Being thirteen had its advantages like staying up past eight-thirty and getting to ride your bike to the Metrolux to see a movie with your ID, but it also had its disadvantages. The one I loathed the most was my little nine year old sister Faith. I know everybody says that sisters always have different personalities, but my sister and I were polar opposites. I was boarding on the edge of a punk while Faith was queen of the girly. Now don’t get me wrong, I love my sister, but ever since I could remember there was something that caused me to repel her. I had always thought that all sisters were like this until I had met Abbie Brohard. Abbie was standing center of the punk/ gothic look and she was proud to say so. Ever since I’d met her, I was amazed about how she talked about the bond between her little sister Josie and herself. Sure they had their occasional fights, but they were always doing something together without being forced to. Plus, Josie and Abbie were even a year more apart then me and Faith. One day seventh period she was telling about how well she was getting along with Josie and I stood there in disbelief. I’ve never heard Abbie lie once so I just decided to continue to be amazed as she talked about Josie. When she was done she asked me about how me and my little sister were doing. I’d looked at her, shrugged, and said, “Yeah, but she’s really girly.” Abbie nodded and said, “Really? So is Josie.” Now I resisted the urge to sigh in exasperation. I didn’t get it and I didn’t want to ask her for fear of sounding like a bad older sister. So, some impulse in me decided to take a chance with bonding with Faith today.
When me and Faith were walking our dachshund/ Chihuahua mix, I was thinking of several approaches I could go for. I eventually decided to just plain out and say it. I glanced over at Faith and said, “I’ve have come to a revelation.” She barely nodded her head, “Oh,” she said sounding totally uninterested. I took a deep breath and said, “I decided that you and me should hang out more, you know. Like, build a sisterly bond.” She looked up at me with wide eyes and I expected her to start screaming at me, but instead she quietly responded, “But you don’t like me.” It was then that I felt the biggest surge of guilt ever in all my thirteen years. I wrapped my arms around her and said, “But I love you and I know that you love me. We just have to work on liking each other.” She beamed and started going off on all these plans that she had made for us a long time ago. Never before had I’d seen Faith so excited or happy about anything that I had to hold back my tears. I listened with pride as I accepted all of her plans and this time I was sure I was going to keep all these promises. The next day at school I walked right up to Abbie in first period and said, “Thank you.” She looked at me funny and said, “For what?” I looked down and said, “For influencing me. I listen to you talk about the great relationship you have with your sister and I decided to start a bond with mine.” She beamed, hugged me, and said, “Your welcome.” Now it was my turn to beam because never in so long had such a small influence caused my entire life to change. I decided to hug her back and it almost felt as good as hugging my little sister