maggiexcarter:
Maggie turned her head to look away from Sofie, thinking about the night it finally all ended. She never looked back either, never felt the need to go back. She lived in a group home with a bunch of other kids for years until recently.. until Leah walked through the door and brought her home. She moved her hand up to her chest ,moving her hand up towards her neck as if it was a comfort thing. She didn’t know why this had been so hard, she imagined this in her head so many times.. She thought she would have been prepared. “Yeah, they are nice to me.” She whispered, her eyes lifting up towards her sister. She didn’t know if she accepted the answer but constantly questioning how Leah felt towards her.. It was too much sometimes. A part of her had wished Leah never came and got her but she also couldn’t erase years of damage.. Especially the years after Sofie left her.
Family. The word was brutal. The people who brought her into this world, people who were suppose to love her so much.. just didn’t. She could feel the tears running down her face. She shook her head at her sister’s words. Her sister. Her flesh and blood. She had been working so hard on pushing all of it away from her and it was crashing over her. The nights she had to sleep on a park bench in order to make sure she wasn’t forced into sleeping with people, the nights where her father would get so angry at her for not doing what he asked. The busted lips, the black eyes, the wishing to god someone would end it. The countless nights of wishing for something.. anything. She moved her hand into her bag, moving her phone out to Sofie but not being able to say anything.
Sofie knew the answer before Maggie said it. Maybe not to the entire extent, but it was obvious that Maggie’s adoptive family wasn’t hurting like the Carson’s had. Because Sofie knew the telltale signs. The discolored patches of skin, the stiffness while moving. And while Maggie didn’t seem to have any of that, her eyes still held the same sadness. Yet, Sofie had (against everything in herself) readied herself to jump into action in case the answer was another one. That they weren’t treating her right and she could play the part she was born to play: the strong, brave big sister. There to save Maggie from any kind of pain. But the opportunity had come and gone and it seemed like so had redemption and forgiveness and any kind of fraternal bonding. And that hurt Sofie the most. Because without Maggie’s approval she was really left alone. Utterly and completely alone in the world.
She should have left. She should have left right after Maggie recognized her. Everything was just spiraling out of control and her little sister was crumbling before her and Sofie was too and she didn’t know what to do. She was fighting the instinct to bolt when her sister handed her the phone. Sofie looked at it cluelessly for a couple of seconds, she didn’t know how to use this. But she had come prepared. “Um, actually...”, she said hoarsely, digging in her backpack for something she had been carrying for months: a worn out, purple origami heart, testament for the undying love for paper-folding she had always had. “I’m... I’m old school. My, um... My number’s in there.” She held it out along with the phone. “If you need anything... Day or night, rain or whatever... Just... Just use it, okay?” Sofie whispered. Inside the heart was also a small note that read: “i will always love you, we will always be sisters. i will always be sorry. i’m here.”














