~~~~SHELLY~~~~

　　"Coming Mum!!", I yelled for the umpteenth time but didn't move an itch from the worn-out marble floor she laid.

　　My gaze was still fixed on the small television which was just a few metres away from me; with my chin on my hands for support.

　　Excitement had the best of me and nothing else seemed to matter at the moment.

　　It was that period of time that comes every year; when the 'Greygott' conglomeration makes an exemption for a lower-class to get admitted into the prestigious 'Greygott high', the best school in the region.

　　They make a pick from a thousand application letters; sent by "many" lower-class kids; and by many, I meant over a thousand of them

　　.

　　It's somewhat pathetic that such number of persons struggles to get just one position; but then again, no one blames them.

　　It's an opportunity that's really rare; and the winner is always termed as having born with a lucky star.

　　"Get your fat ass off that floor", A voice barked and I got myself a hard spank on my butts.

　　"Ouch..", I winced; rubbing at the spot and staring poutingly at Megan; but as always, she had her hard glare on and was staring daggers back at me.

　　Megan Rodriguez; older sister; overly grumpy and cold hearted.

　　You never get to see her smile and if you do....well, you won't!!

　　"Imma whup your fat ass even more if you don't stop giving me that puppy look..!", She spattered out and I quickly straightened up my face.

　　"Quit this bullshit and go sit for dinner!", she barked again, turning off the television.

　　"Why did you do that? Mrs. Nora Williams was about to announce the date for the pick..", I sluggishly stood from the floor with a huge frown on her face.

　　"I think you meant..'the wicked witch of the west'..", Megan retorted with a huff.

　　"Mrs. Nora Greygott is the wicked witch of the west; I'm talking about Mrs. Gina Williams;..", I explained, slapping off a peck of dust on my faded gown.

　　"All rich folks are wicked witches of the west; be it Williams or Greygott..; now go sit!", Megan fired back, walking past me with angry steps.

　　"But Meg..."

　　She turned around with a furious yell; "No more buts!, and don't call me 'Meg' again, or I'm gonna hurl you out the window.."

　　I snapped my mouth close instantly and gulped really hard and fast as she made eye-contacts with me.

　　Megan was a beast in a human clothing; and I've always thought I was one hell of unfortunate to be her sister..her kid sister.

　　"Megan, that's enough..", we heard our Mum's soft voice; but our gazes were still stuck with each other's.

　　"Cut it out, you two; and come sit for dinner..The food's getting cold.", Mum added; but no one made a move.

　　"Looser", Megan finally spatted out and broke the eye-contact as she headed to take her seat.

　　"Phew", I exhaled in relief, and tried steadying my racing heart by taking lots of deep breaths.

　　I've got a lot of terrible history with Megan; so I'm always filled with dread when dealing with her.

　　"Shelly..", Mum called again and I slowly dragged my trembling body to my chair.

　　Mum said the prayers and we began eating; quietly at first, until Megan broke the silence.

　　"Where's Vivian?", she asked; involuntarily letting out some drops of pancakes which was now mixed with saliva from her mouth-full of pancakes.

　　"Ewww..", I mouthed, taking her eyes off the disgusting sight.

　　Mum exhaled tiredly; "She's asleep already. I tucked her in before I came to serve dinner.."

　　"Why? Is she sick??", Megan asked worriedly; slowly dropping her fork on the table.

　　Even though Megan was as hard as a rock; she still shows her soft side when it had to do with Vivian, her five years old daughter.

　　Megan was a pathetic teenage Mum. Vivian's dad was still a mystery to everyone cux Megan wouldn't talk about it.

　　Many years back, she'd packed up her things and left the house; and one fateful day, she returned with the baby in her womb.

　　No one knew her story; especially this poor me, since I was pretty young back then.

　　Most times, I've been too curious and had tried summoning some courage to ask her about her sad past, but somehow, I always loose that courage.

　　But even without being told, it was obvious Megan had a whole lot of sad experience and that had made her grow into this grumpy, unbearable person.

　　**

　　"She's not sick; but the poor girl is having a hard time; especially now that you're barely at home..", Mum replied, and stuffed another fork of pancakes into her mouth.

　　Megan sighed, rubbing her temples; "Mum, you know the reason I'm not always around her is that I've got to work. We're gonna starve to death if I don't.."

　　"I do know that..", Mum gave a small smile; "but Vivian needs the love of a Mum more than anything else. She's still too young to be left alone by her Mum.."

　　"Is this one of those times you rub it in my face on how much of a bad mother I am??", Megan asked coldly and impatiently.."and then after, you give me lectures on how to become a great Mum, just like yourself." She added sarcastically.

　　"I'm not trying to lecture you..", Mum defended; "the kid's having a hard time; and she needs lots of love from you right now.."

　　"And I give her all the love I can..", Megan snapped; "but I can't just seat here and attend to her all day!".

　　"I didn't ask you to seat here all day...", Mum tried saying but Megan cut her off with another yell.

　　"I know you picture me as the worst mother for Vivian; but you don't expect me to be as good as you are..!', She was really vexed, as always; and was taking it out on Mum.

　　I rolled my eyes inwardly at her crazy sensitivity, still, I didn't wanna get involved. But Megan was growing louder and louder with each fleeting second.

　　"My situation is a lot more difficult and overly complicated that yours ever was; so before you lecture me, try stepping into my shoes..!!"

　　"Mum wasn't lecturing, Meg..", I blurted out; unable to keep it in anymore; "she was only telling you that Vivian misses you and wants to spend more time with you.."

　　She gave a dry chuckle and intertwined her fingers; flashing me a fake smile, "and she speaks after all! I was beginning to think you were mute or something.."

　　And here we go again with another Megan-Shelly fights during dinner. One of the reasons I hate family dinners.

　　It's becoming more of a routine now; but the sad thing is that the attack was always onesided; I was always the one getting attacked.

　　"Mum; if you really wanna lecture someone, I think you should start with Shelly...", Megan added; "The girl finally lost her mind and has gone as far as submitting an application letter for 'Greygott high'..", Megan ended with a smug smile.

　　It hit me like a grenade or some sort of a time bomb; and the little bit of pancake I'd just stuffed into my mouth fell back into the plate.

　　Once again, I've been brutally attacked by Megan and the smug smile on her face made me feel even worse.

　　"What??", the disbelieve and disappointment was evident in Mum's voice and I felt my heart riping apart.

　　"Shelly??", Mum called; but I didn't look up. I mean, how could I??.

　　"Shelly??", she called again; and this time I looked up, and noticed her eyes were already teary; "is it..true?", her voice was almost in a whisper.

　　"I'm really sorry, Mum, but..."

　　"But nothing!", Megan cut me off; "you've got no excuses other than the fact that you only think about yourself..."

　　It's unfair when one gets attacked without any warning; but even more unfair when you also steal their chances of defending themselves.

　　Just how unfair can Megan really get??...

　　"You don't care about Mum's feelings and you hardly care about mine; all you care about is your stupid dreams of changing the world. Like that's ever gonna happen...", she snorted.

　　"My dreams ain't stupid, and sooner or later, imma show y'all that..", I spoke firmly.

　　Trust me to speak so boldly when it has to do with my dreams.

　　"Dream on!", Megan scoffed; "we live in the land of Gale, Shelly; and in the slums to top it all. We reak of dirt and mud; we eat from the remains of the rich; we are born unfortunate and we die that way. This is our fate; and there's nothing you or any one else can do about that.."