Arianna's Tale: The Beginning (4 page)

“Anna, wake up,” Jason beckoned, the tone in
his voice had my eyes darting open and up to him, “I’m taking you
upstairs now, okay?” I jumped to my feet and he followed, steadying
me by grabbing my arm and leading me up to his room where I
collapsed onto his bed before he could get the door all the way
closed and flip the lock. Not a whole minute later, the garage door
closed and the kitchen door opened. Mom and
he
were giggling
as they made their way inside and up the back stairs to her
room.

“Didya lock your door?” I mumbled, rolling
over to look at Jason as he leaned his head against the door and
nodded.

“It’s locked… I’m sorry I scared you… I
wasn’t expecting them home so soon…” he grumbled, “I can’t believe
she’d bring him back here… how could she not know what a creep he
is?!”

“Thanks for listening out for them,” I
murmured drowsily and he finally turned and looked over at me, “I’m
really tired Jay… Oh… but I’ve got to take that other pill at seven
a.m. and it’s in my nightstand….”

“Your key? I’ll go get it… I think Mom’s a
little…
busy
right now…” he said it with absolute disgust
and I fished my key out of my pocket and passed it to him, “Do you
need anything else?”

“No… just be careful,” I uttered and he
nodded, slipping out of his locked door and over to my room. I
barely stayed awake long enough to be certain he made it safely
back inside and I fell back asleep.

I guess it was the stress and how depressed
I was feeling that made me feel so exhausted. I hoped that was all,
and I hoped it would pass; just like I hoped I’d be able to
actually eat something again, and hoped I wouldn’t freak out like I
had when Austin had been joking around earlier. For the first time
in my life, I was really glad that I didn’t dream while I was
asleep, because I doubted they would be good dreams.

My phone was on vibrate, but it still woke
me up with its alarm and I reached to shut it off, but spotted the
message that popped up on it.

Take your medicine

The smallest smile slipped onto my lips as I
forced myself to sit up and took the other pill with the water
bottle Jason had set out next to it. My smile grew softer when I
spotted Jason asleep on his beanbag in front of his t.v. with a
video game still on and his controller in his hands. I watched him
for a long moment; because it was hard to believe it was my little
brother I was looking at. He was growing up a lot faster than he
should have been, but he was growing up to be a great guy and I was
proud of him. I was still determined to get him back to doing
things young boys
should
be doing instead of worrying so
much about me.

-Austin-

There was only one girl
for me… it had been that way for years, but I knew it would never
work out. How could she ever look past the fact that we had been
raised as siblings? Should I have told her when I discovered the
truth? Could she have learned to love me then, the way I love
her?

It was pointless. She was
never going to see me as just another guy, I was always going to be
her big brother.

I tried to keep that in
mind, tried to get myself to date other girls, something,
anything
to get my mind
off of her, but it never worked. The only girl that ever held my
interest for more than a moment that wasn’t my Arianna… was Amy
Moore, and I had only met her once one summer while I was visiting
Dad. Still, something about her was just so different, I could
almost imagine her taking my mind off of Arianna. But I never saw
her again, so what was the point in daydreaming? Besides, she was
one of those rich kids… what use did she have for someone like
me?

I had to spend a lot of
time at work the week after graduation. I had put in my notice that
I was moving as soon as Arianna said she would go, and since it was
less than a two-week notice, I was trying to be extra helpful to
get that letter of recommendation my boss had promised me. In all
reality, my boss was a woman, and for whatever reason, I could
charm even her, so I could have gotten out of the work, but I
wouldn’t have felt right about it. I noticed when I left in the
mornings that Anna wasn’t out of bed, and when I got home from my
long shifts in the evenings, she was almost always curled up on the
sofa staring at the t.v. with Jason beside her. That shouldn’t have
been that weird, but after the first night, after she lied to me
about what was wrong, and knowing how active she normally was, it
just didn’t fit. Something was going on and no one was telling me
the truth about it.

All week, I kept making
food for them at dinner, but she didn’t eat, and I was watching her
body start to react to the lack of food. You’d think since it had
only been a few days there shouldn’t be a huge difference, but it
was pretty clear she wasn’t eating much, if anything at all. She
was dehydrated, and her face was drawn, black circles under her
bloodshot eyes. I kept trying to talk to her, get her to tell me
what had happened, she was clearly depressed about something, but
she wouldn’t say a word. So I’d try Jason, who was much worse about
keeping secrets, but he had that look in his eyes, that look that I
remembered from all those years ago when I realized she wasn’t my
sister. Whatever her secret, he wasn’t about to tell me, or anyone
else for that matter. I made all the arrangements, scheduled the
moving van for Saturday, bought the supplies, told them to pack up
their rooms…. I don’t know how much time they were spending
together while I was gone, but when I was home, they were
inseparable.

Tuesday night, I realized
her bed was empty, her door unlocked, and I crept silently to
Jason’s room to hear them talking quietly with each other. I
carefully tried to turn the doorknob, but it was locked. I was
awake most of the night, waiting, listening for her to go back to
her room, but she never did.

Something was going to
have to change….

Jason became my shadow over the next few
days. Despite my attempts to get him to go off with his friends,
especially with us moving so soon, and despite my assurances that
everything was okay, he wouldn’t leave my side. Honestly, I felt
safer that way, especially with Mark still coming over to the house
every night and acting like everything was okay. I spent every
night in Jason’s room, too afraid to be in my room alone again,
though I’d insisted on bringing in the inflatable mattress and
sleeping on it so he could have his bed back.

Austin took control of the moving process
just like he took control of everything else. He took care of
telling Mom, she just accepted it without question, apparently he’d
mentioned it to her previously; he took care of transferring our
school records; he took care of getting the boxes and packing
supplies and moving van. All Jason and I had to do was actually
pack up our rooms, and with the two of us tackling each room
together, we were packed up aside from our essentials by
Tuesday.

Tuesday night, Dad called, and said
everything would be done Thursday afternoon. Austin scheduled the
moving van, and Wednesday night, even the essentials got boxed up
before I crashed on the inflatable mattress in Jason’s now-empty
room.

“How are you feeling?” Jason queried for the
millionth time as he curled up in his sleeping bag on the floor
beside me.

“You worry way too much for a
twelve-year-old,” I repeated yet again; we’d been back and forth
over these lines a multitude of times since Saturday.

“Nearly thirteen,” he faintly chuckled,
reaching his hand out to brush my hair behind my ears, “Now… how
are you feeling?”

“A bit relieved, finally,” I admitted and he
smiled softly, “We’ll be away from here tomorrow and I don’t intend
to ever look back.”

“What about Mom?”

“If she wants
him
in her life… she’s
losing me,” I muttered beneath my breath, “Not that I think she’d
mind… she never has really gotten as close to me as she did with
you and Austin.”

“Anna… you can’t completely blame her for
him
…” he said it with disgust too.

“I know, I know… What if I told her, and she
didn’t believe me; or worse yet, believed
him
over me? I’d
rather just skip the whole telling her part….”

“Yeah, I got that… don’t tell anyone… I’ve
kept my mouth shut,” Jason sighed, “I
hate
keeping my mouth
shut… you should tell somebody.”

“No… I want it to go away…” I uttered, but
he suddenly grabbed my arm and my eyes widened as they darted to
him.

“It’s not going to go away,” he insisted
sternly, “I’ve been quiet, because I love you; but it is never,
ever
going to go away. That’s something you can never get
back again, Anna… and it’s something you’ve got to deal with,
rather than turn your back on….”

“You’re twelve,” I reiterated and he laughed
and nodded, “You’re….”

“Kids are growing up a lot quicker these
days, didn’t you know that? Half of my class was already having sex
when the school year ended,” he added with a shrug, his face going
blank when I gawked at him. “I wasn’t! But most of my class
was!”

“You had better not be,” I hissed at him and
he shook his head.

“I’m not! Sheesh! Trust me,” he defended and
I barely nodded.

“I trust you… I’m going to sleep now…” I
mumbled and he lightly kissed my forehead before I fell soundly to
sleep.

I was not only startled, but confused, when
I woke up again and found Austin sitting cross-legged on the floor
beside my head. His elbows rested on his knees and his chin rested
in his hands and after slowing my racing heart, I looked at him
curiously.

“Why are you lying to me?” he asked simply
and I stared into his blue eyes in shock.

“Why are you so insistent on thinking I’m
lying to you?” I countered and he laughed.

“You finally asked,” he continued, crossing
his hands over his lap and leaning closer to me, “Who empties the
trash?” My face scrunched in even more confusion. “Let me put this
very simply… I’m aware of when you’re having your
girl
problems
because I empty all of the trash cans in the house;
and your
girl problems
were the weekend before this past
one. So why don’t you tell me the truth? You’ve hardly eaten dinner
since Saturday; I doubt you’re eating much during the day, but
since I’ve been at work, I don’t know for sure. Your friend came
over with a prescription bag, for the girl who barely takes an
aspirin when she’s got a headache. Jason has been attached to you
like tape; you’ve even been sleeping in his room, though I’m
thankful to see you’re not in his bed. I’d be an idiot if I didn’t
know something had happened.”

“It’s none of your business,” I blurted,
jumping up from the inflatable mattress and heading for the door
only to have Austin pin me to the wall.

“And this completely freaks you out… that
part really has me worried… You’re thin as a rail, Arianna… are you
eating at all?” Austin pressed, but I couldn’t breathe until he
stepped back away from me. “You don’t freak out when Jason hugs
you, or touches you… but you freak out when I do… so why?”

“Please let it go,” I whimpered, sliding
down the wall to sit on the floor, “Please, Austin… it’s not like
you tell us everything… you’ve said it twice recently… that you
know stuff that Jason and I don’t… so please let this go….”

“Dad’s going to tell you when we get moved
in… Do I have to wait to find out what has you so upset that you’re
not eating?” His voice was softer as he knelt down in front of me,
“Haven’t you worried me enough?”

“Why are you so worried about me? You’re the
one who started the whole awkward phase… not coming into my room…
barely touching me… you started it… so why are you worrying now?” I
faltered, looking at him in genuine confusion.

“Yeah… I started it… and I’m ending it,” he
decided, falling onto his knees and hugging me tightly to him,
“Please tell me what happened, Arianna….”

“Moving truck’s here!” Jason called from
downstairs and I tried to wriggle free of Austin’s hold, but he
only held tighter.

“I’ll wait, until we get moved… but you need
to tell me… if you can’t, allow Jason to tell me… quit lying to
me,” he whispered across my ear before completely letting go and
grabbing up the boxes next to the door on his way out.

“Brothers don’t act like that… do they?” I
mumbled to myself, thankfully looking up in time to see just who
was coming up the stairs so that I had enough time to slam the door
closed and lock it.

“Oh come on, beautiful,” Mark bargained,
jiggling the doorknob unsuccessfully, “I just wanted to tell you
goodbye.”

I pressed my back solidly to the door
because outside of it, he was fiddling with a bunch of keys.
Phone, phone, phone....
I slid down the door and edged my
phone closer with my foot, snatching it off the floor as he tried
several different keys unsuccessfully.

The front door slammed immediately after I
sent the text message and running footsteps started across the
front hall and then up the stairs.

“Shit,” Mark grumbled, the keys fell to the
floor and then there was frantic knocking.

“Anna,” Jason called through the door, and I
flipped the lock and backed away from the door. A second later he
was inside and hugging me to him and I noticed the keys in his
hand. “God, I’m sorry,” he whispered across my ear, “I’m sorry… I
knew better… but I didn’t….”

“Not your fault… Thank you,” I murmured,
squeezing him back as tightly as I could, I realized then that I
was weaker.

“I’m not leaving you again…” he decided, “We
need to pack up the rest of our things… I’m not leaving you….”