The Quiddity of Love

The house was unnaturally quiet when I arrived home. Levi insisted he drive Liam and I home. Between Levi’s badgering and Liam’s wide eyes, I was helpless. Levi introduced me to his little sister, Olivia, before we set off. Olivia was tall for her age, with long blond hair and big brown eyes. She smiled shyly at me as she entered the car, but said nothing. Liam got her talking though. The two argued for most of the ride about things that made little to no sense to me. Hearing the bickering brought a small smile to my face.

Backpacks were dropped near the front door as Liam headed for the living room, television his first priority. Friday always brought out the procrastinator in him. Upon hearing Spongebob’s voice blaring inside the kitchen, I started on dinner. My dad wouldn’t be home until late and my sister…

I heard the sound of her heels before she entered the room. She walked slowly, purposefully. She picked up an apple and bit into it before acknowledging me.

“So I see you’ve moved onto bigger targets haven’t you sister.”

I ignored her words as I grabbed the ingredients for spaghetti.

“So what, they have to drive you around after they fuck you? Is that how it works?”

Another bite from the apple caused a pause in the one-sided conversation.

“Do you think dad knows about your late night crusades? He deserves to know his perfect little daughter’s a slut don’t you think?”

I held my ground as I turned to face my sister. Taylor only smirked, reveling in the reaction she dragged out of me.

“Do you mind? I’m trying to make dinner.”

She glared at me, her heels allowing her to tower over me.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be gone soon. Lucas is having a party tonight.”

She pronounced every syllable of his name sharply, making sure I heard.

“Take care of dear old dad will you?”

With that she exited the kitchen and sauntered out the front door. I could hear the sound of tires squealing as she rode away.

I took a deep breath and returned to dinner. Her words reverberated through my head, repeating over and over again. Shaking the thoughts from my head, I focused on the food in front of me, still raw and waiting to be cooked. My hands moved through the motions while my mind returned to earlier that day. I saw her face in the crowd, perfectly impassive as insults struck my core. I was almost sure Taylor was made happy by the whole spectacle. I could only hope that there was some heart left in her, some inkling of the girl my sister was before she changed. Hopefully, I wasn’t wrong about her. But I had a feeling I was.

Night came quickly. When I finally left to my room, Taylor was still gone, no doubt flinging herself at Lucas as best she could. My dad had already retired for the night, leaving his dinner in the refrigerator and Liam to wait up for a goodnight that wouldn’t come.

My sheets felt foreign against my skin as I lay down to sleep. I tossed and turned, unable to rid myself of Lucas’s stare. He was nothing more than a boy who hadn’t gotten what he wanted, just haughty and angry. But he had the high school world at his fingertips and could make the next few months the worst I’d ever endured. I found solace in remembering that I was falling asleep on a Friday and wouldn’t need to return to school for another two days. But then I remembered I lived in a house where hatred had its own bedroom and sighed.

Sleep didn’t come easy that night.