I entered the house, confident in the knowledge that only Olly was home and she wouldn't care whether I looked haggard or not. She would ask but she wouldn't pry the way my parents would. And more importantly, unlike my parents, she'd think having a criminal stalk me was 'cool' and not a reason to end my life.
Honestly sometimes, her thought process worried me. A lot.
"Hey," she called out with her head in the fridge as I shut the door behind me. "I'm hungry. Should we order?"
"Sounds good," I replied with a glance in her direction. I could only imagine what she would do if she was the one being stalked. Knowing her and her affection for the darker side, it was good thing I was the one who ran into Masked Idiot. She'd make him her best friend if she could.
She shut the fridge and turned to me. "Pizza or burgers?"
"Any." I shrugged half heartedly.
"You looked spooked. Wasted. Drained," she commented.
My expression communicated the 'so?' very loudly.
"You good? You're always... Perfect," she stressed.
"Perfect my foot," I scoffed and threw in an eye roll for good measure. Perfect wouldn't have an unwanted stalker on her tail. Perfect wouldn't sort of be an accomplice to a criminal.
"I'm good though," I smiled. My facial muscles stiffly complied and while my heart wasn't in it, it was enough to fool Olly. I could win first place for best fake smile in the world. I perfected my technique at age five. No one could tell the difference between my real and fake smile.
"Don't 'my foot' me," she countered. I could tell she was rolling her eyes at me so I rolled mine back. "You're always neat and put together. My sister, the perfect... everything. Even the SATs didn't spook you."
I frowned at 'perfect everything' even though a large part of me understood why she said it.
"They aren't scary. It's actually designed to help us pass," I countered, my big sister streak kicking in.
I had passed the SATs with flying colors. I practically made it my bitch and I did it effortlessly. The whole point was of that was so Olly knew it was nothing to be afraid of. Fear and nerves about it was what threw most people off. I didn't study half as much as my peers because I wanted her to know it was like every other exam so when it was her turn she wouldn't be plagued with nerves. Olly and nerves didn't work well -probably because she was so self confident the other ninety percent of the time- and she almost always got nervous about exams.
She rolled her eyes exaggeratedly. "Riiiight." The way she drawled the word made it perfectly clear she didn't believe a word I'd said. My efforts were lost on her.
"Is this about the debate?" she pressed, eyeing me suspiciously. "Are you going to lose for like the first time in your life?" she rolled her eyes, reaching for her phone.
"Shut up," I muttered, wondering just how much was a joke and how much was actual resentment. She was my sister and I'd do anything for her but that didn't change the fact that growing up with someone who was the 'perfect everything' had to have been hard. Especially since she was always getting compared to me.
I sighed, shaking my head to rid it of the unsavory thoughts. I had bigger problems at the moment -namely the criminal who was probably sneaking into my room right this instant- and I knew she didn't hate me so there was little point going down that road.
"Don't worry about it. Sure, losing came late in life for you but I'll coach you through it. It's the one thing I'm better than you at."
Again with the wondering just how much was a joke and how much was actual resentment.
आप पढ़ रहे हैं
When Perfect Meets Crazy
किशोर उपन्यास"I would scream but I have a headache from crying my eyes out in the bathroom. You have twenty seconds to explain why you broke into my house before I expose you to the wrath of my mother," I divulged, taking a seat at my dresser. "And trust me, she...
