I clenched my fists as I stared at the letter that I had written.

"Dear Mom and Dad,"

It was barely a letter seeing as it only consisted of four words. I crumpled it up and threw it under my bed. I got up and grabbed a jacket from my closet. I checked to make sure nobody was up and put my shoes on.

Once I had closed the door, I inhaled deeply taking in the air of the early morning. The sun was starting to come up as the grass slowly swayed back and forth to a beat my human ears could not comprehend.

Everything was silent. There weren't any birds chirping their tunes or cars honking.

I shoved my hands into my pockets and walked all the way toward the abandoned factory.

I sighed and climbed up the ladder onto the ledge, looking down admiring the height.

What if I jumped down?

Yeah, what if you jumped down? You could take away every single problem in your life. A betraying sister, crappy life, and heartbreaking relationships... Jump down and end it all now.

I contemplated it for a few moments before climbing down the ladder. The temptation was too great, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to die just yet.

I sat down and pulled my knees close to my chest. I pulled my phone out and set an alarm before closing my eyes.

《¤》

Brr...

I opened my eyes and shut the alarm off.

I pushed myself to get up and jogged home. I didn't want to be late for school.

I carefully opened the door, making sure that I didn't make a single sound and tiptoed into my room. I sighed and entered the bathroom as I peeled off my clothes to take a shower.

Afterward, I exited the bathroom to see Lila sitting on my bed with her usual "good-girl" outfit.

I glared at her. "What the hell do you want?"

She frowned. "Can't you at least greet me properly?"

"Are you kidding me?"

She heaved a sigh and stood up. "I just wanted to say that I'll fix everything today at school."

"Yeah, whatever," I muttered.

"I'm sorry for what I did but can you please not tell mom and dad about this? I want to keep it on the down-low until I've fixed it all."

She stared at me with pleading eyes.

"Wow. You're so obsessed with your image that you're not even truly sorry, but here you are telling me to hide what you've done to help you keep your oh-so perfect reputation. In the end, the only person you care about is yourself."

Do you really want to continue living like this? A deceitful sister who only cares about herself and no one else. If you had jumped, you wouldn't even be dealing with this.

I clenched my fists as I shoved them into my jean pockets, and walked into the kitchen.

"Morning mom, morning dad."

"Good morning Mark. Did you sleep well?" My father asked, greeting me with warm, brown eyes. He was sitting at the dining table while using his computer.

"Fine."

"Sweetie, it's your dad's turn to drop you off at school today. I'm sorry but I'm running late for work so you'll have to take the school's breakfast, okay?"

I nodded silently.

My parents had a rotation where one of them would work from home and drop us off at school while the other would go to work. My mother always did breakfast since my father couldn't cook to save his life. In turn, he cleaned the house and dropped us off at school. It was a way for them to share responsibilities as evenly as possible.

Our mother bombarded Lila with questions when she entered the kitchen as always.

"Morning Lila! You look beautiful as usual! Are you dressing up for a boy? Who is he? Have I met him before? Who are his parents? How old is he? Does he go to your school?"

Lila chuckled. "Nope! I don't dress up for boys. I do it for me and me only."

"I'm gonna be waiting outside.." I said loud enough for everyone to hear as I internally rolled my eyes. I put my bag on and headed out to stand in the driveway.

She lied to our mother about the clothes and I'm sure she had no regrets about it whatsoever. Everytime, Lila dressed up she did it to impress the school, boys, and her friends.

I looked down at the concrete sidewalk and watched the ants march on by.

They have it easy, I thought. Their whole life is already mapped out for them. They hatch from their eggs, eat, work, sleep, and then die.

I don't want to live like that...

I rubbed my face in frustration. I didn't know what I wanted anymore.

If you had jumped you wouldn't have this problem. You wouldn't have to worry about how you needed to live your life or be confused about what you wanted.

I looked up at the sky and stared as the white clouds moved lazily, the sun shining as bright as usual, and the sky as blue as ever.

A small smile settled onto my face as I took solace in the small things that life had to offer.

"Mark, you're ready, right?" my dad asked.

I nodded. He opened the car doors and Lila sat in the front seat while I sat in the back.

She immediately started chatting with our father as I laid my head against the window and watched everything pass by.

"Here we are kids! I hope you two have a great day at school!"

"Bye Daddy!"

"Bye Dad."

The moment the car door closed, I could feel all my energy draining away just by staring at the school building. I sighed and trudged into the gym and sat on the bleachers. I put on my headphones and sat in the corner.

"Hey Mark!" I looked up to see Ana, the only person who could survive my attitude.

I took off the headphones and acknowledged her with a small smile.

"Hey Ana. Can I assume you've already heard about everything that happened between Brittany and I?"

She sat down beside me. "Yup. How are you doing?"

"Fine, I guess."

She raised an eyebrow at me. "So, really badly in Mark-speak?"

I nodded.

"Are you going to come out to your parents?"

"No. To be honest, I'm actually not sure yet. I'd rather do it when I'm sure."

A puzzled expression overtook her face. "Lila is trans right, so why wouldn't they accept you if you're gay?"

"There's a difference between transphobia and homophobia."

The bell rang and I stood up. I hated the fact that Lila and I shared first period together.

While I walked to class I heard snippets of a conversation. My first thought was to keep walking, since it didn't involve me, that was until I heard my name.

I immediately stopped walking and decided to eavesdrop.

"...Can't even believe that Mark is your brother. How do you deal with such an embarrassment?"

"Ava don't say that. He's my brother."

"I know, I know, but are you ashamed to even call him your brother?"

"Ava, we should get to class or we'll be late."

"Oh, yeah you're right."

I looked down at my feet and felt a heavy feeling in my chest. Lila hadn't answered the question.

Is she proud to call me her brother? I thought. Does she even care about me or was she too caught up in how other people see her?

'Author's Note'

Who kind of low-key hates Lila? Everyone has two faces, but not everyone shows them.

Who sympathizes with Mark? Does anyone have any siblings similar to either of them?

Comment your thoughts about the chapter in general. If you enjoyed it, please don't forget to vote!.

I love you all, I want you to be loved, I hope you are loved! 💕

-DiTrix