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“So, what happened?” Alison asked in a tone frequently used by both parents and teachers, which made it all the more surprising that it came from the mouth of a twelve year old girl. Her older brother, to whom the question was addressed, merely sat in silence, staring down at his hands. She noticed the bright red rims around his eyes and the nails which had obviously been bitten down to stubs as well the 'break-up clothes'. He only wore them when he was convinced he would spend the rest of his life completely alone – which was getting depressingly often, and now it had happened again.
“She just... wasn't the one.” He muttered reluctantly. Alison gestured for him to continue, waving her left hand in small circles. Alexander sighed and paused once more – before eventually continuing. “I don't really know. Everything was fine. But then we had Chinese. And she dumped me.” He frowned. Alison leaned forward and placed her hand on her brothers shoulder, trying to console him. He always got so broken up over break ups.
“What exactly did she say?” Alison asked, not willing to avoid this issue as he brother so obviously wanted her to do. Well, she knew he wanted her to ask, but didn't want to admit it – if that made sense.
“Nothing, Ali.” He snarled, aggravated. Alexander grabbed his bottle angrily and took a swig, attempting to drown his sorrows. Alison waited for him to calm down, then pushed him for an answer. She was very close to her brother and perhaps the only one who knew exactly how to help him – maybe that was why his friends had asked her to support him rather than attempt to do so themselves. Because they knew they would fail. “Well... maybe she said she was tired.”
“Tired?” She repeated, unsure she heard correctly.
“Yeah. Tired of fights. Tired of me. Tired of us.” He started angrily but quietened to a whisper. Alison sat in silence for several minutes, unsure of how to continue. In the end, she didn't have to do anything, Alexander obviously having convinced himself into finishing. “Everything was fine.” He repeated, “We didn't even fight that much.” Alexander finally looked up at Alison, staring right at her. She didn't try to shield away, despite knowing what she would have to say.
“Alexander – are you sure? Think about it. Are you really remembering her, or just only the good memories? It's easy to remember a laugh, a smile, a great night. But, just think.” She could see his gaze ascend past her and his eyes cloud over into memory. She knew what he would be seeing. Alison herself had seen fights, frustrated gazes and annoyance – in essence, she had known Gwen wasn't the one.
“I don't know what you mean.” He whispered again, trying to dismiss the thoughts that were obviously swirling round his brain. He dropped his head to his hands and moaned briefly – still, however, trying to ignore the ideas he knew to be true.
“Alexander. Think. Did she know that you don't like being called Alex? Did she know your favourite band? Did... did she know you don't like Chinese?” He ignored her questions, knowing the answers. No, no and no. She rubbed his shoulder and smiled sadly before continuing, “So she wasn't the one. So what? There's plenty more fish in the sea, get over her and get on with your life.” She stated bluntly, slapping his shoulder. He looked back up at her, tears glistening in his eyes.
“Shut up ya stupid kid.” Alexander grinned, messing up his younger sister's hair. “Now, do you want to leave now or not?” he asked vaguely, unsure of his own preference. She immediately stood, having decided her work was mostly done. He joined her, standing and grabbing her hand. He smiled genuinely and started swinging their arms together after throwing his empty coca cola bottle into the nearest park bin. They walked off together, hand in hand, with Alexander only giving the briefest of glances back to the park bench he had spent the last half hour wallowing in self pity before looking forward again. Would it be cliched to say tomorrow was another day?
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