Growing Pains

Posted on 01 Dec 2018 @ 8:04pm by Lieutenant Amaranai Franklin

387 words; about a 2 minute read

"Why can't you stay here more often?" the girl screamed at her older sister. "I thought the whole point of you dragging me out here was so we could spend time together!" The girl huffed and raged. "All you do is spend time with your green girlfriend!"

Amaranai had been listening to her sister for ten minutes now without being allowed a word to defend herself. However, the comment about Lirha's skin color was enough to rattle the brunette's emotions.

"Wait a second!" Amaranai said. "Yes, I admit that I haven't been around as much as I thought I would, but regardless, we're going to be out here for a while, so we will get time together."

She paused.

"And my girlfriend has a name and you will at least respect her rank when you're wandering the hallways of this ship because I will make sure that you are dropped off at the next inhabitable planet we pass."

Amaranai took a deep breath and moved closer to her sister. As she moved to hug the girl, Charlotte stepped back.

"No," Charlotte said, the strength in her voice gone. "Not now."

Charlotte moved away and into her room and locked the door.

Amaranai stepped to the door and opened the intercom to the girl.

"You know locking this door isn't worth it, right?" she said. "I've got higher security clearance than you do. I can override that lock in half a second." She paused. "But I'm not going to."

Another pause.

"I know that I've left you alone a lot," Amaranai started. "But you're also growing up. I know you need your privacy."

"I need my sister!" came a voice from the other side of the door.

The older Franklin sister sighed.

"Okay," she said after a minute. "I can't leave Lirha alone completely and I can't leave you alone completely. Is there any way you two could share me?"

The door slid open and Charlotte was standing there, a few tears streaking her face.

"Can't I just keep you?"

Charlotte leaned forward and wrapped herself around her sister. Amaranai accepted the hug and tried to console her sister the best way she possibly could.

"I'll try my best, Charlotte," Amaranai said. "I promise."

Charlotte didn't say anything, instead choosing to avoid arguing any further with her sister.

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