In Their Eyes

I woke up a little before eight which was early for me, especially for a Saturday, once I heard Ginger go into the shower; I got up and waited in her bedroom to hear everything about the night before. She always took forever to shower which annoyed me because I need a shower too, I have needs you know! When she finally vacated the bathroom, she walked into her room jumping slightly when she saw me sitting on the bed, I smiled as she held her chest as if I nearly gave her a heart attack, and this kind of amused me I guess!

"You scared the living shit out of me Aisling." She said, I laughed and sat smiling at her, really wanting to tell her about Jake. "What's got you so excited?" Ginger asked, as she pulled through her wardrobe looking for something to wear.

"Jake took me home last night, and he," I started taking a deep breath and feeling my face heat up, “he kissed me good night.”

Ginger froze, looking at me under her arm. “Really?” She asked, I nodded and I was sure my face was the colour of a tomato by now. "Wow, that's great Aisling! Go for him, and don't worry I won't tell mom."

She had just pulled on some jeans when I decided to ask what I wanted to know. "What happened after you and Todd left? You weren't home when I got here last night."

Ginger seemed to hesitate, taking a deep breath and giving me a small smile. "He took me out for coffee and then we walked along the boardwalk. He surprised me last night-it was great."

"He was acting very nice last night. Do think he wants something or is just turning into a good person?" I questioned out of pure curiosity, after all he had always been a jerk too Ginger so why would he change.

She thought about what I had asked for a few moments and again smiled, "I would like to hope he's turning into a better person." She stated pulling on a top before she continued, “At least he's being nice, let's just hope it lasts for a little while."

At this point I knew she was lying, something happened that she didn’t want me to know, I didn’t push though, Ginger seems to think that I need protecting, that she has to be the strong one but I’m not as vulnerable and weak as she thinks.

Ginger turned to me. "Hey, Ais, do you wanna hangout today? We could sit around watching old movies like we used to."

I smiled at her so as to not let on, that I knew something was wrong and then responded. "Yeah that would be fun."

In all honesty it had been a while since we had just spent time together, it was kind of hard with an over bearing mother and school of course.

***

The weekend flew by, which meant it was already Monday and time for school, but I didn’t mind, I was excited to see Jake again. I got out the car, adjusting my skirt s that it was creased or too short then waited for Ginger who was doing the same.

"Hey Ginger. How are you?"

I turned to see Donovan standing in front of Ginger. "What do you want Jackson?" She said to him in a bitchy tone, this surprised me because Donovan was her crush and he was only being nice.

I gave her a ‘what the hell’ look but she ignored me and carried on.

"What’s your problem?" He asked sounding hurt by the way Ginger was treating him and I wasn’t surprised at all.

"Her problem is you, Donavon." Todd growled stepping between Ginger and Donovan as if claiming his territory, still a jerk as always, he turned to Ginger and added, "He's not giving you any problems is he?"

"Not any that I can't handle." Ginger replied grabbing Todd’s hand and pulling him away, I stared after them as Ginger shouted back over her shoulder at me, "Hey I'll see you at practice okay."

With an apologetic look at Donovan, I headed off to class myself but to my disappointment Jake wasn’t about.

***

It was a boring day, practice came quickly and I had already decided to confront Ginger about her behaviour towards Donovan, he was such a nice guy and he didn’t deserve to be treated in such a bad way. As soon as Ginger arrived I started.

"What was your problem this morning Ginger?"

She cocked her eyebrow at me while she started stretching. "What do you mean?"

"Why'd you act like an ass to Donavon?" I inquired really wanting to understand what was going through my sister’s mind.

"Well Aisling, unlike you I have a boyfriend, and I don't plan on going around kissing guys I'm not dating."

That statement hurt, she had never been like that towards me but I guess things had changed.

"For another thing I have a responsibility to not get you killed. What do you think would happen if mom found out I was being nice to Donavon? She gets even more violent to the two of us. Don't you think my smart ass mouth had gotten you hurt enough in the last few days? Because I do!" Ginger continued, there she went again with the responsibility rubbish.

I stared at her for a moment, and then walked away, talking to my friends who had just turned up and ignoring Ginger. I could feel Ginger watching me but she had stooped too low this time, I didn’t talk to her for the rest of practice or on the drive home and I didn’t care if she hated me for it.