even if we can't find heaven

Sage Marcone Sixteen Youngest of three

[sagemarcone-blog]

She moved the pen across the paper in front of her. Little strokes with her right. There wasn’t anything particular that she was drawing. The lines didn’t add up to anything. She was just looking for something to distract herself.  Anything to distract herself. It wasn’t working though, evident by the way the fingers of her left hand were tapping nervously against the table.

“Oh man...this is not working.” 

[jacquelinekovac-blog]

❛ Can I help you? Or are you just going to stand there and stare? ❜

[sagemarcone-blog]

“Oh...not staring, ma’am...just uh thinking.”

[caila-marcone-blog]

“I really have a self-control problem. I can’t ignore him, that’s rude Sage! Stop judging me right now, it’s not fair” Her hands gently pushed her sister’s shoulders.  She tried to hold her worry back, taking a deep breath. “ and why did you miss exactly? Does mom know?”

[sagemarcone-blog]

"Yes you do. It's not rude if it helps your self control! I'm not judging, I'm just saying..." Her head dropped a little, not wanting to gauge her sister's reaction yet. "Yes Mom knows, of course Mom knows. I got a little worked up, went for a run...figured it was better than compulsively cleaning for the fifth time this week. I lost track of the time. Freddie took me home."

[winniethechuu]

“I have no idea what you are talking about.”

[sagemarcone-blog]

“Why don’t I believe you?”

[sagemarcone-blog]

I’ve got my replies in my drafts, I’ll get to them, replying to some starters, and possibly writing a new one for either sage or Jeri whenever my anxiety cools itself. Or when I get done applying the tagging system I came up with to previous posts….whichever happens first

[winniethechuu]

“Me? Plan something devious? You’re mistaken.”

[sagemarcone-blog]

“You say that now, and yet that devious look is in your eyes.” 

[freddie-murray-deactivated20160]

Freddie smiled at the girl before looking to Banjo, who seemed to be having fun on this little detour. As Sage fumbled to find her keys he turned toward her door “I’ll just make sure you’re in okay and then I’ll be off, or… will your mom want to see me, make sure I’m not a psycho?” He mumbled slightly.

[sagemarcone-blog]

She continued to fumble for a few more seconds, before producing the small key ring from her pocket. Each key looked the same, save for a different colored stripe painted on each. Singling out the key with the blue strip, she turned to Freddie. “No, no, you’ve done plenty. I’ll tell her you dropped me of, but you had to get your pup home because it’s getting late. You don’t have to stay. I don’t want to keep you any longer than I already have.” she said softly, sticking the key into the lock. 

[freddie-murray-deactivated20160]

“The responsibility of being an older sibling is something I can relate to. You younger ones can be pains in the ass.” He teased with a small laugh. “Overprotective is better than most, even if it sometimes seems like a burden. But regardless, watch me turn on the charm.” He put on his best Disney Prince smile to punctuate his point.

[sagemarcone-blog]

“Well hey, it’s our job.” Sage said with a grin. “No one said being an older sibling would be easy.” As she listened, she gave a small nod. “I kind of like it, to be honest. Just means she cares, and cares enough to show it.” She gave him a look of disbelief, yet didn’t respond as they approached her house. “Now to remember what pocket my key is in.” 

[freddie-murray-deactivated20160]

“Of course not.” He smiled down at the young woman and held out his hand. “Might as well give you my name, I’m Freddie.” Letting her lead the way he kept in step with her. “Who’s Caila?” He asked curiously, “I’m guessing she’s your older sibling? Since that sounds like the stuff I normally have to do for my younger brother,” he laughed. “And I don’t mind parents, I actually get on with them when they aren’t my own.” 

[sagemarcone-blog]

Without hesitation, Sage took hold of his hand. almost instantly feeling more at ease. “I’m Sage.” She started off in the direction of her house, every so often making sure he was keeping up okay. “My sister. The oldest one actually.” At his remark about parents,  she couldn’t help but chuckle. “My mom’s kind of...overprotective. That may be an understatement. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” she joked. 

[viviannecrane-deactivated201608]

Vivianne just shrugged and smiled at the girl for a moment. “Probably not. I don’t know how your sister does it. English is like the worst subject. Probably after art,” she mumbled. “That sucks for her. How long do you even take that you lose your hot water? Poor people problems huh?”

[sagemarcone-blog]

“She’s a really big fan of words...that’s the only explanation I have for that one.” Sage said, hoping that’d be enough to explain it. “Well when Mom’s cleaning up the dishes and someone’s using the shower, tends to run out quick. We don’t have an endless supply, as nice as that would be.”

[caila-marcone-blog]

“I listen! And then I get a text from Bennett and it all goes downhill from there okay? And the fact that my baby sister is giving me advice about my drinking habits is all messed up” She rolled her brown eyes raising her hands in defeat. “ I promise, no microchipping as long as you are always home before curfew”

[sagemarcone-blog]

“If you listen, you’d do it and ignore Bennett! Well hey, if you didn’t have a habit of getting wine drunk we wouldn’t have this conversation.” She eyed her sister up and down for a minute. “I suppose this is the wrong moment to admit I missed curfew the other day?”

[caila-marcone-blog]

“It is when I’m drunk on wine and I don’t watch my calorie intake and I end up ordering a full pizza for myself” She said knowing it happened too many times for it to actually be a joke. “Fine, we’ll do it while you sleep!” Her laugh came out to show that she didn’t mean it.

[sagemarcone-blog]

“Well I keep telling you to leave your phone locked in the cupboard when you get too wine drunk but no, no one listens to the tiny one.” Immediately she scooted away from her sister. “Sure you laugh now...but who’s to know if it’s really a joke?!” 

[caila-marcone-blog]

Caila pushed her sister’s hair back kissing the side of her head as they both shared a sigh of relief. “That means I’ll going to be eating lasagna for a week when I home leftovers.” Her arms never dropped for Sage’s shoulder. “You would be the cutest micro chipped dog there ever was.” She said with a small laugh.

[sagemarcone-blog]

“You say that like it’s some kind of bad thing. More leftovers she sends home with you means less leftovers that I have to eat.” She looked up to her sister and smiled slightly, before the glare came back. “No micro chipping me! Because Mom would so go for it!” 

[freddie-murray-deactivated20160]

“I know this seems odd, but do you want me to walk you home?” Freddie asked, “I know with a kidnapper running around you shouldn’t really trust someone you don’t really know but I don’t like the thought of just letting you go in case…” he let the rest of his sentence trail off with a shrug of his shoulders. “Or I could call someone… I know you said you don’t live far but it’s dangerous.”

[sagemarcone-blog]

“Actually...yeah, if you don’t mind?” Sage was uneasy enough going out for a run on her own, and that was before curfew had rolled around. “I mean...it’s not exactly ideal, but you could help me get home faster than it’d take Caila  to make a pit stop on her way home from work.” She gave him a small nod. “I can’t promise my mother won’t like...shower you in hugs and kiss you on the cheek and make it awkward...but I can promise I’d appreciate the company keeping me safe.” 

[caila-marcone-blog]

“We really are.” Her hand reached out to hold her close. “No, its okay little fox, I wouldn’t put you through that and dinner with Mom isn’t so terrible.” She knew how her baby sister was about hospitals or anything related to them. “I need you to be safe okay? If that means putting a tracker I will do that” She chuckled a bit, almost fearing it would come to that.

[sagemarcone-blog]

Sage couldn’t stop the breath of relief hat slipped out when Caila knocked the plan off the table. “I think she’s making your favorite anyway.” she offered. “ I promise I’m trying my best” Sage began, before pausing and looking up at her sister “You are not microchipping me like I’m kind of dog.”

[adrienne-dawson]

❝ Don’t say that, it makes you sound — unmotivated. You’re young, plenty of time to sharpen those blunt edges. ❞

[sagemarcone-blog]

“With all due respect, Ms. Dawson, it’s not so much unmotivated as it is recognizing one talent. It’s ironic really....I suck at math and baking requires measuring which is math, and yet I’m good at baking.” 

[god-ding-deactivated20200914]

“Don’t lose that post-it note.” He chuckles. “It may be. But give it time. You’ll understand the math eventually. I’d offer to tutor you but as you well know, I’m useless at it.” He smiles genuinely. “It is stupid. You can be guaranteed to change your mind at least four or five times during high school alone. What about the rest of your life? It’s so pointless.”

[sagemarcone-blog]

“I make no promises.” She said, before smiling slightly. “I’ve been making my sisters help me....they’re good at math. Plus it’s bonding which keeps my mom happy. ” Her shoulders shrugged  slightly. “It’s exactly why if I can get out of doing that, I do. I don’t want to plan my life still in high school. The thought planning out my entire life before I’m even considered an adult terrifies me almost as much as the entire medical field.”