Sibling Love (Sequel to I Just Want To Be Loved)

Amber's Insecurity

Several students after Kirika talked about their families. One boy said that he was actually adopted and had no memory of his biological parents, but he didn't care one bit as he loved his adoptive family.

A girl talked about her doting parents who would give her anything she wanted as long as she made enough fuss. Kirika secretly thought that she sounded spoiled. Shu had taught her early on that she can't be expected to get everything she wanted.

Soon it was Daphne's turn. She looked fiery red as she stood in front of the class.

"Well... My father's a movie director and my mother is a model."

Everyone already knew that. Some of the students looked quite bored.

"And... They buy me lots of presents."

After a while, it was clear that Daphne's parents were quite detached from her, similar to Shu and Kirika's parents. Daphne hardly spoke of anything her parents did for her. It seemed like she had been raised by maids and nannies.

Kirika gave Daphne a sympathetic smile as Daphne walked back to her desk after her speech. She hoped that Daphne would find a way to be happy.

Kirika remembered Shu telling her about Wakiya Murasaki, whose parents had also been busy and was also raised (and spoiled) by his nannies. Before he had made friends with the Beyclub, he had had a difficult time making friends.

Soon, it was Amber's turn. She looked worried. Kirika patted her arm comfortingly.

Amber told her story. Her parents had divorced four years ago and her mother remarried a year after that. Her father had remarried a year ago.

Amber tried to talk about her siblings, but there were so many of them that the students kept asking who was who.

"Danny is your older brother, right?" asked the girl whose parents were also divorced.

"No, he's my baby half brother," said Amber.

"Leila is your stepsister from your Dad's side, right?" asked the boy who claimed that his father was a vampire.

"No, she's my little sister," said Amber.

Her family tree was really messy and disorganized. No one could see the lines properly at all. As Amber had feared, she received the lowest marks in the class, with Daphne barely placing above her, which made sense as her speech had been feeble.

Daphne looked disappointed, but not surprised. Amber was extremely distraught though.

After class, Amber was kept back. Kirika made a great pretense of rearranging her books although she wasn't a neat freak like her brother.

Mr Duncan reprimanded Amber for her sloppy work. "This isn't good enough. You need to redo your family tree. You have been doing badly in class all year. If this keeps up, you will be kept down."

"No, I can't be left behind," said Amber. "I don't want to be separated from my friends."

"Then you need to pull your socks up," said Mr Duncan. "I will give you another chance, but this time you need to do your family tree well. I will cut out the speech part."

Kirika caught up with Amber after school. "Amber, I know all about your conversation with Mr Duncan. I don't want you to be kept down in fourth grade when the rest of us go up to fifth grade."

"It's so humiliating," moaned Amber. "But I'm stupid. And it's worse for me because I'm the second oldest in class. Look at Regina. She's the youngest and is third best in class."

Kirika was actually the top student in class, but she was thankful that it wasn't pointed out. She found it a little embarrassing to be honest.

"Look, why don't I help you with your family tree? Two heads are better than one and all that."

Amber sighed. "I don't know. Maybe I should give up. I'm practically failing everything."

"That's a bit of an exaggeration..." started Kirika.

"But I am," said Amber. "I was the only one to get a zero for that Science test last month. And it was an multiple choice paper! Like who gets a zero for multiple choice?"

Amber looked like she wanted to cry. Kirika felt really bad. She wished that she could do something about it...

Suddenly, the idea hit her like a ton of bricks. "That's it!" she said.

"What's it?" asked Amber.

"I can tutor you," said Kirika.

"Are you nuts?" asked Amber. "The last time you tutored a younger student, you got sidetracked."

It was true. Kirika may be a good student, but she was a terrible teacher.

"Don't worry. It won't be just me tutoring you. I can ask Shu to help. And maybe we can have a study group with the rest of our friends!"

Amber still looked doubtful, but she eventually decided to go with it. "Alright, I guess that I will try."

Kirika flashed Amber a smile before giving her a swift hug.