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“Well, duh.” She blew out air and, if Ihad to guess, rolled her eyes. “If it’snot aPhD…”
“…then you’re not using your most valuable asset.”
“Your brain,” we chimed the old, overbearing sentence we had both heard since childhood.
“Itold them they were narrow minded, that my opinions matter, and that I’ll be turning eighteen soon. They told me I’mgrounded. Ihate it that they treat me like achild.”
There was no use in explaining to achild that they were, in fact, achild. Especially not to araging one. “Grounded for how long?”
“Today. Still though, fucking sucks that they did it,” she grunted.
“Language,” Iwarned, even though Iset the worst example. Iflipped open my laptop when avery plausible solution struck me. “Why don’tyou visit your big sister for two, maybe three, weeks, and you’ll be back before summer vacation ends so you’ll have time to study?”
“No way!” Her enthusiasm seeped through the phone. “You’re inviting me to stay with you? For three weeks?”
“It’snot an invitation for R&R, Olivia,” Iwarned, tempering down any touristic slash party plans she might’ve harbored.
“Whatever you want,” she said in arush. “I’ll do anything. I’ll clean and cook and…”
“No need for that.” Ipaused, then corrected myself. “You’ll have to clean up after yourself, obviously.”
“Of course, anything, anything you want—”
“Let me finish, you nut.” Ilaughed, unable to maintain my stern approach. “You’ll be working as my assistant. Helping me at weddings, taking messages, running errands—stuff like that. If you prove you have agood work ethic, I’ll talk to Mom and Dad for you. Deal?”
“Ohmygosh, yes!” she shrieked in my ear. “I’ll be the best assistant ever! I’ll start packing now.”
“Text me the details of your bus ticket and I’ll have an Uber pick you up.”
“Okay! Bye, sis!” She hung up as soon as the words had left her mouth.
Ichuckled in the empty living room, content to be able to save my sister from weeks of being talked over or scolded for doing anything other than school. Nothing could’ve tainted my happiness, except…
Except the new-obvious of not having Zach and his small kisses, amazing sex, and the comfort he lent me with his presence for three solid weeks. Being with him, even for the short hours we shared every few days, put everything work related on the backburner. He unwound my brain, eased up my stress, and was generally areally nice person to be around.
Keep telling yourself that you see him as just nice.
What Isaid to myself didn’tmatter, and Iimagined it would vanish sometime during the next three weeks we were apart. Because Icouldn’tdisappear in the middle of the night to his place either, not with the example Iwanted to set for Olivia, and in no way could Ihave him here.
Anyway, he might be too busy to come.
And Ineeded to stop thinking about him and get back to work.
“Idon’tcare that she’sstaying with you and not in some motel,” Mom screamed in my ear. “She should be home, reading materials for her senior year, and filling out her college applications!”
Olivia arrived the following day after athree-hour bus drive to Boston, unpacking her duffle bag in the guest room when Igot the call from my parents. While Ithought asking their permission to come here was agiven, Olivia didn’t.
Unfortunately for them, and for me in this case, my sister considered me as her role model in the number of fucks she gave. Instead of telling them face-to-face, she left them anote, which left me in the frontlines of cleaning up her mess.
“Mom, it’sonly two to three weeks. It’snot like she’ll be lying around; she brought her booksandshe’ll be working with me.” Imassaged my temples, Mom’sdemanding tone giving me amigraine.
“You and yourphotographybusiness.” She spat the word like it disgusted her. “Your sister needs to go to college, Laura. At least you have some form of higher education. Even if you do nothing with it.”
Mom and Dad were aprime example of putting your brain to good use. Mom was aliterature professor and dad taught software engineering. They never cared for making money off of how insanely smart they were, and Iaccepted their decision. If they weren’tsuch crappy people, Iwould’ve adored them for it.
“Mom.” Irolled my eyes, drained of hearing her lecture on repeat for the fourth year in arow now. “I’mnot apologizing for being able to support myself with ajob Ilove.”
“You are so much smarter than snapping pictures, Laura,” she quipped. “Why not use it to do something that matters?”
