How To Win A Guy In 30 Days

How To Be Rated

An hour before the sun would yawn and wake the world up, Vanessa dragged her groggy brother out for a walk. Buddy tagged along happily, albeit the leather collar chaining him to his masters.

"Vanessa,"Alex called and she looked back. He lay flat on the ground a few metres from where she stood, Buddy sniffing his hand worriedly.

She walked back and sat next to him, the unruly grass pricking her butt where she sat.

"The park has lost its charms," she commented, her eyes skimming lazily over the dilapidated area. The once bright slides were a dull red, the swings had lost most of its seats and ones that had, hanged on perilous chains, the fence was intermittent with many broken edges, the ground bore holes that gave a slight idea of the various residents in the park.

"Remind me why I am here again," Alex said as he sat next to his sister.

"Because the wonderful sister worried her junkie brother could have a potential case of type two diabetes," she shrugged and pulled out a clump of wet grass with her balled hands. "Don't you dare deny it."

He grunted in denial. "I don't."

She looked at him with a knowing look. "I beg to disagree."

When he didn't reply, with a plastic smile, she began, "remember that time you built a candy castle from the hoard of junk in your room, ended up having a bad stomach might I say, and that time you dressed up as a pumpkin so you could-"

"Fine," he said with his hands slammed together, the universal sign of pleading. "But that is not what has brought you here."

She sighed, "you're right. I wanted...solitude."

She wanted to be by herself, alone and outside. The breaking dawn was the perfect moment to clear away her distraught, she was outside and away from judgmental eyes. It was true that she had the company of a boy and a dog, but most of the time, her brother would lag behind and stop for short breaks, definitely not a morning person, so Vanessa had plenty time to dwell on her thoughts.

"Is this the part where I am supposed to feel offended?"

"No this is the part where you're supposed to feel touched."

"And why would that be?" Alex cocked an eyebrow, his eyes ebbed with curiosity.

She rolled her eyes. "Tell me on which planet does a sibling want the solace of another sibling, let alone company?"

"Undoubtedly on Earth," Alex said confidently. "You don't want solace, sneaky sister. What you want is a designated guard who would let you do everything that dad denies." He hit her head with his fist playfully and stood up.

She tucked her tongue on the roof of her mouth, smiling guiltily. So much for the touching scene. How did she forget who Alexander Graham was?

She stood up and walked beside her brother, he was whistling something familiar. Once she picked up with the music, she perked.

"Smash mouth for a peppy morning, typical 90s kid," she mumbled, jokingly. "You should try the latest vibe bro, you know dance to the new rhythm."

"Nope," he shook his head, "no thank you. I need my ears and eyes for another long time if I'm to be a cop. Twenty first century has no music Vanessa, but verbal torture."

She laughed as her brother shuddered for effect. They always had arguments about the generation gap in music and had agreed that Lou Bega should have retired before his song was labelled the worst song in history.

"You know," she said looking back at the ruined memories. "We really have to do something about the park. It's a place worth all the money in B'more."