-Austin-
There was only one girl for me… it had been that way for years, but I knew it would never work out. How could she ever look past the fact that we had been raised as siblings? Should I have told her when I discovered the truth? Could she have learned to love me then, the way I love her?
It was pointless. She was never going to see me as just another guy, I was always going to be her big brother.
I tried to keep that in mind, tried to get myself to date other girls, something, anything to get my mind off of her, but it never worked. The only girl that ever held my interest for more than a moment that wasn’t my Arianna… was Amy Moore, and I had only met her once one summer while I was visiting Dad. Still, something about her was just so different, I could almost imagine her taking my mind off of Arianna. But I never saw her again, so what was the point in daydreaming? Besides, she was one of those rich kids… what use did she have for someone like me?
I had to spend a lot of time at work the week after graduation. I had put in my notice that I was moving as soon as Arianna said she would go, and since it was less than a two-week notice, I was trying to be extra helpful to get that letter of recommendation my boss had promised me. In all reality, my boss was a woman, and for whatever reason, I could charm even her, so I could have gotten out of the work, but I wouldn’t have felt right about it. I noticed when I left in the mornings that Anna wasn’t out of bed, and when I got home from my long shifts in the evenings, she was almost always curled up on the sofa staring at the t.v. with Jason beside her. That shouldn’t have been that weird, but after the first night, after she lied to me about what was wrong, and knowing how active she normally was, it just didn’t fit. Something was going on and no one was telling me the truth about it.
All week, I kept making food for them at dinner, but she didn’t eat, and I was watching her body start to react to the lack of food. You’d think since it had only been a few days there shouldn’t be a huge difference, but it was pretty clear she wasn’t eating much, if anything at all. She was dehydrated, and her face was drawn, black circles under her bloodshot eyes. I kept trying to talk to her, get her to tell me what had happened, she was clearly depressed about something, but she wouldn’t say a word. So I’d try Jason, who was much worse about keeping secrets, but he had that look in his eyes, that look that I remembered from all those years ago when I realized she wasn’t my sister. Whatever her secret, he wasn’t about to tell me, or anyone else for that matter. I made all the arrangements, scheduled the moving van for Saturday, bought the supplies, told them to pack up their rooms…. I don’t know how much time they were spending together while I was gone, but when I was home, they were inseparable.
Tuesday night, I realized her bed was empty, her door unlocked, and I crept silently to Jason’s room to hear them talking quietly with each other. I carefully tried to turn the doorknob, but it was locked. I was awake most of the night, waiting, listening for her to go back to her room, but she never did.
Something was going to have to change….