Simone

After Lizzie and Michael’s fight, the cabin was awkward for everyone. It was uncomfortable for me in particular to be in the same room with one or both of them at the same time, because you weren’t sure whether something you’d say would strike a nerve.

Admittedly, I hated it. I hated seeing the two of them unhappy. She hadn’t seen him in months, and now they were feuding. It wasn’t right, and it wasn’t fair.

But, how could I fix it? It’s not like I had a good effect on any of them. Lizzie was the most independent person, and Michael was stubborn. When I say stubborn, I mean really stubborn.

So, how was I supposed to even be able to fix this sibling relationship if it was between these two people? How was I supposed to make this all work out? I guess I at least had to try.

I decided to start out by making “peace offerings”. I knew what kinds of cookies they both liked, so I chose to bake them each a batch of cookies and pretend the other baked them. Yeah, it wasn’t right to do, but it would get them at least in a good mood, right?

Lizzie and Michael had both migrated to their rooms by the time I started, so I was clear to do this without their questioning. I pulled out two cookie sheets, one for each of the batches, and started to get out the ingredients. I hummed softly as I did this. I found music to cause this to go much faster, which was helpful.

As I pulled the mixing bowl out, I found that I was being joined by Louis in the kitchen. He was getting himself a glass of water. I greeted him quietly. “Hey, Louis,” I said softly.

“Hey Simone,” he replied, giving me a small nod. He took a small sip of the glass of water in his hands.

“So, great birthday, huh?” I asked him, just to make a bit of conversation as I poured out the right amount of each ingredient for the first batch of cookies.

“Yeah, sure is.” Louis let out a sigh and turned to face me at the island. “What are you doing, just out of curiosity?”

“I’m making cookies.” I spoke plainly, looking down at my work.

“Why? We made our Christmas cookies two days ago. We’ve been snacking on them all weekend,” Louis reminded me.

I sighed. “I’m making two batches. One’s for Lizzie, one’s for Michael. Hopefully they’ll get them in a good mood. I might be able to lie and say that the other sibling made them, which could help them start to warm up to each other again.”

“I see,” Louis said softly. “So, you’re going to try to get them to talk to each other again?”

“Yup. I just can’t stand the fact that the two of them are fighting. They are just such nice people, you know, and they don’t see each other nearly as often as they should. They should be happy together, instead of fighting. They probably won’t see each other again in person in months after we leave here anyway. It’s just not right.” I sighed after I finished my little speech and started to mix up all the ingredients in Michael’s batch. He really liked M&M cookies, so that was the batch I was making for him.

“You’re being a great friend for caring about them like that,” Louis said with a small smile. “Mind if I help you out with this? After all, one of these batches of cookies is going to my girlfriend.”

“Depends. Are you willing to help with the counseling once I get to that point?” I asked. I dropped some M&Ms into the batter to get mixed in now that I was at that point.

“Definitely, as long as you can keep Michael from killing me. He really doesn’t like me at all,” Louis said. He set his glass of water down on one of the counters nearby.

I nodded and smiled a bit. “I’ll protect you. So will Lizzie. Of course you can help. Can you make sure the oven is preheated for me?”

“Consider it done.” He walked past me and checked on the oven. “Alright, it looks good to me. Whenever you’re done with the first batch I think you can put it in. Wait, you need 350 degrees, right?”

“That’s right,” I nodded.

“Then you’re all set.”

I nodded and gave him a small smile. “Thanks Louis.” I put out twelve cookies on the cookie sheet and put them in the oven.

This was gonna take a while.

----------

Finally, when the two batches were all done, the two of us served up the two types of cookies on separate plates. I turned to Louis. “Will you bring Lizzie’s to her while I get these to Michael? If we went the other way I’m not sure you’d survive.”

“Good point. Sure, I’ll take these.” He picked up Lizzie’s plate and gave me a nod. “What do you want me to say to her?”

“Well, just talk to her at first. Get a good conversation going, and then mention the conflict with Michael. Try to subtly convince her to talk to him, to work through their problems, and then you’ll be all set. Got it?”

“Yes, ma’am. I got it. So, see you in a bit,” he said. He gave me a smile with the “ma’am” part, wanting to joke around a bit to lighten the mood. Then, he walked down the stairs and out of the area.

I gave him a minute so he could get settled in there and then followed him down the stairs. I carried the plate of M&M cookies carefully in my hands. I tried to be as quiet as possible as I walked down the stairs and down the hall. When I reached his door, I knocked quickly. “Michael? It’s me, Simone. I brought cookies. Can I come in?” I asked softly through the door.

“Sure, why not?” Michael sounded like he really didn’t care as he spoke through the door. “Come on in.”

I nodded and slowly opened the door. “Hi,” I said softly, unsure of quite how to start this whole thing.

“Hey,” he replied. He sat on his bed, his facial expression a mixture of anger and sadness. I felt terrible for him. At least I knew I was trying to help him out. Maybe I could turn that frown upside down!

I sat down beside him on the bed and held the plate out for him. “Want any cookies?”

“Hmm? Yeah, sure,” he said softly. He took the plate from me and picked out one of the cookies. Silently, he took a single bite and looked at me. “These are good. Did you make them?”

Yes, yes I did. But I couldn’t tell him that. “It doesn’t matter anyway. But I’m glad that you like them,” I said softly and gave him a small smile. “So, how are you feeling?”

He shrugged and sighed. “I’m alright. I just…it’s nothing,” he said softly.

“Are you still mad at her?” I asked softly.

“Mad doesn’t even begin to explain it. I’m just trying to look out for her, you know? I just want her to be okay, and then how does she repay me? She gets mad at me and rejects my attempts to help.” Michael took another bite and looked at the ceiling.

“Well, she just thinks that she’s right. After all, Louis is a good person, and he cares about her a lot.”

“Can we not talk about that guy?” Michael snapped.

I chewed my lip. “I thought that he was part of the problem. If we talk about him, it might help you out. So, maybe you need to talk about him.”

“I’d rather not.”

I sighed. It wasn’t worth fighting it right now. After all, he’d have to talk about it later, and he’d have to talk with him about it later too. “Okay, fine. So, what do you want to talk about then?”

“I don’t know. Nothing really. I wasn’t expecting anyone to come and see me anyway. I thought that I’d be alone in here for a while.” Michael seemed a bit disappointed with the things he was saying.

“Do you think that none of us care about you or anything? We’re worried about you. This is why I came here anyway. I care about you.” The thing he was talking about, it was really sad. Did he truly think that we didn’t care?

“I just, there are other people here. It’s not like I’m the most important person in this place. Why are you paying attention to me?”

“Because when one of us is unhappy, we’re all unhappy. When you and Lizzie were sitting in the same room, not talking to each other, it was uncomfortable for all of us. So, if you’re happy, we’ll all be happy. Do you see what I mean? One person is just as important as the entire group.”

Michael nodded slowly, but he didn’t seem all that confident with this. “Okay…” he said softly. “So, I’m guessing that you’re going to want me to go talk to her, so we can stop feuding and stuff like that?”

“Yes, please. Will you?” I looked over at him, giving him my best puppy dog face. I had to convince him. “Pretty please with a cherry on top?”

Michael was silent for a minute, but then he spoke. “Okay, fine. I’ll go. Where is she?”

“In her room. You’re the best, Michael,” I said and smiled. I gave him a quick hug and took the plate out of his lap. “Now go!”

He let out a small laugh, which made me smile a bit. “I’m going, I’m going.” With the last word, he stood and left the room.

I was quick to follow him, setting the plate down on the bedside table as I left the room. But, as soon as I left the room, I heard Michael.

“What are you doing with my sister?”

“I’m just talking to her. I brought her a plate of cookies, and we were just talking.” I heard Louis reply from inside of the room. Oh great.

“Oh yeah? Then why were you sitting on the bed with her? And why was the door shut?” Michael seemed to be incredibly angry, which made me sigh. Every time Louis tried to be a good guy, it would be the worst time, because Michael would see it the exact opposite way.

“Because where else am I supposed to sit? I’m sorry. I’m just trying to talk to her,” Louis said.

I came up behind him. “Here, just go sit down. Louis, you and I can sit on Kelly’s bed. Michael, sit down next to your sister.” I slipped in through the doorway and did as I said I would. Michael followed silently and took the place that Louis had been sitting in.

Lizzie shot a quick glare at her brother and then turned to me. “Do we have to talk about this?”

“Yes. If we talk about it, it’ll be better for everyone,” I replied. “Just trust me on this.”

“I don’t see how if we’re fighting, it affects you people.”

“The anger between you two, it makes it awkward for all of us to be in the same room with you. Does that make any sense?” Louis said. “Nobody’s quite sure what to say, since they don’t want to make either of you mad, and it’s just uncomfortable. So, if you guys get over your anger, the awkwardness will be gone.”

Michael and Lizzie turned to face each other and both chewed on their bottom lips. In that moment, it was fairly obvious the two of them were siblings. They just looked so similar to each other. “I guess, if we have to,” Michael said softly.

“Yeah, sure,” Lizzie said softly. “I guess we can talk.”

I grinned when I heard this. “Alright, so let’s start from the beginning. What started this for the two of you?”

We were able to have a nice discussion over this. The two siblings argued the whole time, but at the same time, they were getting over it. It was all turning out well. Maybe the rest of this trip wouldn’t be as awkward anymore.