Inferno

~5~ So Alone

Emma's POV

Once mom and Sasha leave, Luke goes to his room. I'm just silently sitting at the table, all alone. I always feel so alone. Alone at school, alone at home.

My parents love me, I know that they do, but I never feel like I fit in. The ugly duckling. I don't feel pretty. I feel fat. I have a good 40 pounds on mom and Sasha. That's a lot. I wear baggy shirts all the time to hide my gut. I'm too ashamed to let anyone see me.

Having a beautiful mom and sister is hard. When we are together, people look past me and stare at them. I could almost be invisible. Even Lucas. He is the most popular kid in school. Liam is even handsome for crying out loud. What happened to me? What gene did I get ripped off on. I have a couple friends, but not as many as Sasha and Luke.

Sasha and Luke are good to me, but I know it's just because I'm their sister. If I wasn't, they would treat me the way they do everybody else that looks like me. They wouldn't even see me.

I go up to Luke's room and knock on the door.

"Come in" he says softly.

I go in and he's playing a video game. "Don't tell mom" he says with a smirk. He knows I won't tell her.

I sit on the edge of the bed, quietly watching him.

"You ok?" I ask him after a while.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" He asks, confused.

"Mom grounded you" I say quietly.

He puts down the controller and looks at me. "I'm fine. I never would be grounded if mom just stayed home where she belongs" he says, shaking his head and picking his controller back up.

"I think she's happy" I say, softly."

Luke just shrugs. "Who cares. It's always about mom" he says, cursing under his breath when he dies.

"Can I ask you something?" I ask, suddenly nervous.

He shuts off his tv and turns to face me. He can sense the tone in my voice. "What's up, Emmy?" He asks.

"If I wasn't your sister, would you have anything to do with me?" I ask. I know the answer. I don't know why I'm even asking.

"Of course I would" he lies smoothly. I know he's lying, because when he does, his lip turns up slightly at the corner.

I pretend like I don't notice. I always pretend not to notice when people lie to me.

"Thanks" I say stupidly.

He stares at me hard for a minute.

"You ok? I heard what Summer and Holly said in gym today." He says, sadly.

"How did you hear about that?" I ask, shocked.

"Austin was right there. He said you heard it all" he says, shaking his head angrily.

"You're not fat, Em. Mom and Sasha are just abnormally skinny." He says, trying to insult them just to make me happy. The thing is, I would do anything to be as skinny as they are. I'm just not.

"What did Sasha do? Any idea?" He asks, lying on his bed, putting his leg over my knee.

"Nope. Mom looked really mad, though." I say, chuckling.

"Better her than me" he says, laughing too.

"Want me to go?" I ask after a bit.

"Nah. You're not bugging me" he says with his goofy smile. He's got the same goofy smile as mom and Liam have. He doesn't flash it often, but when he does, he reminds me of when we were kids, and life wasn't so complicated.