November | ✔

14. Drama and romance

Amelia's POV.

"No, no and no!" I keep saying while throwing all my clothes on the floor. And to think I had packed the best clothes before coming here. Arms akimbo, I look at the mess I did by throwing all my 'best' clothes. I hear a knock on the door.

"Come in!"

The door opens and my brother appears. He comes inside and comes towards me.

"Sister, did someone throw a tantrum here? You know, for a girl you are very messy." He says, and I smack his head.

"Shut up, worm. This is a girl emergency, I have nothing to wear." I shake my head.

"You have a billion clothes on the floor, how do you have nothing to wear?"

Boys will never understand.

"You know what?" I ask my brother, while holding up two dresses. "Stop talking and make yourself useful. Which one is better: the blue one or the red one?"

He looks at both dresses for a moment, and scratches his chin while thinking. "None."

I throw both dresses on the floor. "I knew it, I'm hopeless!"

Jonah shakes his head back and forth. "Yes, yes you are."

"Wow, thanks. That is very supportive of you."

"No problem."

I sit on the bed beside Jonah and we both stay like that. I see Jonah from the corner  of my eye struggling to say something, and I ask him.

"Jonah, what's wrong?"

He looks at me and hesitates at first, but then decides to speak. "I got some of mom's clothes before moving in here. They are in my suitcase."

I raise my eyebrows, and my mouth opens slightly. "You... you brought mom's clothes here? Why?"

He lowers his head. "You probably have no clue, but before sleeping, I always take one of mom's clothes to bed and smell it until I fall asleep. I don't know, it feels like she's there singing lullabies to me like she did before. I was only five when she left us, but I do remember some moments with her. I remember when we used to go to picnics, or family vacations... I also remember when she used to wake me up every morning with her kisses, and when she used to sing to me before bed..."

My eyes fill with tears while listening to him. My heart aches. I didn't know he remembered this much from mom and the good times we had as a family. I didn't know he missed her this much. I thought I was the one who missed them both mostly, but Jonah... He misses her double, because not only he didn't spend more time with her, but she was his role model.

"You probably think I'm crazy now." He laughs a bit, to lighten up the atmosphere.

"No, not at all." I reply. He raises his head and looks at me. "To be honest, I understand. You smell her clothes because you feel close to her this way. But you're not the only one who does such thing. I... I still sleep with the teddy bear that mom and dad gave me as a present on my 13th birthday."

Jonah was clearly not expecting my answer to be like this. He probably thought that I was going to joke about him, but his eyes lighten up.

"Ah, you're still a baby. I'm ten years old and I don't sleep with teddy bears, so who's the kid now?" He laughs, and I understand that he doesn't want to continue this conversation. It's an emotional topic for him, and he's not the type to express his feelings.

"Shut up. We have been sitting here for a thousand years and I still haven't chosen anything to wear."

"You can wear one of mom's dresses."