Remembering Sunday

Tracy had to be the spitting image of our mother, if not exactly the same. God had blessed her with almost flawless features, just like our mother. Reddish brown hair topped her head in long, wavy locks with bangs, just like how a model would have theirs. My hair was naturally brunette like our father's, but I had decided to dye it to try and stand out. Didn't quite work, and the colors I had chosen weren't exactly scoring points with my parents.

The two of us had gotten our blue eyes from our mother, but hers were definitely more striking than mine could ever be. They were lighter, almost a Cameron Diaz blue. Mine? Just blue, nothing special. Everything about Tracy could file her under the model category, but the few offers that she got she turned down. She was girly, but she didn't want to be "sucked into model wasteland to be brainwashed by the fashion," as she'd put it. In my honest opinion, she had already been brainwashed.

"So what did David do?" my mother asked as she poured Tracy a cup of coffee.

"He was conoodling with other women," she said as she brought her hand up to fan her eyes as if she was trying to hinder tears. "I thought he really loved me."

I rolled my eyes. "Do you have any proof?" I asked.

"Yes! There was a blonde strand of hair on his shoulder!"

"That's the evidence you're going off of? Are you kidding me?"

"What other evidence could there be?"

"Now, Tracy, Laura does have a point. Did you actually see him with another woman?" my mother asked.

"He flirted with waitresses at restaurants," she said.

She definitely could have been overreacting. I knew what it was really like to be cheated on thanks to my first ever boyfriend, Billy Stanton. The bastard had never really cared about me, it was just a dare that had been made by his jock buddies at a homecoming game. I really thought that Billy, an incredibly attractive football player, had liked someone like me. Seth had never liked Billy and was always telling me not to get involved with him. I couldn't believe how stupid I had been by not listening to Seth. Instead, I found out how big of a jerk he was by walking in on him and a cheerleader at a party.

"You're too good for him, anyway," my mother said.

"Well, his loss, I suppose," Tracy remarked, taking a sip of her coffee.

Pathetic, I thought as I traced the rim of my Coke bottle with my finger. Tracy was just one of those people that were, well, unable to be married. I wasn't sure if she noticed this, but I did.

"So, Laura," Tracy began, turning her attention onto me, "how are things with Seth and you?"

"They just moved in together," my mother answered for me way too quickly. The cockiness in her voice was anything but subtle, so I just let out a soft sigh and smiled.

"Yeah, we did. Very nice apartment a little while away," I added.

"Oh, that sounds nice. When was this?" Tracy asked.

"Yesterday," I replied. Our mother was muted as she pretended to clean a plate in the sink, keeping all her comments about the subject to herself. She was quite unhappy about the thought of Seth and I being alone together all the time and probably us sleeping together. Well, she couldn't stop what had already started.

"Laura, can you help me with my stuff?" Tracy asked suddenly, motioning me to follow her to where she left her bags.

"Sure." I set my Coke down on the kitchen counter before bounding into the lobby where her suitcases and bags sat. Tracy pushed two suitcases and a smaller duffel bag towards me while she handled the other two suitcases and bags. In two trips, we managed to get all of her things upstairs and into her old room. Tracy stretched her arms over her head and fell backwards onto her bed. I sat on the end and leaned my back against the wall.

"So, I take it Mom isn't happy about you and Seth?" she asked.

"Nope, not at all." I laughed.

"She doesn't want you sleeping with him," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Well, that's not my problem. How come she never worried about you and your serious boyfriends?" I asked.

"I don't know. Maybe because I was safe."

I jerked my head up, offended. "Oh, and I won't be?" I inquired angrily.

"I'm not saying that, but she might think so." Tracy rolled onto her side to look up at me.

"She better put some freaking trust in me. You ran around with more boys than anyone can count, all serious relationships, and now when I find one guy that actually cares about me enough to be with me for over a year she gets all pissed off!" I sighed heavily and ran a hand through my hair.

"C'mon, give her time. She'll come around. Besides, when was the last time you actually slept together? And I don't mean literally being asleep."

I fumbled with a few strands of my hair, contemplating my answer. Tracy sighed and shook her head.

"Recently, huh?" she asked.

"Um, would last night be recently?" I asked sheepishly.

"Laura!"

"What?! When's the last time you slept with someone?"

"That's another story."

"No, it's not."

"I was engaged."

"So? You're still sleeping with someone."

"Whatever! The point is if you were safe or not." Tracy sat up a bit and leaned back on her pillows, watching me.

"Of course we were," I said.

"We?" she asked.

"Yes, we."

"So you're on birth control?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Right. So Seth was safe."

"Technically that means we both were. I asked him if he was wearing a condom before anything happened, and he said yes. Therefore, I was thinking ahead of the game."

"And was the game good?"

"None of your concern."

Tracy sat up, clearly unable to get comfortable in the bed she'd inhabited as a kid. She twisted a few strands of her hair around her finger and looked at the white ceiling with a heavy sigh.

"I think you should save yourself from now on," she stated, and she wasn't joking.

"Are you kidding me?" I said, surprised. "You, the queen of hook-ups, are telling me that I shouldn't have premarital sex?"

"That's what I'm saying."

"You're drunk or something."

"Laura, c'mon."

"What?"

"I don't want you to be like me."

"I am nothing like you! I've never had a billion boyfriends, Tracy. Seth is only my second boyfriend in my entire life, maybe even my first, okay? I never went running around like you did. Seth is my first for, well, everything."

"What about that Billy guy?"

"He didn't count, and he never really showed too much affection towards me. He never went beyond a kiss on the lips with me and you know damn well he cheated on me. You know he never meant anything with me."

Tracy sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "So you aren't going to listen to me, are you?"

"Nope," I stated stubbornly. I knew she didn't want to go into detail on what happened with Billy and I because she was afraid I'd cry. Hell, she owed me big for all the times I sat on the couch with her while she bawled about a breakup or a fight.

"Fine, your choice," she said, trying to toss the whole subject aside now.

"The only way I'd agree to that is if you agreed to not dump your next fiance," I said.

"Excuse me?" she snapped.

"Yeah, you heard me. Tracy, you're 26 years old. Get it together and just try to ease up on the amount of attention you need from a guy, okay? Really. You're never going to get married at this rate."

Tracy stared at me, stunned. Her eyes were wide, her jaw dropped and her mouth hung agape. At this point, I didn't care if I had offended her or not. My mind was riddled with comments that I could throw her, good or bad, but instead I bottled them up. She failed to say anything, so I felt the need to go on.

"You know David didn't cheat on you," I said. "He would never do that. Do you know what he's said to me before about you?"

She shook her head.

"How much he loved you. I even knew that he was going to propose to you before you even suspected it. You made a big mistake, Tracy. Big one."

Tracy was still speechless, but I thought maybe I sensed a bit of sadness, too. I knew David had meant well for her, always had, but she had thrown it all away. Eventually she looked down, but I didn't care how badly hurt she was from my statements. She knew how true they were whether she wanted to admit it or not.

"Girls! Your father's home!" I heard our mother call from downstairs. I took one last look at Tracy, her head still dipped down in the same, almost droopy way, before I slid off the bed and headed downstairs to greet our father. She didn't follow.

"Hi, dad," I greeted as I hit the bottom step, my father standing in the lobby and hanging up his coat.

"Laura, I didn't expect to see you here," he said as he encased me in a hug.

"Just came by to see Tracy," I said as he pulled away.

"Good, good. Speaking of which, where is she?" he asked.

"Upstairs. I had to knock some sense into her about her dating and her fiances. I don't think she's too happy now."

"Laura," my father scolded. "How could you do that to her?"

"What?" I asked in shock.

"You know she still might be a little shaky from her and David, don't you?"

"Dad, that's what I was talking to her about."

"You shouldn't have brought that up."

My father pushed past me and headed upstairs to see Tracy. I was surprised my mother didn't follow him up there to help him check on their pride and joy, Tracy. Maybe I was jealous, but it definitely was unfair. You could ask anybody that knew me, especially Seth, and they'd tell you that I wasn't lying. My parents loved her, they probably thought I was a disgrace.

I walked into the kitchen where my mother still was, her mind fixed on making a suberb lunch. However, disappointment was going to set in for her when I told her I wasn't sticking around for lunch. Something told me that I wasn't going to be able to endure an afternoon with my parents and my sister, especially now that I had knocked some sense into her.

"What do you think, Laura?" my mother asked as she turned around to face me, a bag of sliced ham in one hand, a bag of sliced turkey in the other. "Turkey or ham sandwiches?"

"Um, I don't know," I answered. She sighed, finding me of no help, and set down the bags on the counter next to the cutting board.

"Maybe we should all just go out to a restaurant, huh?" she asked.

"Um, well, actually . . . I was, uh, thinking about heading home," I said sheepishly.

"Home? You just got here."

"Well I figured I'd let you and dad catch up with Tracy and stuff."

"We should catch up with you, too."

"I've been gone a day."

I wasn't too sure why my mother wanted me to even be around with Tracy here. The chicken clock hanging on the wall over the fridge read noon. Another five hours until Seth's shift ended and he got home. Ugh. I shifted my weight onto one foot and leaned against the wall, feeling uneasy.

"Well, Laura, are you going to stay? You're welcome to," my mother said. Oh how fake the innocence was. There was still that indignant twinkle to her eye. She was going to have to deal that Seth and I lived as a couple now, and I was not her baby girl anymore. Of course, her baby girl had always been Tracy, and it showed today as it did all the years before. Whatever. If I wasn't needed or wanted, why shouldn't I leave?

"I think I'm going to head out. Seth's getting off early today," I lied quickly. "Besides, I wouldn't want to get in the way of a reunion."

"Excuse me?" she questioned.

"What?"

"What do you mean, 'get in the way?'"

"Well, I know how close you and Tracy are, so I figured I should just let you two bond again."

"You're just as welcome here as Tracy is."

"Are you certain about that?"

My mother hesitated, her mouth dropping open to say something, but I cut her off.

"You know what the game is, Mom. I know damn well you are attached to Tracy. She's your pride and joy, could never do wrong, and I'm just the screw up where EVERYTHING I do is wrong."

"LAURA! I-"

"And don't you even try to make it sound like that isn't the case! I know it is! It always has been! I know you're pissed about Seth and I, but do you even realize how many times Tracy has done what I'm doing now? Do you?!"

My mother looked down, her fingers fumbling together as she searched for the right answer. I'd hit her weak point right on target, and there was no way she could wiggle her way out of it.

"You are so out of your mind! Do you know how important you are to me?" my mother questioned in her strongest voice.

"Yeah, I do. I mean nothing. Tracy is a mountain of gold and I'm a pile of dust," I retorted.

"LAURA!"

"No, Mom! Don't you 'Laura' me! I know exactly how it is. She's your favorite, I'm not, okay?"

"Don't you talk to me like that!"

"I just did."

And with that, I turned on my heels and sauntered out of the kitchen and to the front door.

"Laura! Laura, you come back here this instant!" The quick footsteps of my mother's sneakers trailed behind me, but I ignored it and continued right outside.