Dear Journal:
It was a case of good news/bad news over the weekend.
The good news was that I didn’t have to go to sissy’s soccer playoffs. I told mom and dad I had finals to study for, so they let me stay home. It was basically bullshit. All my finals were last week. What kind of sadist has finals during the last week of school?
Fortunately, they were too preoccupied to question me or check Infinite Campus, this app that tracks my schedule, my grades, my attendance, and even my missing assignments. Dad once told me about how he used to fudge his report card and letters home from school. Ah, the good ol’ days! Back then, all you needed was a good pen and a steady hand. Now, you need to be a cyber hacker.
I was most worried about sissy calling me out. If anyone would see through my bullshit, it would be her. She knew that finals were over. Fortunately, she didn’t hang me out to dry. I’d like to think my ingratiating myself with her recently had something to do with it, but I doubt it. I don’t think what I said even registered. She had that same deer in headlights look she had before her last game. Or, maybe it did register, and the relief of knowing one less person would be there to witness the disaster outweighed her natural instinct to get me into trouble.
That brings me to the bad news. I had just settled in to binge a few episodes of The Summer I Turned Pretty when I heard the garage door again. They were already home! Last year, sissy’s soccer playoffs took the entire Memorial Day weekend! I turned off the TV and scrambled upstairs to “study” just as everyone came back in. It’s a good thing I’ve lost weight, or I never would’ve made it in time.
Anyway, I listened at the door to try to figure out what happened, but all I heard was sissy tromping up the stairs. I don’t know if it was part of some petulant display, or that’s just how she sounds now that she’s packed on the pounds, but an even louder door slam followed it. I swear, if her bedroom door stays on its hinges until she leaves for college, it will be a miracle.
Of course, sissy going to college at all might be the real miracle at this point. Turns out, her team got bounced in the first round. This, after reaching the finals last year. I remember what a big deal that was. There were college recruiters, the press, and a big pomp-and-circumstance ceremony in the 100-degree heat that I got dragged to. It sucked for me, but it was a coronation for sissy. Not long after, she was offered her scholarship.
If what Dr. Chen said was true, that may be revoked. I can’t imagine it’s a good look when your stud recruit blows up like a balloon and can’t even waddle her way out of the first round.
So, here I sit, stuck in my room, pretending to study, lamenting my lies and schemes. During one of our first sessions, Dr. Chen told me lies were like landmines you set for yourself. I should’ve listened. From now on, I promise to focus less on sissy and more on myself.
I’m writing it down, so hopefully, it will finally sink in.
--Jessie