Disclaimer: I do not own the characters mentioned in this story. They are not my property.
It hurt me, to watch my baby sister in such pain. Mom had gone off to one of her meetings again… it works if you work it, right? Dad's last child support check came in, and Mom cashed it earlier, and tossed me a twenty to order pizza. For the first time in a long time, it was just Tracy and me in the house; no Kayla, no Brady. None of Mom's friends, and not Evie fucking Zamora. That bitch.
When I went to Tracy to ask her if she was hungry, she was all curled up in bed, like when she was a little kid and Mom and Dad were fighting. I crouched down next to the bed to stare at Tracy.
"Trace? Tracy? Are you hungry?" I asked, and the reply I received was a simple shake of the head. "No? You haven't eaten all day."
"I'm not hungry, Mason," he said to me, and I caught a glimpse of her face. Her eyes were all red, and for a minute, I thought she was drunk, or high, maybe, but then I realized that she was crying.
I've never been good at taking care of people when they're crying, especially girls, but when I looked at Tracy's face, my heart just broke. My baby sister was miserable, and I've been there. It was never the same situation, but I hurt just as bad as she did, back when Mom and Dad split.
I leaned down and kissed Tracy's forehead, and she made a little noise. It sounded like a sob, and I frowned. "Trace. Tracy," I said, and sat on the edge of the bed. I put a hand on Tracy's back, and she sort of arched up, like a cat would. I guess maybe she just needed some human contact. I slid my arms around her and just held her for a while.
"I love you, Trace. I know this hurts now, and it'll hurt, but we'll fix this. You'll pass next year. Maybe if you work real hard, you can cram seventh into a semester, and eighth into the other semester. Then you'll be back on track," I tried to soothe her, but her tears fell harder. I tightened my arms around her.
We wound up lying like that until Mom came home. Tracy was asleep by then.
I wish that I could protect her from all of it, but there's no way one person can protect her from the whole world. Maybe she's learned from her mistakes and it won't happen again. I hope so. She used to be this sweet, innocent, beautiful little girl, and now she's scarred and hurt. I don't want to look at Tracy and see that.
Tracy came up a few days later, and whispered her thanks, for me being there for her. I wish that she could have seen that I've been there for her. I always have been there for my little sister.