I frowned. “No, but you shouldn’t breathe my air.” Ash rolled her eyes. “Life is different for people, Arianna. Step off your high horse and take a look around you. Maybe pay attention to your friends more. And see how they really feel about you.” I frowned, and walked away. I don’t want to talk to her anymore. She wouldn’t understand all I went through. Classes passed by quickly, and soon the days passed quickly like how the leaves started to change. Father was home on Friday evening. “Hello there Arianna.” I looked at him. “Hello, Father..” He frowned a little, but soon smiled. “I see you dyed your hair. It’s pretty, just like you.” I smiled, and hugged him. “I’m so glad you’re home.” He patted my head, and we soon went to the kitchen. Vann had made something for us to eat, and my father seemed to be glad he was home. “Ah, Arianna. I have to tell you something.” I looked over at him. “Yeah?” He smiled again, a weak smile. Not like the ones he used to have when I was a kid. “You’re going to get a sister.” I smiled. “Oh, I hope she has the same interests as me… wait, is it Madee?” I asked, feeling a rush of excitement. “Ah, uh, no.” I frowned, feeling the excitement hurdle down at a bursting speed. “You’ll see who it is. She’s your age, and needs a good home.” I nodded my head, and pasted on a smile. I wished it was Madee. 

It was a while later into the night when I went to go grab a snack from the kitchen. Vann and my father were talking. “Well Sebastian. I respect your decision. I think she needs a sibling to fight with, but I hope that she doesn’t do anything stupid to the poor girl.” My father sighed, and I peaked around the corner to watch him raking his fingers through his white and gray hair. People never believed he was my dad, but he is. They always thought that he was my grandfather, which used to make me laugh. “I know she wouldn’t harm anyone.” Vann made a small scoff, but covered it as a cough. “Ah, sorry sir. Uh, but yes, she wouldn’t harm anyone.” He nodded, and they stopped talking. I quietly went past, and went to the kitchen. Thank god they weren’t in here. They were talking in my mother’s old study, the one that she used, and the one that I had a lot of good memories in. 

I grabbed a few things, and went back to my room. But, who was going to be my sibling? Was he just saying ‘No’ incase we couldn’t get Madee? Or was he being serious, and it was someone else? I shook it off, and took a bite of the granola bar I had gotten as I scrolled through my phone. I wish I had gotten a phone when I was younger so I could have pictures of Madee. I texted a few of my friends, and they told me it could be literally anyone. I sighed, turned my phone off, took a drink of water and laid back on my bed. The next morning, I woke up to my father shaking me awake. “Today’s the day!” It was Monday when we got here because they couldn’t do it on the weekend. I frowned, and went to shower and take care of myself. Once dressed in a pair of black yoga pants and a plain graphic tee, I slipped on my Nike socks and a pair of Nike slides as well. The school portion of the day went by quickly, but it seemed to drag. “Where are we going?” I asked as Father ushered me to the car. “We’re going to Houselux Home for Children. I looked a little alarmed, hoping he wouldn’t notice. Why was I alarmed? I think that's where Ash is from. I had overheard her talking to one of her friends about it. And also heard a snippet of what Jordain and Ally were talking about when it came to Ash. 

We soon arrived at the place which was fifteen or twenty minutes away from my house. We were called in, and I plopped into one of the chairs next to my father. Sure enough, Ash was ushered in. We had followed Ash in, so that really confirmed my suspicions. And that is where I got a new sibling. I heard a bus arrive a few minutes after father finished the paperwork, and Ash rushed to get the door. There was some chatter, and giggling while Ash went upstairs. Father and I were allowed to look around or help Ash. I went up there, but whoever Ash was talking to was somewhere else. She didn’t need my help, and I rolled my eyes at one of the girls who gave me a scowling look. Once I clambered back down the stairs, my father called me. “Arianna! Let’s go!” I soon gratefully got back into the 2020 Mercedes Benz E class and we left. There was a silence as we left, but a few minutes later, he glanced over at me. “Do you like her?” I looked at him, and then turned my head to the window. Gritting my teeth, but in the nicest way I could muster, I growled out “Yeah, I like her. She seems nice.” He chuckled. “She goes to your school, so hopefully you two can get along and do whatever you girls do.” I turned and smiled at him. “Mhm! Thank you.” He gave off a happy hum, and the rest of the ride was in silence. 

God did I hate this. Ash was now living in my house. But, father, MY father, did leave so I made sure that she got a room she actually deserved. Since I had the whole upper floor to myself, I didn’t have to really worry about her. But, she did need a room. I couldn’t let her sleep in the garage just incase father got home a little earlier than I would have appreciated. I showed her to the little room that was sort of like a closet, and told her to just set her things inside the room. Once she had done that, I showed her where and who she would be working with. “You’ll be working here in the kitchen, because hopefully, you can cook. I needed another person who can, so this will be great for you. Now, leave me alone because I want to stay as far away from YOU as possible.” I turned and walked back up to my room. There was a faint knock on the door, and I went to open it. Christopher stood there with a few letters and things. “These, are for you Ms. Arianna.” I nodded, and took them. Opening the letters, they were just little things from friends. Veronica sent me a letter because we all thought that it would be fun to become penpals with each other, and also because we were bored. 

I set them aside, and scrolled through my phone. There was nothing of interest, and all my homework was done. I do wonder though, if father is proud of me. I’m an A and B student, and he never acknowledged it. He would look at the report cards, fold them up, and then set them aside somewhere. And then, I wondered about Madee. What would happen if I DID get to see her again? I didn’t know where she was, and I never saw her at my aunts or uncles, or even my grandparents' places. Would she be proud of me if she saw my grades? I know it sounds stupid, but would she be proud to have a smart sister that she can look up to? Would I even be different if she was here? I picked up the TV remote, and scrolled through Disney Plus to see what movies there were. I could finish Atlantis: The Lost City if I really wanted to. I hovered over it before moving on. 

It was a few weeks later, and I was dying of curiosity. I went downstairs, and looked in Ash’s “room”. There was a picture of herself, her friends and.. Madee? I picked it up, and looked at it. That sure was my sister. She had the same hair color as me, same eyes, and same-ish facial structures. I placed it back in its spot, just how she had it, and I called out her name. “ASHBUTT! GET OVER HERE!” There was a small thud a few minutes later before she came over to me, out of breath. “What?” she asked. “Do you see the problem here?” I hissed out, moving my hand as if I was showcasing a room in our house. She shook her head, ‘no’. I grabbed the picture from next to her sleeping bag. I looked at her. “This,” raising the picture frame above my head, I continued. “Is not allowed. I can’t have you get all sad and down, and then do a poor job.” I said, making a pouting face afterwards. Ash tried to grab the picture from me, but I just pushed her away a little. “Please give it back.” She pleaded, trying to grab it again. I smiled, and soon said, “Well, you do a poor job anyways… sooooo~ You’re not going to get this back, ever.” Ash pleaded again, and continued on her futile attempt to get it back. 

“No, you’ll get all depressed and refuse to do anything! I can’t have that.” I hissed back at her, and backed up a little more. I still had it raised above my head, and soon Ash tried reaching for it again. She lost her balance, and fell into me, causing us both to crash to the floor. There was a crunching sound when I got up to see that the glass on the frame broke. Ash had stood up to let me move, and soon dramatically fell to her knees which made me roll my eyes. I moved behind her, and gave off a satisfactory ‘Hmmph.’ before I said anything. “That's what you get for going against the rules. It serves you right.” I said, taking the picture with me, I turned and went to my room. There were a few cuts on my arm from where it broke, so I went and disinfected it. After placing one of the big bandaids on it, I flopped back down on my bed. I had a few texts from my friends, which I quickly answered. After all that drama, I was tired out. It was Wednesday already, and it was only three or four hours after school. Nothing interesting, well, other than the picture that I now held in my hand. I looked at it. Madee had grown up a lot. And I mean, A LOT. She wasn’t as chubby as she used to be, well obviously because she was a baby back then. I looked at the writing on the back of it. ‘Beach day!’ I smiled. And, not being nice or anything, but Ash did have some good handwriting. I folded it up and put it in the back of my phone case. There was no homework for me to do, because I always did it at school, unless it was an essay. I rolled over on my bed, trying to think of something else to do. The vacuuming had stopped now, which meant that she was all done with whatever.