Stray Story - 011

The two of us walk up the main street in the opposite direction of where I'd come from. We keep going along for a while without saying anything. I follow Elis' lead. Presumably she has some destination in mind.

Or so I thought.

"So?"

"So what?"

"Are you an idiot? What did you so urgently need to talk to me about?"

"Oh… right."

I guess we aren't headed anywhere in particular. Elis was just trying to get away from the crowd. At least a little, before she spoke to me.

"Well, your sister, Caroline. She's staying at my place."

"What? Did you kidnap her?"

"Of course not! What do you take me for?!"

I'm pretty sure she was serious. Elis really dislikes me, if that wasn't clear enough.

I continued on, "I coincidentally found her trying to sleep on a park bench, and I offered her to stay at mine for the time being. Though, I didn't know who she was at first."

"Coincidentally, huh?"

"Yes, coincidentally."

…

…

"So?"

"So what?"

"So… aren't you going to come convince your sister to go back home?"

"Why would I want to do that?" Elis asked, as if there wasn't anything wrong with that statement.

"But… your family, right?"

"And? She's just being a spoilt brat. It doesn't make any difference whether she's at home or not. In fact, it might be better without that annoyance."

"Annoyance…"

Elis…

What Elis is saying is certainly not what I'd expected. I had thought that she would probably come rushing to save her sister or something, and that the two of them would make up and head home together, but I guess I'd been expecting too much.

Though… I don't think I'm wrong in imagining that that would be the obvious way for this to end.

I mean, they're family after all.

"Elis, do you even know why she ran away?"

"No, but I can guess."

"Oh, really? Then, is it not up to you out of anyone to get her to come back home?"

"Why would that be?"

…

…

I sighed, "could you tell me what you think the reason she ran away was?"

"Huh? It was probably something like mum telling her to work harder because she never tries."

"Well, you're not exactly wrong," I scratched my head, "but why do you think that would annoy her to the point that she doesn't want to stay at home?"

"Who cares? There isn't a reason; she's just a spoilt brat."

"Whatever… can you just take her off my hands? She's been eating away at my savings for almost a week now."

"Huh… of course that's what you really care about. Disgusting. Just throw her out then."

"I couldn't do that to her."

"Well, then that's your problem not mine. Can you go now? I don't want to talk to you anymore than I have to."

"Fine, I'll leave, but let me say one last thing."

"What is it?"

"I'm sure you won't understand this, but it's tough having such a successful older sister, isn't it?"

Leaving those words hanging in the air, and hopefully in Elis' mind, I turn around and begin walking back the way we came.

Well, I completely and utterly failed. I assumed that Elis would've been desperate to see her sister again, but that assumption had been completely wrong, as it turned out. Elis and her sister… I knew that they didn't get along, but I still would've thought Elis would jump at the opportunity to get her to come back home again. I didn't realise that they got along that poorly.

But this can't be it, right?

I refuse to believe that Elis doesn't care for her sister.

That she isn't worried about her.

Even so, it's a fact that Elis decided not to come and see her sister right now.

Even though she's worried about her, for some other reason, she decided not to come and bring her back home.

I have to wonder, what could that possibly be?

In any case, I'll have to rethink my approach to the situation. How can I get either Elis to come and talk Caroline into returning home, or for Caroline to decide to go home all by herself? I mean, I can't have Caroline stay here forever. I don't have the financial means to support two people when I'm also studying. It isn't possible. Luckily, I have an amount saved up from working full time all summer, but that'll be gone sooner rather than later. Really, my only option is to have Caroline return home.

But how are you supposed to convince someone of something like that?

Especially when I, myself, am in a similar situation to Caroline, and yet I won't be returning back to the house I lived in with my relatives. I know I said I didn't mind being a hypocrite, but I still can't bring myself to just say to her, you need to go home to your family. I mean, that would just be disingenuous of me.

And so, I'm a little lost. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do next. I guess I'll just have to think about it overnight. Hopefully, I'll find some inspiration in the morning.