Court Kept (Court High 3)

It was from my sister.

Well, it wasn’t from her per se, but a friend who said it once belonged to Paige. I ran into my sister’s counselor, Lena, at the Christmas party Ramses’ family threw every year. She told me she sent the present over via my dad, and I panicked because I’d initially thrown it away. I’d ended up rescuing it from the trash that night, but even still, I had yet to open it. I think I hadn’t been ready at the time, and with all I’d found out that night, I knew I hadn’t been.

I sat cross-legged with it now, the package in my hand. Without thought, I ripped it open like a Band-Aid, quick to reduce pain. The floor quickly was covered in wrapping paper, and lifting the lid of a box, I discovered the bounty inside. A journal.

My sister’s journal.

I ran my hand over a moleskin surface, the thing so nice and precious. Lena told me Paige wrote in it when she’d seen her as a freshman.

Breathing, I lifted the cover quick too, fearing I’d lose my nerve. I thought, upon seeing the insides, I might want to cry. These would be my sister’s last words to both me and the world.

So why was I smiling?

Images filled my vision, gorgeous images of cartoons of all things, Japanese anime-like with big eyes and cute expressions.

Eyes…

There were many eyes, and some of them weren’t even on faces. She had a fascination with them apparently, sad eyes, happy eyes, and all of them expression-filled. She had a lot of emotions here, and I realized that’s how she displayed them.

Hershey crawled into my lap, still small enough to do that. Together, we studied these eyes until more honking outside broke me out of the trance.

I closed the notebook, extremely grateful for the gift. Lena, when she’d given the package to me, expressed I should see her sometime, but not just for counseling.

Maybe I will.

It’d be nice to see a friend outside of the crazy of Royal and this town. My sister had other allies, and it wouldn’t hurt to see them as well. Getting myself together, I slid the notebook into my bag. I put Hershey in her kennel, then headed downstairs. The kennel was a new thing for Hershey, but only temporary until Rosanna came in for a shift at my dad’s house. I’d bought the thing before I came over last night so Hershey wouldn’t tear up the house while I was at school. I didn’t need any more potential stress from my father.

My feet touched the stairs, and as I descended, I thought better of grabbing a quick breakfast. Dad probably wouldn’t have anything anyway I could possibly eat since I was vegan. It’d been a “thing” before, so I rerouted to leave.

“December?”

My heart in my throat, my hand froze on the knob to the house. I turned to find my dad coming into the foyer from the living room.

And he didn’t look like himself. Truth be told, I hadn’t seen him since before Christmas, but he hadn’t looked like this. Hair, dark like mine, was disheveled, and he had a darkness under his eyes like he hadn’t slept properly in a while. His cheeks had even hallowed a little.

Had he been eating?

He was dressed for a day at work, sans the jacket, but he didn’t look like he should work. He looked like he should sleep.

Not allowing myself to care, my hand left the doorknob, and I forced myself to look at him head on if only for appearances. I’d been told in the past we could have been clones. Well, except for the whole gender thing. My hair was obviously longer, but we had the same long noses and fair features. Though, my cheeks were fuller at the present.

What happened to him?

Something happened, but whatever the case, I didn’t care. I stopped caring about a lot of things. Especially the guy who hadn’t given a shit about me or my sister. He told me that with everything he did, better to throw money at us than actually care for us growing up. I adjusted my book bag. “When did you get in?”

Basically making conversation, I waited for it.

Dad eased his hands into his pockets. “Late last night. I was away on business.”

Always working, better at making money than being anything else, a parent amongst that list.

Nodding, I glanced at the door upon another honk, and Dad did too.

“Who’s that?” he asked as I turned the doorknob.

Lig

ht spilled into the house.