Excerpt: Tu Seras Toujours Ma Soeur

A secret like this was nevertheless potentially dangerous. I had nowhere to turn. My only choice was to bottle it up inside of me, never letting a single soul know.
If I kept it to myself, would I be hurting more than healing? Was not telling the only option? Would I be letting Sandrine win if I kept silent?
You know, the more that I thought about it, the more I questioned my motives. I could blab about everything else, so why couldn’t I blab about this? Why was I defending the enemy?
I looked out the window; it was a cold, stormy, and extremely depressing day. The electricity being off only made matters worse. I was extremely depressed. I NEVER wanted to step foot in Collège Albert Camus ever again! What could have possibly possessed Sandrine to do what she did? I really didn’t understand; that was one of the only things that really bewildered me.
I pushed my German homework off my bed with great force and plopped down and started crying. First, I cried silently so that only I could hear. Then, I started crying louder. I had a plan; I figured that Mère would walk in and ask what’s wrong if I cried loud enough.
And I was right.
“Sabine, ma chérie, what is wrong?” Mère had a fretful look on her thin face.
I looked up at her. I could swear that my face was almost as red as my hair. She brushed my bangs aside and gave me a hug.
“I never want to go to school again,” I sobbed.
“Pourquoi?” She asked, like a concerned parent would.
“I can’t say,” My own personal waterfall came on again.
“Oui, you can tell me anything,” She said briskly.
“What if your daughter was involved?” I felt as if fear were creeping through my veins.
“Sabine, you are involved. Tell me now,” Mère was growing furious. She really needed to just shut up and be patient with me. I doubt that she understood what telling on your supercilious, patronizing twin sister felt like. Both of her sisters were as cordial and sunny as can be.
“I don’t know how to say this, to be perfectly honest. Some things have been going on at school…involving Sandrine,” I spat out. I was now shaking with fear. I felt as if the world would crash into the sun and that Miley Cyrus would no longer be famous. (What sick thoughts!)
Mère now seemed utterly disgusted. “What has your sister been doing?”
“I like to refer to it as something along the lines of ‘Operation: Make Sabine Miserable’,” I stopped crying and put my big girl pants on. I had to tell Mère. This had to stop!
“Expliquez,” She looked at me with her big brown eyes. She was starting to make me feel rather intimidated.
“Well, it all started on the second day of school…” I began.
For the first time in my life, I had a mature conversation with Mère that didn’t end up in complete chaos. She actually sat down and listened to what I had to say instead of interrupting with her two cents. Maybe, just maybe, I was growing up.