Sex and White Lies

I was pretty miserable the next couple of days. I spent a lot of time cooped up in my bedroom, and Alex and Rian had to almost always coax me out with food. I went over to see Kris a few times, but I would only stay for a few minutes.

I had been sleeping terribly again, mostly because I wasn’t very consistent in taking my medication. I was also really stressed out. I wanted to find a job to pay for my meds, because Alex took it upon himself to do it until I was, as he put it, “back on my feet”. I appreciated everything he was doing for me, but I wanted to repay him. Alex was always a very generous person, and it was also one of his more annoying qualities, I found.

I was sitting outside reading a newspaper when a car pulled up in front of the house. I didn’t bother looking up, because I thought it was Jack. “Jillian?”

That was definitely not Jack’s voice. I looked up, confusion spreading across my face. It was Travis, the kid from the run in with my mother.

“Hi…” I drug out the word. “How did you know where…?”

“Kris told me.” Travis pointed back to the car. I noticed it was Kris’s car. She waved slightly.

“Oh, okay.” I said, folding up the newspaper. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to talk to you.” Travis told me. I raised an eyebrow.

“You don’t really know who I am, kid.” I said.

“That’s why I want to get to know you.” Travis took a step forwards.

“Why?” I asked. “Why would you want to get to know me?”

“You’re my step-sister, aren’t you?” I looked at Travis a while before exhaling.

“Look, Trevor,” I started to say.

“Travis.”

“Travis, you didn’t know I existed until last week, did you?” I asked.

“No…” Travis frowned.

“So, why would you want to get to know a step-sister you had no previous knowledge of?” I took the cigarette I had tucked behind my ear and lit it. Travis walked over and sat next to me on the steps.

“Truth is, I don’t really like Sarah.” Travis admitted. I exhaled smoke.

“Huh, seems like you and I have more in common than I would have thought.” I shrugged.

“But, she’s the only mom I’ve ever really had, so I don’t say much.” Travis told me. I nodded in agreement. “Why don’t you like her? I mean, she’s your mom.”

“Yeah, well, she kind of abandoned me when I was 16 and never kept in contact. Never came to my graduation, never talked to her the four years I was in Boston…” I sighed and took another drag from my cigarette.

“What about your dad?” Travis asked.

A dark frown appeared on my face, “That’s a story for another time Trav.” I said.

“Well, I’ve got time now.” Travis said. I looked down at him.

“You’re a persistent little shit, aren’t you?” I asked. Travis laughed. “What?”

“You sound exactly like Sarah.” Travis told me, and I smiled lightly.

“I think that’s why we never got along.” I said. “We’re both stubborn. We never saw eye-to-eye on anything.” The two of us were silent while I exhaled more smoke. “Why did you even want to come see me?” I asked curiously.

“Kris told me that you don’t really know your family.” Travis told me. “She told me a lot about you; that you love theatre and art, you’re very charismatic, and you love The Beatles.” I nodded slightly. “And, honestly, I don’t have many friends, and people pick on me because I don’t like popular things.”

“But you seem like a cool kid.” I said, and Travis rolled his eyes. “No, look at you; you’ve got a sweet Mohawk going on, you’re kind of an adorable kid, not going to lie.”

“I wish other people saw that.” Travis frowned.

I put a hand on his shoulder, “Look, I wasn’t popular in high school either. I got picked on a lot because I liked doing things differently and I was a bit of an outcast. But, I had a couple of friends that were pretty awesome.” I told him. “And you know what, one day, the people that pick on you; they’re not going to matter. You should just focus on what you love to do. The only person who can tell you how to live your life is you, so fuck everyone else.”

Travis smiled at me, “Thanks, Jillian.” He said.

“Don’t mention it kid.” I said, squeezing his shoulder lightly. We sat quietly for a moment. “Okay, get out of here. Go do some homework or something.” I said, pushing him off the step slightly. Travis stood up and laughed, walking back over to Kris’s car. He waved at me before he got in, and I waved back slightly. I smiled to myself before snuffing out the cigarette on the step and going back inside.