Little Red and the Big Bad Wolf

I dropped the last box on the hardwood floor of my new room. It was kind of hard to breathe, since the paint fumes were so strong, but I couldn’t show that. Not with Aileen standing there, watching my every move with a big smile on her face.

"It’s great,” I assured her, taking in everything. It actually was a really awesome room, the walls a dark blue color with old music records covering one wall. All of the furniture was a really light washed wood, and the sheets covering the bed were mint green.

It crossed through my mind that the two of us were so similar in ways that it was scary. Like her getting a room decorated so perfectly for me.

“I’m so glad you like it,” Aileen exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “So do you want lunch or something? After a long day of moving?”

“Sure,” I agreed, watching her leave and closing the door behind her once she’d disappeared into the hallway.

Though it was totally official now, me living with my older sister and everything, it still didn’t seem…right. At all.

Over dinner that Aileen insisted she needed to take me to after the invitational (…yeah, I know), she explained that she’d left the day she turned eighteen, not able to stand my parents anymore. The reason that I didn’t remember her, not even the slightest recollection, was because I was only three at the time.

Since Mom and Aileen had a huge argument over her departure, my parents decided that it would be best, for the whole family and for me, to raise me with a clean slate, as the eldest, the only, child.

But after all their troubles, I was still standing in Aileen’s house, staring at a navy wall, wondering why in the world I didn’t remember that there was another kid in the house, even if I was young. How could my parents have pulled off a lie like that? It made me annoyed that they had that power over me my entire life.

Shaking my head, I turned to the box that housed my clothes and started unpacking. Almost at the very bottom of the box was the purple dress from the invitational, slightly wrinkled. Running the silky material through my fingers made me remember my words to Puck, what I had finally agreed to do.

Which I still hadn’t come through on.

The summer was almost over, but I hadn’t found the appropriate time to be alone with him so we could do the deed. After that night, his mom and sister always seemed to be home, as if they knew we were planning something. Then the pain of losing Regionals struck, and the both of us were in bad moods for a while.

Then…school let out. Puck and I thought we were home free, finally able to do what I’d promised…but Aileen got involved, arguing with Mom over long phone conversations about turning over custody and all that drama. So, when I wanted to hang out with Puck, I was ushered from attorney offices and courthouses to everywhere else I can think of instead. It sucked, but I knew that it was going to be worth it, living without the guilt of mooching of Ms. Puckerman and without Mom.

Of course, Aunt Piper was pretty psyched about the whole thing, too, because Aileen said that she would love to watch Grayson. “And,” she’d promised with a grin, “I’ll make sure that I’m the one watching him. Most of the time anyway.”

“Ellie!” Aileen’s voice called up the stairs. “Grilled cheese!”

I took that as my cue for lunch, so I made my way down the stairs, finding it strange that none of them creaked. Aileen’s house was almost brand new, so it didn’t have the old characteristics, like squeaky floorboards.

As I sat down, Aileen slid the sandwich in front of me before taking a seat at the head of the table.

It was the first time that we could really talk without any formality, since we weren’t in the presence of any high-up official or anything. The first time that we could catch up on all the lost years, not just skim the surface of how I didn’t know about her existence.

And yet we were both silent, chewing thoughtfully, waiting for the other to say something.

Finally, Aileen spoke up. “So, that guy that was with you after your show…was he your boyfriend?”

“Yeah,” I replied, my stomach tensing slightly. What if she didn’t approve? Her being my guardian and all…Ugh. I didn’t even want to think about it.

“He’s hot.”

Oh, thank God. “Yeah, I know.” I grinned widely at her, not completely able to hide my excitement at her reaction. “So what about you? You have a boyfriend?”

She laughed softly. “No, I don’t have a boyfriend. I had one for…four years? Dumped me for some tramp.”

“Gross.” My nose wrinkled in disgust. “Whatever. You were too good for him anyway.”

“Spoken like a true sister.” She ruffled my hair jokingly for a second before standing up. “You want anything to drink?”

“Water, please.” Running my hand through my hair to make it lie flat again, my fingers caught in numerous snags, and it took a lot of self-restraint not to yelp in pain.

“Your boyfriend…?”

“Noah.” Ugh. It still felt weird to call him that.

“Noah,” she repeated, as if trying it on for size. “Is he going to be over here a lot?”

“Probably.” Better to tell her the truth than lie.

“Okay. I don’t care, just as long as you get your schoolwork done and all that.”

I let out a little laugh at that small clue that we hadn’t known each other forever. “There’s no need to worry about that. Trust me.”

“Good to hear. So you start school next week, right?”

“Yup.” My stomach sank. School…how disgusting. I knew that meant Glee Club…but still.

“Gosh, junior year. That means SATs, you know.”

“Don’t remind me,” I groaned, putting my head on my arm. Already, I had small panic attacks about SATs. I even had a nightmare a couple of nights before. How pathetic is that? It was stupid, like I forgot my pencil and they kicked me out, failing me and keeping me from being able to take it again. It didn’t make any sense, but that didn’t really register in my It’s-Five-in-the-Morning mindset.

“You’ll do fine,” Aileen sighed. “I saw your transcripts and report cards when I got custody of you. You have nothing to worry about.” She gave me a wink. “Plus, your grades haven’t slipped with your new boyfriend, which is a plus.”

“Yeah, I guess. Alright, we’re done talking about standardized tests now.”

Aileen gave me a smile before picking up the empty plate in front of me. “Go ahead and finish unpacking your room. You can call Noah to come over, too, if you want.”

As I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and called Puck’s number, I couldn’t help but think that I knew I was going to like my sister.