The suspense filled the tiny room as the sisters walked through the rigorous security. They stripped themselves of their numerous coats and fur lined boots. The chill from outside faded as they made their way through the prison. They were both apprehensive about what was going happen. Lillian, only 14, was terrified, but didn’t let it show. She had to stay strong for Rachel, things must be worse for her, though she was 16; after all it was her boyfriend they were here to see. Lillian grabbed her older sister’s hand, which was sweaty and shaking. Tears welled up in Rachel’s eyes as the door opened.

Brad shuffled his way into the tiny room. He made his way to a chair opposite of the girls. His depressive expression contrasted his normally sunny disposition that the girls had become accustom to. It was that which had made the girls fall for him in the first place.

Once Brad sat down, there was an eerie silence. They all sat, staring at one another. Brad was the first to speak.

“Hi,” he said in a sullen tone, his piercing blue eyes reflecting the sadness within.

“Hi there,” Lillian said bleakly, in any other circumstance she would have been her normal chipper self, but this was neither the time nor the place for being chipper.

She squeezed Rachel’s hand to encourage her to say something. Rachel managed to force out a greeting around the lump in her throat. It was hard for her to see him this way, contained, broken.

Though the scars had healed, the wounds of what happened only a few short months ago were still there, in her heart. The bruises had yellowed now, but she could remember very well how she got them, as if it had happened yesterday.

It all started one blustery autumn day. Rachel was sitting in math class, listening to the teacher drown on and on. She had just started to doodle on her notebook, when Brad Majors, the cutest, most popular guy in school leaned forward and tapped her on the shoulder. As she turned around her heart skip a beat.

Brad flashed a movie star smile and asked “Do you understand this? I’m totally lost!”

“Yeah, it’s simple. I can tutor you sometime if you want.”

“Oh, would you? Please!?”

“Sure, I’d love to!”

“Thank you so much!”

“No problem.”

As she turned back around she couldn’t help but smile, she had just talked to a cute guy without embarrassing herself. She wasn’t a total spaz.

After class, Lillian stopped Brad in the hallway.

“Hi Brad!” She said in a flirtatious tone.

“Hi,” Brad said, in his usual, carefree tone.

“So, have you thought about my offer?”

“Yeah, I have.”

“Well…?”

“No, I think it’s better if we just stay friends.”

“Why?”

“You’re just too young for me, besides, I like someone else.”

“Fine,” Lillian said, pouting.

The next day was Friday. Brad asked Rachel to come over the following morning to tutor him. She readily agreed.

On Saturday, Rachel jumped out of bed and got ready as quick as she could. As she sprinted down the hall, Lillian popped her head out of the door to her room and exclaimed, “Hey, what’s your problem! It’s 8:30 in the morning!”

“I’m going to be late!” She yelled from the kitchen.

“For the library opening?” She said sarcastically.

“No! For my study date!”

Lillian laughed out loud at the idea of her sister having a date.

“Yeah, right, and I’m going to have lunch on the moon.”

“Look, I don’t have time for a debate, I have to go!”

Rachel ran out the door with a bagel in her mouth. She didn’t care what Lillian thought. She wasn’t going to let her little sister ruin her day. Things were finally going perfect.

When she got to Brad’s house she sat in her car for a minute to calm down. She was so nervous that her hands were shaking.

When she was finally calm, she got out of her car and walked cautiously to the front door. She decided to knock on the door, rather than ring the doorbell and possibly wake someone up.
Brad answered the door. Rachel thought he looked so cute with his bed head, and she couldn’t help but notice that his muscle shirt was doing what it should. Rachel could see the contours of his six-pack. Her mind started to wander as she thought of his strong arms wrapped around her, but she had to focus. Once she snapped out of her trance-like state she realized she was staring. She just hoped he hadn’t noticed.

“Oh, um, hi,” she said a little flustered.

“Well hi there.”

He noticed. After an awkward moment of silence he invited her in.

As they walk in, he said “Why don’t you sit down while I get us something to drink.”

Rachel sat down alone in the den. As she observed the room, she noted that the light had been dimmed. This made her nervous and her palms started to sweat. She decided to focus and get everything ready to tutor him.

“What do you want to drink?” He yelled from the kitchen.

“Water,” she yelled back.

He entered the room moments later with a glass of water in each hand. She took one and politely took a sip. She set the glass on the table, and then turned to Brad.

“So,” she said nonchalantly.

“Math.”

“Yeah.”

It was one of the longest conversations they had ever had.

“So, explain to me exactly what it is that you don’t get.”

“Well, everything really,” he laughed.

His laughed sounded like a musical melody. She laughed too to hide her tremors, but her laugh quavered.

“Well, let’s start with one-step equations, just to make sure you understand that.”

They worked together all day. Brad was beginning to understand. Rachel had just begun to teach him quadratic equations, when, all of a sudden, he stopped and stared at her.

“What?” She asked in response to Brad’s heavy gaze.

“You’re so beautiful,” he replied in a very serious tone.

“Yeah,right. Oh, you’re serious!?” She said, shock in her voice.

Brad leaned in and pressed her lips softly to his own. It was an instant reaction, like fireworks. When they broke the kiss Rachel asked one of the million questions she had racing through her mind.

“Why’d you do that?” She asked breathlessly.

“Rachel, I have had a crush on you since the sixth grade.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Things got quiet. It wasn’t awkward, like it had been before. They both had things to think about at the moment. So, they sat in silence for a little bit.

Finally Brad asked, “Will you be my girlfriend?”

He sounded a little apprehensive, so Rachel asked, “Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

“What about your reputation, won’t I ruin it.”

“Who cares!?”

“Really? You’d risk not being popular for me?”

“Absolutely,” he said as he placed his had reassuringly over hers.

She reached over and pulled him into a loving embrace.

“So, is that a yes?”

“Yes,” she whispered softly in his ear.

He pulled her into another embrace and then kissed her once more. After a minute or two Rachel pulled away.

“What time is it?” She asked.

“7:30.”

“Oh, shoot, I have to be home in 15 minutes.”

“Okay, well, when can I see you again?”

“Um, I’m not sure.”

“Please let me know.”

“I will call you as soon as I can.”

“Okay,” he said with a smile.

He walked her to her car and as she opened the door he kissed her with such force and urgency that Rachel became dizzy and had lean against the car for support.

“Good bye my love.” He whispered against her lips as they parted.

“Good bye…” she whispered, still breathless.

She rushed home. She barely made it in time. Dinner was almost ready. She hurried upstairs to wash. Then, she came back downstairs. She slid into her chair just as her father started to slice the turkey. Tonight’s dinner was her favorite, oven-roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, and macaroni and cheese.

“So how was your ‘study date’?” Lillian asked mean-heartedly, her every word dripping with sarcasm.

“It was good,” Rachel stated nonchalantly, trying to keep her poker face.

“I’m sure it was,” Lillian rolled eyes, unconvinced.

“Whatever Lill.”

After that, dinner conversation was scarce. No one said anything. The only sound was the clatter of silverware.

After dinner Rachel went to her room to read. A few minutes later, Lillian came bursting through the door.

“What do you want Lill, I’m busy!”

“I can’t come and have girl talk with my big sister?” Lillian asked with mock innocence.

“No!”

“Fine, Whatever.”

Lillian left and went to her own room, slamming the door on her way out.

For the next couple of weeks, thing were hard. Rachel and Brad decided to keep their relationship a secret, for Lillian’s sake. They snuck around to see each other.

Then, on Friday, in math, Brad tapped Rachel on the shoulder and said, “I want to take you out somewhere special on Saturday for our one month anniversary.”

“I can’t, it’s Lillian’s birthday, sorry.”

“Darn, it’s okay, I understand, family comes first.”

“I can try to get out of it!”

“Well, okay. Dress kind of fancy.”

“Okay.”

Rachel was thrilled to be going out to someplace fancy with a guy she’s crazy about. It was something she had dreamed about since she was a little girl.

On Saturday, she pretended to be sick. She had never faked sick before, she was scared of getting caught. In the end, though, her worries were redundant.

When they left, Rachel started to get ready. She put on her mother’s favorite black dress. It was long and silk. It had a split from the upper thigh to the hem. It was strapless. It glittered in the light and had rhinestones.

Rachel curled her hair and pinned it up. She put on fire engine red lipstick, powder, and eyeliner. She wore her mother’s shiny, black, peep toe heels. She looked stunning.

Brad came to pick her up in his new Mercedes. When she opened the door his jaw dropped. He had never seen some one so beautiful. She had gone from wall flower to gorgeous woman.

“You look fantastic,” he managed to say after a moment.

“Thank you,” she said, blushing.

Brad was dressed in a charcoal black suit with a black dress shirt and red tie. They matched perfectly.

They drove for quite some time. Finally, they reached their destination, Red Maple. Red Maple was the nicest restaurant in town.

They were seated at a table in the very center of the room. Every eye was on Rachel. The place was beautiful. There was amazing architecture. They had fountains and vaulted ceilings. The lights were dim, candles were lit, and the whole atmosphere was perfect. Rachel surveyed the room, taking it all in. Something caught her eye and her glance landed on a small table in the corner. There, sitting at the table was her family. Lillian turned her head slightly and it seemed that something like recognition crossed her face.

“Oh no!” Rachel exclaimed.

“What?” Brad asked, concerned.

“Lillian and my parents are here.”

“Did they see us?”

“I don’t know. Let’s hide, just in case.”

They to duck down and hide their face, but it was too late. Lillian had seen Brad and Rachel and was making a b-line straight for them. She face showed confusion and anger.

“What the hell is going on here?” Lillian exclaimed.

“Lill, we can explain!” Rachel said, panicked.

“Oh, really! Well go ahead!”

“We didn’t want you to find out this way!”

“Find out what? That you are a man stealer? And you have no respect for your sister?”

“No! Lill, it’s not like that, Brad and I… Well, it just happened. We realized that we belong together.”

“How long has this been going on!?”

“About a month or so.” Brad replied

“WHAT!!!” Lillian was starting to scream now.

“Brad, stay out of this.vLook, Lill, I’m sorry!”

“You knew! You knew I liked him and you still did this to me!” Tears started to well up in her eyes.

“I’m so sorry Lill! I never wanted to hurt you. You are my baby sister, I love you.”

“I HATE YOU!!!!” She screamed as she lunged at Rachel over the table.

She tackled Rachel to the ground and started to hit her, hard. Rachel started to fight back. The sisters destroyed the restaurant, as a result of their fight. The fight was so awful that they had to call the police.

It took the police ten minutes to break up the fight. Both the girls needed medical attention.

Rachel had a broke shoe heel, a torn dress, and she was missing hair. She also had a bloody nose, a black eye, and blood everywhere.

Lillian, on the other hand, had a torn dress, missing hair, and torn earlobes. Also, she had a black eye, a broken arm, and blood everywhere.

The fight was so bad the girl had to spend the night in jail. It was only one night because it was their first offense.

The next morning the girls’ parents came and got them. They were grounded for the next six months. When they got home they heard the news. That night, while the girls were in jail, Brad was in a car accident. He was speeding and was so distraught that he hit an oncoming car going around a turn at 102 MPH. The driver of the other vehicle died as a result of brain injuries sustained during the accident. Brad was in the hospital, but only sustained minor injuries due to the fact he had worn his seat belt. Brad had also been arrested for vehicular man slaughter.

Upon hearing this, Rachel broke down in tears. She locked herself in her room. She did not come out for three days. After that she didn’t come out unless it was necessary. It went this way for the next six months.

Now here they were, at this prison. The girls had made up because Lillian now realized that Rachel and Brad were in love and that they just didn’t want to hurt her.

“I’ll wait for you, Brad,” Rachel sniffled. “Forever.”

“I love you, Rachel,” said Brad.

“I love you too.”

“They’re transferring me to Georgia tomorrow,” he said sullenly.

“No! They can’t!” exclaimed Rachel.

“I’ll miss you so much.”

“I’ll write you every day and visit as soon as possible.”

Rachel then burst into tears. Brad went to comfort her, but the warden burst through the door, moving quite fast for a woman of her girth, and forcefully separated them.

“Time to go,” she said in a rough manly voice.

Rachel fell to ground crying. She couldn’t live without Brad. The tremors ran through her body as she sobbed, heavily. Life as she knew it was over. Who knew one moment could change a life so drastically. As they walked outside, the chilly winter wind whipped at their faces. Rachel and Lillian lived in a bubble, a bubble where time stood still, where the Earth ceased to rotate. Life still went on, but the Lillian, and Rachel especially, life was over.