Abigail, also known as Abby, liked to spend her evening nights on the balcony in her parents bedroom upstairs. It was a safe spot for her. A special, peaceful, alone place where she could not only be herself, but take time away from her family. Things were hectic between the Summers. And worst of all, she didn't know what to do about it.
Thankfully, Abby was to spend the entire month of July in New York with her friend, Angie. A month away from the arguing, yelling, and constant screaming, was a dream come true. Although it was quite clear that Emma and Abby had a difficult relationship, Abby couldn't help but think that there was still a chance at saving it before it was too late. Emma would say differently, of course. She wanted no part in Abby, and frankly, Abby couldn't blame her.
Abby was perfect, after all. Perfect grades, perfect friends, perfect job, perfect boyfriend. And yet, Abby wasn't happy inside. Sure, on the outside, Abby was a great actress. She could hide her feelings in the blink of an eye, and didn't have a problem keeping them to herself and not worrying about them.
It was starting to get to her though.
She didn't know if she could put up with Emma and her crazy behavior anymore. Always, Emma had done ruthless acts against her, but Abby put up with it. Making excuses and saying Emma just wasn't over the leave of their father yet. It's five years later now and Emma's twelve, going on thirteen soon. She couldn't possibly still be hurting. That's bull crap.
She was only six when their dad had left the family. Sure, it had been on Emma's birthday, but it's not like she exactly remembered every detail about it. Until this day, she doesn't know every detail about it. She does what every thirteen year old teenager does; she assumes she knows everything about the situation, and Abby had to restrain herself from blowing up at Emma whenever this happened.
It was at this moment when Emma opened the slider door and stepped out onto the balcony. She stared at Abby oddly before finally speaking. But when she did, it was barely a whisper.
“Look, don't take it the wrong way, but... I'm sorry,” Emma muttered slightly.
Abby held back her smile as she said, “'Bout what?”
“You know what. Don't act all dumb. You're not the blonde one here,” Emma replied.
“I think you should tell me what you are sorry for though.”
“That's what you think. Doesn't mean that's going to happen.” Emma chuckles now, while taking a seat near Abby.
“How long is this going to have to go on for?” Abby asks, curiously.
“Hmmm?”
“Oh c'mon! Just because you are the blonde one doesn't mean you need to act the part. How long are we going to have to do this?”
“Honestly, I don't know. However long it lasts, I guess.”
“You want to continue to argue and treat each other like this? What are sisters for, if we can't at least get along for an hour? I did what you wanted, by not taking you to that damn therapist that Mom and Dad want you to go to every week. Instead, I take you to the stupid park so you can try to act cool with your friends and pretend to be drunk for the passerby’s that see you,” Abby got up and walked to the edge of the balcony - overlooking the view of the downtown city metropolitan area.
“But news flash, you're not cool. You're wasting your time and precious money on pathetic, pointless, things. You don't understand that now, and that's fine, you're still young. But one day, you'll regret the decisions you're making now, and the ones you've made in the past. I know you will,” When she finished, she turned around to face Emma once again. “Why won't you just try to listen to me?”
“Because, I don't want to be recognized by being like you! I want to be recognized for me. But that can't happen when you're around!” Emma admitted.
“And so the truth comes out...”
“Shut up! It's not like that,” Emma mumbled.
“Oh? What's it like then?” Abby pushed, trying to get more information out.
"I don't think you'd understand."
"Why not?"
"Because your life is so.. I don't know, easy," Emma admits.
"So you think." Abby turns her head slightly and gazes up at the stars. Just now realizing its the full moon she's waited 29 days to see. She smiles to herself and says, "You honestly have no idea."
Emma snorts unattractively, "What don't I know about Miss Perfect's life?"
Abby jerks around and says, "See! That's exactly what I mean! You think I live this 'Miss Perfect' life, but I don't!"
Emma looks taken back as she says, "What can be so bad in your life?"
Abby looks exasperated. "Oh, you mean besides the fact that my boyfriend is pressuring me into sex! And that I almost failed my geometry test, so I had to cover it up from Mom and Dad! They think I'm their perfect little girl, so I have to live up to their expectations! At least, you can slack off and not get paraded about it!"
"That's not true! I get paraded about it every freakin' day! 'Why can't you be more like your sister?' or 'You should really look up to Abby, she's a wondeful influence.' You think I like hearing about your grand achievements? It gets real old after awhile. 'Abby this, and Abby that.' At least you aren't looked down upon!"
"I don't know what to say..." Abby lets her thoughts trail off.
"There's nothing to say. This can't be fixed. Our family cannot be fixed. One way or another, our family is shit."
"Watch your language, you're only thirteen, missy."
"I was in the moment," Emma laughs more to herself than to Abby.
Abby sighs absentmindedly, and Emma continues, "What do we do now?"
"Well, I don't want to keep arguing like this... we're basically ruining our relationhship."
"Basically," Emma agrees.
"So what do you wanna do about it?" Abby asks.
"Forgive and forget?"
"I guess that could work.. for now."
"Okay... truce?" Emma stuck her hand in Abby's face, and Abby couldn't help but smile and return the handshake. "Truce," she agreed.
For now, things were okay. For now. But who knew? Maybe things would get better. Maybe life would give them another chance to start over again.
