2.0 The way of the Heiress

It had quickly become a routine that every sunday afternoon, we spend the time at the gym.

After Kaylin's and mine birthday our Dad had insisted that we get in shape. "It is very important to look our best and be healthy" he would say. I was perfectly happy with my size as it is. I don't need to be skinny like all the other girls. I liked me for who i was and that should be enough. But he was right on one thing: we should all be more healthy. I guess i liked those late night chips a little too much. I had gained weight the past couple of months, and i didn't mind losing those again.
"How far have you run?" I asked Kaylin that was next to me.
"One kilometer so far." She gasped for breath as she spoke.
"Take a break!" I said looking scared. "You shouldn't push yourself so hard!"
"No!" She yelled. "I need to push. Push harder. That's what dad says. I have to push..." she gasped. "P-p-push harder!"
"Kaylin stop!" I got off my treadmill and pulled at her. She stumbled off hers and gasped as she clutched her breast. "You have to stop or you will kill yourself." I said holding her arm.
"What's going on here? Phoebe what are you doing?" Mom came up to us and asked.
"She won't let me work out," Kaylin said, now standing up straight.
"What? No, Mom she was about to pass out! I helped her," I said desperately trying to convince my Mom.
"Kaylin you shouldn't push yourself so hard." She said firmly. "Now go shower. We're leaving soon." She turned around and walked over to our Dad.
"Why do you always have to butt in?" Kaylin sneered at me.
I looked at her in shock. She never used to talk like that to me. What had gotten into her?
When we arrived home Mom started making dinner for us all.
Kaylin locked herself in her room and i chatted with Nic about school, when suddenly we heard a yell from the kitchen. Looking behind me i saw flames as high as me licking the stove. I hurried to grab a fire extinguisher. Dad came to help, in his robes as he had been taking a nap, and we extinguished the flames together.

Apparently Mom had forgotten all about the food on the stove and sat to read a book. She had actually been quite forgetful lately. I had hoped she would sort of "grow" out of it, but it didn't seem like she would anytime soon.
"Mom you have to keep your eyes on the stove at all times when cooking," I reprimanded her.
"I know that," she sneered at me. "I'm your mother. You don't need to tell me how to cook."
"I'm sorry," I stood back. What had gotten into my whole family lately. First Kaylin and now Mom. What was going on?
"Phoebe, i need to talk to you," Dad whispered in my ear. I followed him into his and Moms bedroom and we sat on the bed together.
"Your Mom, well... she's not well. In fact a week ago we were at the doctors and he confirmed that she had Alzheimers."
"Wh-what does that mean?" I felt my eyes start to well up.
"It means that she doesn't have much longer to live. Her brain is starting to kind of, well... malfunction, if you will. She's getting forgetful and sometimes she doesn't know where she is. That's why i haven't been working for a while now. I've taken care of your Mom instead, making sure she gets to her appointments in time and that she is well at home. I want you to know that before she fell ill she named you the heiress. Congratulations sweetheart."
I didn't know whether to cry or be joyful. I was very sad about my Mom and her illness. But at the same time i was proud that she had picked me to be heiress! What an honor!
"Does Kaylin know?" I asked fearing for the answer.
"No not yet. I think we should tell her together."
I cut teeth just by the thought of it. But then i thought, does Kaylin even want the title of heiress? I had no idea. It wasn't a subject we had ever discussed.
"We'll do it when Mom's asleep," I said.
"That's a good idea," Dad replied. "Honey, i'm sure you will be a good heiress. It will be a demanding job. You are now head of household and have to do your part to keep it all running. I know you are fresh in High School but you should get a job like Nic did. Maybe you could work together?" He beamed at me.
I didn't really fancy the idea of me working with Nic. I loved my brother to death, just as any other part of my family, but sometimes he could be a bit much. All he ever talked about was his accomplishments in school or at work, how everyone at work looked up to him and asking whether we had the same results at homework as he did and so on. It could be a drag having a conversation with him because it would normally be one sided with him talking all the time. You would think that someone as introverted as he was, he would be like a closed book. But apparently with age, he had suddenly a lot of, well boring, stuff to talk about. When he talked i would sit nicely by and listen to him, nodding and smiling at the right times and he wouldn't even notice that i found it boring. I felt kind of bad for him. It must be difficult not to have any friends and always have to rely on his family for social interactions. I hoped for his sake it would change once he got a real job and got to be with other adults.
Whenever someone in school bullied my Nic in front of me, i would tell them to get lost. My own friends didn't dare touch Nic or they would feel the wrath of Phoebe. I didn't easily get offended or angry, but nobody were to touch my brother!

Kaylin took it surprisingly well that she wasn't named heiress. She congratulated me and it seemed the incident at the gym had never happened. Until one day when she came crying home from school. I had been home because i was sick with the Llama Flu. I hurried out into the living room/kitchen to greet my weeping sister.
"Leave me alone!" She cried as i tried holding her, and she ran to the bathroom. Torn between following her to find out what was going and going back to my room, i followed her with dread in my heart.
"Kay, what's wrong?" I asked, knocking on the bathroom door.
"I said leave me ALONE!" she screamed at me. I jumped a little away from the door, but then i felt a surge of anger flow through me.
"Now listen to me Kay! I try to be nice to you but you and listen to your problems, but you reject every try and even scream your head off at me. Don't forget i'm heiress. If this continues i will throw you out of here once we are adults! And i won't hesitate to do it." I started walking away when suddenly i heard the door open and she crept outside into our parents bedroom which was adjacent to the bathroom.
Large stripes of mascara were running down her face.
"I'm sorry Phoebe. You're right. I've been a bitch to you." She started crying. I caught her just as she was about to fall to the floor.
"Shhh..." I said as i held her in my arms while we sat on the bed. "Tell me what's wrong. What made you act like that?"
In between sobs she explained. There had been a boy that she liked. He had asked her out and they had been on several dates. In secret that is. Apparently it was the boy that had once started a fire in our home and our parents had asked us not to talk to him again, so he was banned. She told me how they had been dating for a few months when they had finally had sex for the first time. The next day she had approached him at school and he had totally ignored her. When she had finally had enough, she had asked one of his friends what was going on. He had told her that he didn't hang out with bitches and that she should get lost.
Then today she had heard rumors about herself that she was a slut and that she would sleep with anybody. It had made her cry so bad that she ran from the school during recess.
"I'm so sorry Kay. I didn't know." I felt so bad for her. How come guys had to be such jerks sometimes? "Why haven't I heard anything about this?" I asked her.
"Well, your friends doesn't hang out with Jonah's friends. And i have the feeling that if your friends knew about it they wouldn't tell you. Everybody knows they shouldn't mess with you Phoebe." I had a reputation for being hard on people who were after my siblings. If i got really angry i wouldn't back down for a fight. It had only happened once that i was in a fight, but i won and nobody had dared me to fight again.
"Don't worry Kay," I said confidently. "I will set things right! Tomorrow morning i will go to the High School radio show and tell everyone what happened and what a jackass Jonah is. I should also tell them how stupid he was to almost burn our house to the ground." I said thinking about it.
"Yo-you would do that for me?" She said sitting up. She had dried her eyes, but now her make-up were smeared out in her face.
"Of course i will," I said, removing a lock of her hair from her face. "Now you should go wash up before Mom and Dad comes home from the doctor or they will be alarmed."
"Alright," she said and went to the bathroom.

I knew there would be an explanation to why Kay would act like that towards me. It just wasn't in her nature to be mean to other people. I think her situation would make anybody angry and hurt. She just needed to get her frustrations out. Now the responsibility of making this all okay again was on me. Was this what it would be like always? Me doing all the chores. Me fixing every problem. Me making all the money? I hoped i would meet someone who could help pay the bills and comfort me when i was sad. One to really be there for me when i needed it. Like i was here for Kaylin right now. I sighed. One day, i would be in my  Mothers' shoes, telling my son or daughter that he or she was heir/heiress. How come i  already dreaded it? Hopefully it would be as easy as it had been on my Mom and Dad.