Authors: Monica Alexander
Ironically
, it was our d
ifferences that kept us close
over the years
.
Rachel
was always stubborn, tough and a bit of a know-i
t-all.
She didn’t put up with
anything from anyone
and stood up for me more times
over the years
than I could
count
.
In third grade, when Bobby Fallon made me cry after telling everyone I had cooties and not to talk to me, Rachel cornered him on the playground, strong-armed him into apologizing and then forced him
tell the whole class that it w
as really him who had cooties.
Then in
s
eventh grade when Taylor Jansen
, my crush for the better part of the year, dumped me after a week of ‘going out’, Rachel told him off on the bus on the way home before protectively putting her arm around me
as I cried
.
And i
n eleventh
grade when Ashleigh Ballast had tried to make-out with Ben at a party, Rachel had threatened to hit her,
and she
’d
backed off.
Rachel
was fearless, confident and didn’t ca
re what anyone thought of her.
She was everything I couldn’t be,
everything I coveted,
and I valued her more than I realized.
I never had to stand up for myself, because Rachel was
always there to do it for me.
If it hadn’t been for her, I probably
would have been a huge nerd, but s
he brought me out of my shell.
All my life she’d pushed me to do things that scared me, just like she was pushing me to take a risk and go to New York
to pursue my dreams
. S
he’d seldom steered me wrong in the past,
but those decisions seemed so insignificant now, and the risks hadn’t been that great. Throwing away my future with Ben and moving to New York with Rachel could be disastrous
.
Of course, it could also be amazing, and I knew that as much as Rachel
pushed me, she’d
also
be there to catch me
if I fell
,
because that was the kind of friend she was
.
She’d always been there for me.
She
was
w
ith me the first time I got drunk
, taking care of me when I was later puk
ing in the bushes of
our sorority house and keeping a watchful eye out for our house mother. She w
as there
me when I got into my first
car
accident, had rushed Gamma
Pi
with me
because I’d wanted to
join a sorority
,
and
had
even held
my hand sophomore year after I’d taken a pregnancy test and had to wait five minutes to learn my fate
.
Thankfully it had been negative, but I don’t know what I would have done if Rachel hadn’t been there with me, telling me that regardless of what the test said, we’d handle it together.
She’d
been by my side through al
most every significant moment in
my life.
I waite
d an hour before I called her
back, giving her time to cool off.
“You’re right,” I said as soon as she answered. “I
completely
need to take more risks.”
“I’m sorry I hung up on you,” she said, knowing it was better not to acknowledge my apology. She knew I wasn’t ready to talk about my life after graduation, so she was letting it drop. “
And I’m sorry I said all of that stuff about
you and
Ben.
That was shitty of me.”
“Yeah, it was, but it’s fine.
I know you meant well.
I still love you.”
“Love you, too,” she said.
We were silent for a few moments, feeling each other out before either of us spoke again.
“So you really have to leave before Fourth of July?”
I nodded
and said, “Yeah, the parents want us there for the holiday.”
“Oh,” she said
, sounding
sad. It made me wonder if something else was going on outside of just me leaving. It wasn’t like Rachel to be upset by that. It wasn’t like we couldn’t exist without each other. “So Chase and Keely are going down at the same time as you?”
“Um, yeah,” I said, confused by why she’d even be concerned with the whereabouts of my brother and sister.
My brother, Rachel
,
and I had been really close as kids, but once we hit high school, we stopped being friends.
Chase barely spoke to me
now
, let alone Rachel, on the few occasions a year that he saw her.
Rachel
and Keely had never been close. It was strange
that she was asking
.
“How about you gu
ys stay until the fifth?” she
suggested then.
“Why?”
“Sara Rossin’s having a huge Fourth of July blowout, and I want you there,” she said. “Do you think you guys could stay a few more days, so we can squeeze in some time before you jet off for your fabulous summer and leave me here alone?”
“Are you looking to squeeze in some time with Chase and Keely too?” I asked, severely confused
as to
why she kept mentioning my siblings.
“No, I just know how
your mom
thinks, and I figure she’ll
be more likely
to say yes if Chase and Keely stay with you.”
I suddenly understood, and she was right. My mom wouldn’t like me driving the six hours to the beach alone. She was over-protective like that, but she might be more inclined to agree if my siblings were with me.
“Good logic. I’ll ask her tonight.”
“Okay, call me later. I have a date, so if it’s going well, I might not answer,” she said dramatically.
Rachel dated frequently, so this wasn’t a surprise. She was beautiful and guys fell at her feet on a regular basis
,
but she was picky and never actually dated anyone seriously, so I figured if she had a
third
date with this guy, I’d ask for details then.
Over dinner I asked my parents about staying in town through the fourth. I didn’t include my brother and sister in my initial question, since I didn’t want to speak for them, and also because I really didn’t want to have to drive with Chase. Being in a confined space with my brother for six hours wasn’t high on my to-do list.
The long and short of it was that we just didn’t get along, and it was better if we just avoided each other altogether
My mom initially wasn’t
thrilled, but then
Keel
y
volunteered to stay with me, so
I wouldn’t have to
be
alone
,
and
my mom gave in. I think Keely
just wanted to go to Sara’s party, but either way, I
liked that I wouldn’t have to drive alone.
I liked my sister. She was fun, and I didn’t get to see her nearly as much as I would have liked when I was away at school.
Then
, unfortunately,
Chase decided to
get in on the action,
saying h
e didn’t want Keely and me to
have to drive by ourselves.
I fought the urge to roll my eyes, knowing his protective big br
other stance was a complete
act
.
I figured he simply wanted to avoid a
long
car trip with my parents
,
since I knew he couldn’t indulge in his favorite bad habits with them around.
Thankfully my mother finally gave in. Now I just had to tell Ben and deal with the whining that would no doubt ensue. Good times.
The Saturday before we
left
, I was
in project mode. I was
trying to pack,
making
piles on
my bed of
what I
wanted
take to the beach
,
concerned that I would forget something important
. It was
a lot
harder to pack for two months than I’d ever thought, an
d my bed was covered in
shorts, tops, dresses, bathing suits and shoes
that were all options I was considering
bringing
.
Every few minutes, I would think I was just about done, but then I’d remember something else I couldn’t live without, dig it out of my closet and drop it on my bed before surveying the piles once again. My open suitcases lay on the floor, waiting to be filled.
I was simultaneously uploading music to
my
iTunes
L
ibrary
, so m
y desk was cover
ed in CDs
. I had an
insane amount of burned CDs
that
I’d accumulated over the years
and
was in the process of
finally
uploading all of them to my iPod
, knowing I’d want my music with me on vacation
. Rachel downloaded music
on a regular basis and was always giving me CDs of
new bands
she
found. Doing this had long ago sparked in me a passion for music that was almost equal to hers
.
We
relished finding
new, undiscovered bands, and
going to school
in Chapel Hill, with three major universities nearby, we never found ourselves lacking in
options.
Hence the reason behind my desire for a career in entertainment PR.
Starting
to feel overwhelmed with my projects
, I
decided to take a break. I
turned up
an
OK Go
song
on
my computer
and started to dance aroun
d my room
.
Halfway through the song,
I felt
something hit me in the leg.
I turned around and noticed my sister
sitting in the armchair in the corner of my room. T
he copy of
InStyle
that had been
buried under the CDs
on
my desk
now
lay
at my feet.
I picked it up and threw it bac
k at her, smiling
sarcastically
as I did so.
She snatched it in mid-air and laid
it on the de
s
k
, sticking her tongue out
playfully
in return
. I
smiled as I reached over and turned down the music
, so I could
find out what was new
my
little
sister
.
Her life was so simplistic, and I envied her for it. Maybe if I paid attention, I could learn something from her.
“So you just throw magazines at people now instead of saying hello like a normal person?” I asked, raising my eyebrows and wondering how her mind worked sometimes.
She didn’t initially a
nswer me, so I sat down on my bed
and appraised her, waiting for her response.
Her curly dark hair was pulled into a high ponytail and her long tan legs stretched out in fr
ont of her, making me envy
her height and
her
olive skin, both of which I was not blessed with. In fact, if you didn’t know we were related, you wouldn’t be able to tell.
Both my sister and brother
favor
my dad
, and I take
after my mom
, which means instead of being tall and dark, I am short, blond, and fair-skinned
.
In fact, there is
such a drastic difference between my siblings and me
that often times people think Keely
and Chase are the twins and I’
m
the younger sister. Even though
she’s
just seventeen
, people always assume Keely’
s
at least twenty-one
, and she loves
it.
She never gets
carded, whe
re as I, who
have actually been
twenty-one for almost a year, ge
t
carded all the time.