"Rye! Dinner! Riley!?" Amelia yelled up the stairs, she was used to living with Riley and knew that you have to scream at the top of your lungs if you want a reply.
Sure enough, a few seconds later a groan came from upstairs. "What?" Riley replied abruptly, the irratition evidnet in her tone. As much as she loved her sister, she hated someone trying to talk to her 24/7 and god, Amelia could talk.
"Dinner's ready." Amelia knew the reply she'd get. She knew how meals times went nowadays. Riley used to love family dinners but now all she wanted to do was stay in her room.
As expected, a second groaned reply came from upstairs,
"Can't I eat in my room?" Amelia was so used to this she barely let Riley finsh her sentence before angrily shouting back, "No! You can't, now get your ass down here."
"You're such a bitch." Amelia heard the mutter from upstairs. 6 months ago she would have crusifed Riley for saying that but now it seemed like the least of her problems. She looked exasperated at Addison who was sat at the countertop sipping her wine, "How am I 27 with a teenager?"
Addison gave a reassuring smile to Amelia. As she put her glass down she lent forward and lowered her voice slightly. "Is she doing better in school yet?" Addison knew the answer was no, she was like Riley's second parent, well second sister.
A small sigh came from Amelia as she began to serve dinner. She hated the fact her sister was failing but what was she going to do."Nope, her grades have slipped down to Fs. I mean I don't want to hassle her, I'm her sister not her mom but I can't deal with her." Amelia waved her arms slightly in frustration.
"She can stay with me for a bit if you need a break?" Addison's offer seemed like heaven for Amelia, she was so tired of dealing with a teenagers life when her own was still a mess. "I would love that. She's driving me crazy." Amelia put her head in her hands and leaned on the table in exhaustion.
Her moment of silence was interrupted by a snarky reply from Riley who had been listening to the whole conversation, "That's not my fault, you were never sane. Hey Addie." She quiped, putting her arm round Addison's shoulder.
"Are you feeling okay? You look a bit pale." Addison pulled back slightly taking a closer look at the teenager. A smile pasted across her face but it seemed like it didn't belong. It was a sharp contrast to the dark circles around her eyes and her sunken cheeks.
Sensing Addison's concern, Riley stepped away, dismissing her comment "That's just my skin tone but thanks." Riley knew that Addison could tell something was wrong, but she didn't want to talk about it. If she talked about it, it made the problem real.
Riley was lost in her thoughts, leaning her head on her hands on the countertop. He daze interrupted by her sister holding a lot full of chilli in front of her.
"Rye, how hungry are you?" Amelia asked, holding a serving spoon, waiting for the response she knew was coming. It had been the same for a while now. Riley's portions were getting smaller and smaller and the past week they had become non-existent.
"I'm not hungry at all." Riley muttered monotonously, like a robot who had been programmed to say one thing when faced with food.
Amelia looked at the frail girl who had once been her sister. She scooped up slightly more food on Riley's plate as she tried to ignore the obvious, "Just have a bit then, you have a big lunch?" Riley looked back at her older sister and felt her heart sink as she saw the chilli fill her bowl. She muttered a weak, "Yeah." She was too exhausted to try to come up with her own believable excuses.
"Really? Because I can hear your stomach rumbling from here." Addie raised her eyebrows at the teenager, sipping her wine smugly. Riley turned in shock, her eyes like a deer in headlights, unable to think of a lie. Addie was unconvinced by the meek smile Riley was using to cover up her fear.
Amelia began to pay more attention to the conversation, looking up and witnessing her sisters lack of response. She tried everything to ignore the worry she was experiencing.
"You didn't eat any dinner yesterday either or the day before or for like a week. Do you not like my cooking?" Amelia half joked with a smirk on her face. She pushed the food towards Riley hoping she would eat some of it.
Relief washed over Riley as the subject changed. The simple on her face was genuine. "It's not bad just... Don't quit your day job." She laughed before looking down at the food in front of her. Everyone else saw a delicious bowl of Chilli, she just saw calories. She felt nauseous just thinking of it resting in her stomach.
"Oh, guess who I spoke to today?" Amelia pipes up, tucking into her food. The tone of her voice seemed casual, but her forceful stare at Riley seemed anything but. Riley kept her eyes fixed on the food below her, unable to focus. "I don't care." She muttered moving her fork around her bowl.
Amelia chose ignore Riley's insolence. Anger boiled inside of her but she kept a smile on her face."It was your psych teacher. Apparently, you had an exam today and you didn't write anything. So, you got an F, again. What's wrong with you?" As she neared the end of her speech her voice grew angry.
"I've started taking Oxy, I see why you like it so much. Does make it hard to concentrate on lessons though." Riley replied bluntly, a smirk pasted across her face. She pushed the still full bowl back nonchalantly. Addie sighed and put her face in her hands, "Riley." She knew Riley was just doing it to annoy Amelia and she knew it would work.
"Don't joke about that. Now shut it and eat." Amelia snapped, she shoved the plate back without taking her eyes off the teenager. Riley's face turned from smirk to sour, she crossed her arms and raised her voice, "I said I'm not hungry." Amelia narrowed her eyes and made her words sturn and demanding, "I don't care. Eat."
"No." Riley replied almost instantly as if it was an autonomous reaction. Amelia felt the anger surge inside her, "Well, we're going to sit here till you finsh, so start eating." She said sharply, finally breaking eye contact with the teenager.