FicWad

She wore boy’s board shorts and a plain black tee shirt that seemed too big for her. She was about two inches taller than me, with mousy brown hair and long bangs. Her lips were fixed in a sarcastic frown and when she walked into me, her baby blue eyes deliberately did not meet my own as she mumbled,
“Sorry.”
She did not mumble it in a shy way, as I would have, but as if she were saying, “I don’t have time for this.”
The hallway was packed with kids, and we were in a temporary jam. I watched as the girl’s eyes moved upwards to rest on Patrick, and she suddenly seemed flustered. She quickly pushed her way through the crowd and disappeared from view.
“Freshman?” I asked Patrick as the crowd began to move, finally.
He nodded as we reached his locker, and while he twirled the dial, he said,
“Lisa Janzen.”
“You know her?”
“I dated her brother.”
In my mind, I scrolled through a mental list of the boys Patrick had dated, searching for a Janzen.
“You mean Cole?”
Patrick’s locker opened with a hideous squeal, it’s hinges in desperate need of oil. He reached for his Chemistry textbook, then turned back to face me.
“That’s the one.”
“She is his sister?” I marveled.
Cole had been 6’3 with flawless blond hair and twinkling blue eyes. A real shame when he had graduated, him and Patrick were so cute together. Patrick laughed at my incredulousness.
“Her hair wasn’t always that colour, it’s naturally the same shade as Cole’s. But she has had it red, blue, purple…and now apparently brown…”
“They just look nothing alike. She isn’t terribly tall, either. Cole is tall.”
As we headed towards the science wing, Patrick shrugged.
“Sibling resemblance is a fickle thing.”
“How come I’ve never seen her before? It’s the middle of April.”
“She’s one of the ones that kind of blends into the wall.”
“Shy?”
“Hell no. She just doesn’t like people.”
The warning bell rang, and we quickened our pace to make it to the lab in time. That was the end of the conversation, and I did not think about Lisa Janzen again for the rest of the day.



My keys clicked in the lock and the door opened with a creak.
“Lexi?” a voice called from down the hall.
“It’s me.” I called back.
I threw my book bag unceremoniously on the floor beside the door and kicked off my shoes. As they landed with an ungraceful thunk on the marble floor, my little sister appeared in the hall. Anna smiled.
“Hi!” she chirped.
I smiled back and tousled her brown hair.
“Hi Annabear!”
She scowled and reached up to tousle my hair right back, but I caught her hand. She stuck out her tongue playfully, and ran back into the living room as I laughed.
“How was school?” I called as I wandered into the kitchen to find something to eat.
“It was awesome!”
“The usual?”
“Yep!”
I opened several cupboards, and discovered that all they contained was some flour and baking soda. Not to mention half a dozen bottles of vodka. I sighed and headed for the fridge.
“Lexi!” Anna yelled from the living room, “You should make nachos!”
“I don’t think we have any taco chips…”
I scanned the contents of the fridge and concluded we did not have any cheddar cheese, either.
“Or cheese!” I added.
Anna came into the kitchen with an unfamiliar frown on her face.
“Why do we never have food anymore?”
“I guess Mum forgot to buy groceries?” I said half-heartedly.
Anna crossed her arms and gave me a skeptical glare.
“I’m not stupid, Lexi. If she is just forgetting, she has forgotten for the last month or so. The only thing we ever seem to be in good supply of is vodka.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and turned away from her.
“I just don’t even know what to do anymore.” I murmured.
Anna was silent, and I heard her socks shuffling.
“You’ve uh, still got some money?”
“Dad gave me a little bit last night, and I get my paycheck tomorrow.”
“So you can buy us groceries tomorrow?”
I nodded.
“Well what are we going to eat tonight, then?”
“Ah…”
I contemplated calling Patrick. I’d done a fairly good job of covering up what was going on at home lately; neither of our parents were ever home, and Mum seemed to drink whenever she was. But Patrick was starting to catch on; my paychecks always went to feeding Anna and I, so I was broke when he wanted to see a movie or go out for lunch. I remembered a comment he had made to me the previous week;
“For a sophomore, you seem to have a lot of responsibility at home.”
I knew he was catching on, and I wasn’t going to be able to hide it much longer. I took a deep breath and turned back to Anna.
“I’ll call Patrick.”
Anna nodded slowly in agreement, and then broke into a reassuring smile.
“It’ll all work out.” She said as she enveloped me in a hug. I bit my lip and forced myself to smile back.
“It’ll all work out.” I repeated in a murmur.

My heart pounded as I listened to the dial tone. I prayed that I would get Patrick’s voicemail; it’s so easy to talk to voicemail. Sadly, I heard the click that indicated the phone had been picked up and Patrick’s voice greeted me;
“Hey Lex!”
“Hi, Pat.”
“What’s up?”
“Uh…okay this is kind of awkward but…”
I glanced across the kitchen table to where Anna sat. She grinned wide and gave me a thumbs-up gesture.
“Is everything okay?” Patrick’s tone turned worried.
“Well, not exactly. We kind of um. Don’t have any food?”
There was silence on the line, and then I heard Patrick exhale slowly.
“I figured. You and Anna can come here for dinner, okay?”
“Okay.”
“You get paid tomorrow, right?”
“Yes.”
“You can afford groceries?”
“Yes.”
“So you’ll be over soon?”
“Yes.”
“You’re such a talker.” He said sarcastically.
I bit my lip and twirled the phone cord around my pinky finger.
“I’m just…”
“Nervous?” he supplied.
“Yes.” I mumbled.
“It’ll all work out, okay, Lexi?”
“’Kay.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
I pressed the ‘end’ button and turned my face away from Anna so she wouldn’t see the tears gathering in my eyes.