She grabs the detergent out of the cupboard and unscrews the cap.
“Like what?”
“Like a sad puppy.”
I’m not sad though. I’m happy. I’m in awe of my beautiful sister in front of me. “It’s just my face.”
“I already told you I’m not taking you to see Mom, so you can stop following me. It won’t change my mind.” She pours the detergent into the wash and closes the lid, starting the load.
“I just want to see what you’re doing,” I say, which is partly true. I figured if I can’t convince her to go anywhere, I can at least watch her to make sure nothing bad happens.
She sighs. “Isn’t there something else for you to do? I stillneed to study and make dinner. Not to mention, make a list of groceries for Dad, and you haven’t given me a moment of peace since we left school.”
As soon as school got out, I tracked her down and begged her to give me a ride home.
“Just pretend I’m not here.”
She gives me a look of annoyance. “Right, like that’s easy to do.”
She brushes past me on her way to the kitchen and opens the fridge, scanning the shelves.
“I can help you,” I say.
Her grip on the fridge tightens, and with her other hand she moves the carton of milk to see what’s behind it. “No.”
Mallory and I didn’t spend a lot of time together at this point in time, but she seems colder than usual. It has to be because of what I said to her. “Are you still upset about yesterday?”
She bites her lip as she closes the fridge and moves on to the freezer. “It’s fine.”
“Then why are you acting like this?”
She slams the freezer. “Okay, I am mad! Are you happy?”
I step back, catching my breath. Mallory never yells. Was she really that upset by what I said? “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said—”
“Do you realize how scared I was when you left school and I couldn’t find you?” She turns to me with frustration in every fiber of her being.
My heart stills. She was worried about me?
Something about hearing her say that has me close to tears. I think back to how lonely I felt when I ran away. I should’ve listened to Mallory because I saw my mom and it didn't go the way I planned.
She didn’t want me.
She pretended not to know me.
At that moment I wanted nothing more than for Mallory to find me. I wanted her to yell at me for running away. I wanted her to grab me by the hair and yank me back home, but she never came.
As far as I knew, she hadn’t noticed I was gone.
Mallory continues, “And then when I found you at home sleeping, you were sopping wet. What am I supposed to do with you?”
I lunge forward and squeeze her between my arms. “I’m so sorry.”
She tenses up on impact, arms in the air instead of around me, but I don’t mind. She can hate me forever if she wants, as long as she doesn’t leave me again.
She pushes me off. “It’s fine. Just don’t tell Dad. He has enough to worry about, and don’t do anything ridiculous like that again. I swear you almost gave me a heart attack.”
“I won’t. I promise. I’ll do everything you want me to.”
