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I hesitated outside of the door to Rachel's room.
The truth is, I'm scared of going in there. Jordan said she heard someone screaming in Rachel's room at night. Sometimes I hear it too, but I'm pretty sure it's just the monsters in her closet. That's how they sound when they throw wild parties, and you don't want to cross the monsters when they're playing. I asked my biggest sister about it once. She looked at me like I was crazy, but underneath that, her eyes were red, and she looked sleepy. Maybe she had stayed up all night fighting the demons in her room.
Rachel was a courageous warrior. I couldn't fight them off, which is why I was nervous. But the beasts can't hurt me while the sun is still up.
I opened the door and burst into my big sister's room.
“Rachel! Will you come and play superheros with me?” I pleaded. “We need you to defend the earth!”
She was sitting at her perfectly organized desk, her long yellow hair falling down her shoulders. Several textbooks and notebooks were laid out in front of her. She jumped up when I entered, and then saw me and sighed.
“Not right now, Sara. I have work I need to do.”
I frowned. “But we need you to defend the planet. Red bear is in trouble!”
She waved her hand dismissively. “Go bug Jordan. I have a ton of homework to catch up on.”
“But Jordan’s not here, Rachel! She went to Jenny’s house.” I whined. “How come you never want to play with me anymore?”
Rachel turned sharply, her voice rising with every word. “Go away. Find someone else to whine too. Or don’t, I don’t care. Just leave me alone.”
“Rachel…”
“Out,” she threatened. “Or I’ll go tell Mom to forcibly remove you.”
I turned and ran from the room, burying my face in my hands. Tears streamed down my face as I ran downstairs and turned into the kitchen.
“MOM! Rachel’s being mean!” I yelled as I skidded on the tile floor. My mommy stood by the table, talking on the telephone. Her long brown hair fell in curls down to her shoulder, and her perfectly pressed dress was my favorite shade of pink.
She held up a hand, and put the other one on the receiver. “Sara, I’m on the phone right now,” she hissed. She turned her attention back to her client. “Sorry about that, it's just my daughter…”
I grabbed Red bear and hugged him tight to my chest, rocking back and forth. Then we walked to the couch, where I flung myself down on the cushions and started crying. Rachel always tells me she is too busy to play games, or watch Pokémon, or braid my hair in those pretty French braids. Mommy says it's just that Rachel is getting older and is with her friends a lot more. But she still played with me and Jordan when she hung out with Cassie last school year. And she wasn't this grumpy.
I bawled until the pillow sheets were stained. Mom was still on the phone. Grownups can talk forever, and I swear they do it on purpose sometimes just to annoy us kids. Just as I was getting ready to go call Daddy, the doorbell rang.
“I'll get it!” I yelled delightfully, glad of people to play with, or at least something to break the monotony. I jumped up and skidded down the entry hall in just my socks in time to answer the door.
My cousin Jake was standing on our front pouch, holding a pie dish that smelled yummy.
He was tall, with dark brown hair that was longish and fell into his eyes. I think my aunt Jean will get him a haircut soon. I grinned, yelled, “Sara hug!” extra loudly and tackled him hard with one of my specialty hugs.
To my surprise, instead of laughing and tossling my hair like he usually does, he flinched hard and stepped back quickly, breathing extra hard. He nearly dropped the pie dish, so I slid it out from his hands with all my strength.
I frowned, shifting the pie to support the weight. “Are you okay?” Jake had never reacted like that before. Everyone loved Sara-hugs.
He forced a smile. “Yeah, I'm good,” he heaved. “Just… Please don't attack me like that, alright?”
I smiled brightly. “Okay. I'm sorry. Do you want to come inside?” I asked in my best grownup voice.
He nodded, smiling tight. I opened the door wide and gestured the way. He entered the house and I shut the door behind us.
“My mom sent me over here to give that pie to you guys,” Jake whispered, glancing up and noticing my mom was still in the kitchen. He lifted the pie from my struggling hands and placed it on the coffee table. He glanced back at me and whispered, “Hey Sara, is Rachel here?” Worry lines etched his face, like I'd seen on my dad. It made him look like a grownup.
I slumped down on the couch, squeezing Red bear tightly. “Yeah, but she says she's busy. She won't play superheros with me, or watch cartoons, or anything. She never does anymore.”
l felt tears falling again, so I buried my face in Red bear fur.
Jake sat down next to me. “I'm sorry, Sara. That must be hard.”
I looked up, staring fiercely at him. I'd just remembered something important. “My mommy says that it's just because Rachel is a teenager now. But your big brother still plays with you, even though he's a teenager, right?”
Jake's expression fell. He suddenly looked like Jordan the time Rachel had gotten mad and slapped her straight across the face. I instantly realized I said the wrong thing.
I watched as he carefully composed his expression back into a broken smile. “Well,” he choked. “Actually, Sara, Tom has a lot going on in his mind these days too, so I don't see him as much as I want to.”
“Oh,” I said meekly, dropping my head to stare at my lap, fidgeting with the friendship bracelet I shared with my sisters.
Jake placed a hand on my arm. I looked into his dark, stormy eyes. He took a deep breath. “Sara, Rachel has a lot going on in her life right now. She's a teenage girl, that's what they do. All of us teenagers have a lot of stress going on in our lives. Some… more than average. It doesn't mean Rachel doesn't love you, or that Tom doesn't care about me. It just means we have a lot of crazy stuff going on in our heads. So, go easy on your sister, okay?” He smiled brittlely and squeezed my arm before letting go.
I cocked my head and thought about that for a second. Then I sighed. “Okay. But I still want to play superheros with someone.” I begged at Jake.
He took the hint. “Why don't I play with you for a few minutes, and then I'll go talk to Rachel for a little while? I'll tell her to be a little nicer to you, I promise.” He winked.
I grinned from ear to ear. “You will be the best superhero ever!”
His smile faltered slightly, but he picked up Red bear, and we played until my mom was done with work.
“Thank you so much Jake. I owe you one for taking such good care of my daughter,” my mom smiled.
Jake pasted on a smile. “You're welcome, Aunt Noami. I'm going to go have a word with Rachel.” He excused himself politely and stalked upstairs.
My mom wrapped an arm around me and held me close to her. We watched Jake go.
“Jake's a great kid, but sometimes I swear he takes on too much. You'd think he was my age, not a teenager. Oh well,” she sighs to herself.
I pulled her closer to me, planting a kiss on my Mommy's cheek.
“Jake says it's a teenage thing,” I informed her. “Maybe he and Rachel will grow out of it by the time they're adults.”