LOVE ME HARDER • jb

01.

"Where's dad?" I asked placing my cup in the sink.

"He had to leave early. He's traveling to Vancouver later tonight so he has to get the team situated." My mother shrugged like it was nothing as a frown was visible on my lips.

You see, my father being the CEO of the leafs always has him gone. He's really never around and sometimes it just gets to me. In my entire life I've rarely seen my father and I just couldn't understand why.

My mother is a surgeon and I would think she would be gone most of the time, but that isn't the case. She takes the night shift at the hospital and the nighttime surgeries. Yes, sometimes if they call her in for an emergency she'll leave, but she always taught us that family is more important than anything. So why couldn't my father spend time with us?

"Oh." I spoke, covering up the fact it bothered me. "Well, we better get going Bella. Don't wanna be late for school."

I grabbed my bag and swung it over my shoulder and placed another kiss on my mom's cheek.

"No, you don't. Especially if you wanna get into a good law school." My mom said as I pulled away. "Perhaps, Harvard."

I just nodded my head holding the urge to roll my eyes back. I spun on my heel and smiled at my sister. She had a frown on her lips, however, because she knew exactly how I felt and just about everything.

"Let's go Bella." I said and walked out the door.

As Bella and I drove to school a silence overcame us. It wasn't the comfortable silence either. It was tense.

"When are you gonna tell them Victoria?" Bella asked finally breaking the silence.

I ran my hands through the ends of my hair and let out a frustrated sigh.

"I don't know Bells." I said turning the corner. I could see her nod from the corner of my eye and continue to look out the window. I knew it was eating her alive though. She hated lying and it made me feel bad that I was making her.

If you're wondering what we're talking about it's this. My family has high expectations for both my sister and I. They basically have our whole lives planned out for us. I hate it so much and my sister aswell, but we know we have to stay quiet.

Both of my parents want me to grow up and go to college to become a lawyer, but that's not what I want to do. I want to travel the world and work with animals. I have always been an animal person and I couldn't see myself living without caring for them.

If I ever told my parents I didn't want to fulfil their dreams for myself, they would never speak to me. They would probably disown me for that matter. It's only going to make matters worse when I tell them I already received a full scholarship at the Wildlife Sanctuary in South Africa. I received the news during summer and my sister and best friend are the only two people that know about it. I refuse to let anyone else know.

So, making my sister lie for me is hard. Not only would it get me in trouble, but her too because she was keeping it from them. I'm glad though. I know I could trust Bella. She was the best sister I could ever ask for. People tell us all the time they're jealous of our relationship.

I finally pulled up to the all too familiar high school, and parked my car into my usual parking space. I looked over at Bella and gave her a slight smile. She gave me a weary smile back before we both got out of the car going our separate ways.

I walked into Stratford Hall seeing the teenagers in uniform smiling and chatting with each other. There was a huge line located by the library that was right at the entrance of the school. That's where you could receive your schedule. I smiled to myself knowing this and made my way over to the line where the Seniors could receive their schedule.