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Seb came running down the stairs, not taking a second glance at his sister who had been sipping on her smoothie. He looked at his sister- his PERFECT sister who seemed to always have her shit put together. Her composure never failed, and she always knew how to look on the bright side of a situation. That too. Her optimism. It came so easily to her and that was something Seb had always envied. The way she could turn any bad situation into a good one. Seb quietly panicked thinking about the first day. First day of sophomore year. And if it was anything like the past year, it was not going to be a good day, or month, or year. Because he was Sebastian Matthew-Smith. The forgotten farmer boy who sat with Natalie Bagley at lunch watching the chaos of east high unfold. Who silently watched Carlos Rodriguez dance alone after school in the bomb shelter. He popped two pieces of bread in the toaster and banged his head against the table, groaning loudly. Georgie wouldn’t care. Nobody ever does.
“You okay there Sebby?” Sebby. Something Seb WISHED more people called him. But nobody did. Except Georgie. His only real friend. He looked up at Georgie who was looking at him with concern.
“Today is going to suck.” he finally let out, sighing in the process.
“Hey hey hey! No bad thoughts! Positive vibes only.” Seb chuckled at that, not seeing how his sister could be so optimistic about an impending situation.
“Have you been writing those letters to yourself? Dear Seb Matthew-Smith, today is going to be a good day and here’s why:” Seb sighed, “I started one.” Georgie bit her lip and rubbed her head.
“Those letters are important, Sebby. they’re going to help you BUILD YOUR CONFIDENCE.”
Seb shrugged and leaned against the counter,
“I guess.”
“Can we try to have an optimistic outlook, huh?” she widened her eyes, smiling that smile. The smile that made him smile even after a rough day. His fine lined frown turned upwards before weakening to a scowl again as he whispered,
“Yeah right.”
“Can we buck up just enough to see the world won’t fall apart?” Georgie came around the kitchen island now and grabbed his hands.
“Maybe this year we decide- hey! We’re not giving up before we’ve tried. This year we make a new start.”
“Giving up is a lot easier.” Seb groaned, slapping Georgie’s hands away.
“Hey, I know, you can go around today and ask the other kids about their summers! See what they did! How bout that?”
“Perfect.” Seb responded, grabbing his bag and starting to shuffle out the back door. Georgie spun him around and gave him a tight hug before jokingly squeezing his cheek.
“I’m proud of you already.”