IN BETWEEN || Short Story

Instructions

Kael likes being the middle child. "Poor Kael, you were almost the youngest!" His friend had teased him. He's heard people say multiple times that being the middle child is the worst, but he doesn't think that's true. people say that it's bad because you don't the amount of authority or inheritance as the oldest, and none of the adoration and spoiling of the youngest. He's heard many times that the middle child is forgettable, with no expectation set for them and not as many opportunities. Kael wouldn't deny any of these assumptions, in fact, he completely agreed with them, he just saw it in a different way. His elder brother Jenson was what you would call perfect. A model child. But that's only unless you saw how he actually was. When he thought no one was looking, Jenson was a complete mess, staying up to study with the tiny lamp in his bedroom, Kael could see him slavering away until every line of his assignments, homework, and even tiny, unimportant surveys with 'no wrong answer this is your personal opinion' was perfect because he was in the room across from him. Kael was very accustomed to pretending he was asleep until his brother quietly got out of bed to work, then playing the part of a shadow, sitting up in bed and watching his brother (weird habit, yes, but Kael couldn't sleep with the pen's scritching - IT WASN’T WIERD DON’T MAKE IT WIERD). Even so, every morning Jenson hardly had any signs of not sleeping, he would be knocked out cold when he finally went to bed, and the shadows under his eyes were hardly visible. Jenson was a straight A student, averaging between A and A+, sometimes getting a A-, but that was fine. Though once, he had been confused about what to do for a difficult assignment and had come home with a B-. Their parents had taken Jenson to another room of their house so that Aria wouldn't hear. Of course, they had forgotten about Kael in the room right beside them ("Oh well, he must just be playing outside or something") eavesdropping through the thin walls. "Jenson, you're not usually like this, what's gotten into you?" His mother had asked his shamefaced brother. "You /have/ been getting more A-'s than usual recently" added their father (‘Hasn’t his grades stayed pretty much the same?’ He though to himself). "I-" Jenson opened his mouth to protest, but the words got stuck in his throat and he stopped "...I'm sorry" "You better be, we expect you to work harder on your schoolwork, you can't keep slacking off when you have to be a role model to your siblings!" By 'siblings' they parents meant Aria, and by 'slacking off' they meant when Jenson would sometimes go on devices after a long day at school and when he slept in on weekends. As if their parents were any better. "...It won't happen again." He said quietly, facing the floor, and he really meant it. That was around the time when he started getting up in the middle of the night to work. And true to his word, he had to this date never gotten another B, no matter what other else it had cost him. On the other hand, his younger sister Aria was averaging C's, and boy were their parents mighty proud of it ("At least she's not /failing/"). Aria was the sole object of their parents attention 24/7 and that had made her expect attention. She was spoiled, but Kael wouldn't call her a brat. Sure she was endearing, and sometimes Kael wanted to pick up her small frame and toss it out window, and yes he had inwardly cussed out her brains on multiple occasions that he would not bother to count, but she wasn't a brat. Most of the time. ... Oh who was he kidding? Yes Aria was spoiled and bratty and I'll admit, attention-seeking. But she wasn't necessarily bad, just rude. But everyone in their household had become so used to it that they didn't even care anymore. Kael still put up with her antics - he put up with everyone's antics - but Jenson had long since lost any sort of patience towards her. He would help her with her work, but only when she asked politely. He would give her what she wanted, but only as long as he didn't need it. Their parents had no expectation of Aria except for her to stay 'their darling little girl'. And she was, for the most part. But she was watched very closely ("She might hurt herself"), their parents fussed over her at every little turn and if even one cut got on their delicate baby girl they would absolutely /flip/. Personally, Kael was very happy not to receive that kind of treatment. Aria 's hair was light brown, as were her huge eyes. She was constantly smiling (except when she wasn't and oh no you do not want to see her when she wasn't) and happy and always had her head in the clouds. Jenson was the result of what would happen if a person only did things according to their rationality, and had pitch black hair and eyes. Kael was in between. Even on things that most people had an opinion about, he could not choose. He had no special hobbies, got mostly C's, sometimes a few B's, (continued below)