Alexa squeals excitedly. "I've always wanted to come here, and since I have money saved up, we can go on a shopping spree!" Another peal of laughter emits from the beside me and I look down at her, shaking my head. How did I end up being best friends with this psycho?

When we were in grade school I was a loser. I guess I still am a little. I had all of my hair chopped off, glasses and I was short and scrawny until junior high. In grade five, Alexa came over to me with her long blond hair in a braid with a pink ribbon. She may have looked nice, but she was very mean sometimes. She insisted we be friends because I was always by myself and that made her "sad" to see me like that. Soon enough, we both hit puberty and became quite popular around some of the school. I ditched the glasses and grew my hair out, I wore skinny jeans instead of sweatpants and we completely changed our images. How Alexa became the way she is now is confusing, I guess she gradually got worse. 

"I have to get stuff for Christian and Julia too." I remind her as we enter the first shop. She waves her hand dismissively. 

"Do that another day, you work hard, treat yourself." She says earnestly and a sly smile finds its way onto her face. Oh no. She hold a tight shirt up to me, assessing her choice. She shrugs and places it back. 

"Get your stuff and hurry, I want to shop for dresses!" Her mischievous grin somewhat is contagious and I find myself smiling and laughing along with her.