I Made You

Gabby’s eyes were moist with tears, her vision blurred. Her heart was breaking – she was sure of it. Everything inside her ached.

Her sister, Danni, had once again fallen for the wrong guy. He broke her heart, and now both Danni and Gabby were hurting. Gabby sniffed as she recalled Danni’s empty eyes.

Every time her sister fell for one of the typical jocks, she ended up getting hurt. And it hurt Gabby to watch her sister suffer.

Danni and Gabby were a team. They were best friends and sisters. They were twins, and they did everything together – except this. Heartbreak. Danni couldn’t share heartbreak with her. It wasn’t that Gabby didn’t want to help; she just couldn’t sympathize since she had never been in love. But it did hurt to see her sister like this empty shell.

Gabby wished for nothing more than to rise from her bed, and go in and comfort her sister. She hugged her teddy bear close. If only she could be of some help at least.

That bastard. Devon was his name. He had been perfect at first, chasing Danni until she caved. Now he had wrecked everything, including Danni’s heart. Gabby gritted her teeth, she wanted to find him and beat him up. The thought made her sad. She would never be able to; she was weak as a stick. That didn’t stop her from wanting to though.

“Gabrielle, dinner is ready,” Danni’s voice called from the hall.

Ouch. Gabby flinched. Danni never called her by her full name. Only when she’s heartbroken like now.

With a loud sigh, she rose from her bed. She kissed the top of her Teddy’s head. Mr. Cuddly understood everything. Especially her agony in this. He was the only comfort she could have.

In a sense, she knew it was dumb. She wasn’t responsible for her sister’s heartache, and she certainly wasn’t the cause of why Devon was being such a bastard either. Yet, she couldn’t stop the feeling of guilt that washed over her.

“Sure thing, Danni. I’ll be right down,” she answered. Gabby waited for her sister’s footsteps to come further down the hall before she slowly walked after.

Downstairs, the room was painfully silent. She saw her parents share a sad look – the same look that she’d seen them share so many times before. This wasn’t the first time that Danni had been screwed over by a guy. Actually, it was closer to the tenth time. They’d all been down this road of awkward dinner conversations and sad looks.

Normally, dinner time would be the place to share cozy talks about each family member’s day. They’d all joke about something, and the room would be warm and filled with lighthearted laughter. Now, they all walked on egg-shells around Danni.

Gabby took a seat opposite her sister.

“Danni, how was your day?” her father asked.

Gabby was silent while she awkwardly stuck her fork into the food. She tried her hardest to ignore the one-word answers from her sister, and zoned out so she wouldn’t have to listen to her parent’s weak attempts at conversation.

“Gabby, how was your day?” Gabby’s mother asked. She looked towards her mother. The panicked expression in her eyes told Gabby that the woman was well aware that she’d already asked that once today.

“Samantha…” her father warned.

“I’m full. May I be excused?” Danni asked. They all turned to look at her. The words had been barely audible, and they all knew what it meant.

Samantha nodded in agreement, and Danni rose from her chair. Her plate was still full – she’d barely touched it, but she took it to the kitchen nonetheless.

As soon as Danni was out of hearing range, Gabby let out a frustrated sigh.

“I know, honey.” Samantha’s hand covered her own, and she gave it a gentle squeeze.

“I can’t take this any longer,” her father said.

Gabby could feel both their eyes on her, and she dropped the fork on her plate. “I know, dad. But what do you want me to do? It’s not like we haven’t tried all this before.” Gabby looked down at her mashed potatoes. “Danni just needs time…”

“Can’t you talk to her?” her mother asked. Gabby rolled her eyes. It was the same question every time – they just didn’t understand that this was something she couldn’t help her sister with. She’d tried to explain it before, but it just wasn’t getting through to them.

“You know that I can’t. Even if I could pretend to relate to her situation, she wouldn’t let me,” Gabby muttered.

“It seems to be extra bad this time,” Samantha said. Both Gabby and her father agreed.

“You know, she’ll probably just need a new fling,” her father said.

“George!” Samantha gasped.

“What?” He shrugged. “I’m just saying.”

“You know what...” Gabby started, “That might not be such a bad idea, dad.”

“It’s not?” He widened his eyes.

“No, I think you might be on to something.”

They all sat in silence for a few minutes.

“Well. It would have to be a boy that wouldn’t break her heart then,” Samantha pointed out.

“Duh. Of course, mom.”

“He would have to cherish her, and be a perfect gentleman to her,” George added.

Gabby looked from her mother to her father. They both had their eyes on her.

“What?” she asked.

Simultaneously, they moved their chair closer to her. Gabby leaned back in her chair and looked at them with a raised eyebrow.

“You could find one for her,” her mother said.

“Yes, and you could make sure he was a decent Fella,” her father added.

Gabby snorted. “Right. I’m sorry to break it to ya’, but Danni doesn’t really fall for the nice guy.”

“Well. I’m sure you could work a way around that.” Her mother brushed of a crumb from her shirt. Gabby widened her eyes. Were they serious?

“Wait. Are you actually suggesting that I set up my own sister?”

“Yeah. Why not?” George asked.

“I mean, you share her classes. There must be someone decent around.” Samantha grinned. “Oh! Perhaps even find a smart one… That way her grades might go up too.”

Gabby wished she could sink into her chair. Her parents geared each other up, cracking jokes about how the perfect guy would not only help Danni, but the whole family too.

“You know... He might even have a brother for you, honey.” Her mother pinched her cheek.

“Oh, come on.” Frustration filled her. “Now I know that you must be joking. That’s the most ridiculous thing that I’ve ever heard.”

“Uh-huh.” Her mother rose from her chair. “Just think it over, honey.”

They both left the table, leaving Gabby alone with her thoughts. Tapping her chin, she caught herself in thoughts -- she was losing it. There was no doubt. She couldn’t truly be considering setting up her sister.

Gabby went to the kitchen while shaking her head. This whole ordeal was giving her a headache. Her mind was in chaos as she loaded the dishwasher. Her head dunked. She opened for the cold water, and let it pour down on her wrist in an attempt to make her blood chill off.

“You know we’re just desperate.”

Gabby jumped and hit her head on the cup-board. She turned around to see her father standing in the doorframe. “You scared me, dad.”

“Sorry about that.” He walked over and took her head in his hands. Studying her forehead, he blew gently. “It seems to be working still.”

“Ha-ha. Very funny.” Gabby stepped away to dry off her hands.

“It’s just. We like to see her happy. And you know that I’d prefer that she never dated, but sadly she doesn’t really follow that.”

“I know, dad.” She gave him a reassuring smile -- she knew why he was suggesting it in the first place. They were all in a frenzy about this. And with each time, it seemed to get worse.

“Can you please consider it then? It’s just an experiment, Gabby. If it works then great. If not, there’s no harm done.”

Gabby gave a rather un-lady-like snort. “No harm? If we pretend that I succeed, then what would I do if he ends up breaking her heart even more? She’d hate me forever.”

“Does she have to know?”

“Yes! She would have to know. I can’t just set her up with someone way under her league, dad.”

Her father frowned. “Do we have different leagues these days? What does that even mean?”

“Oh, come on. You must have had them too.”

He shook his head. “Nope. Back in the good old days, we just called the girls picky.”

Gabby patted his head. “I’m sorry to break it to you, daddy. But the times have changed a lot since you were young.”

“Oy!” he complained. Gabby giggled and jerked away, running out of the kitchen with a laugh.

“Yeah, you better run now, girl,” he called after her.

“Night, Old man,” she yelled back before ascending the stairs up to her room.

She was still laughing when she flopped down on her bed.

Gabby stared at the glow-in-the-dark plastic stars that covered her ceiling. Perhaps she could find a guy for Danni. After all, the school was pretty big, and there had to be someone there that would fit her.

The only problem would be Danni. From the few talks about love that they’d actually shared, Gabby knew that her sister was a sucker for romance. She didn’t just believe in love at first sight, she also believed that there was such a thing as soul mates.

Gabby cringed. She wasn’t as foolish as her sister. She might be cynical, but the idea that you could give a heart to someone without knowing them? That was just a foreign concept to her.

A part of her wished it was the case though – the idea was undeniably cute. However, she couldn’t see herself falling for anyone without at least knowing them first.

She knew that she couldn’t actually judge. Never mind the fact that she was only seventeen -- she also had yet to experience her first kiss.

Both her mother and Danni had tried to describe it, but just the thought of the many bacteria that are exchanged in a kiss was enough to make Gabby gag. She grabbed Mr. Cuddly and hugged him tight.

“It’s just... Guys are such immature, horny little monsters, Mr. Cuddly,” she whispered. “And usually, they only have one thing on their mind. It’s so gross.”

The Teddy-bear offered no answer and Gabby sighed.

“No boys would be good enough, and those that might have a small percentage of decency in them aren’t exactly her type.”

Still no answer. She didn’t know what she’d expected, but she sighed anyway. She kissed the top of Mr. Cuddly’s head and placed him on the bed beside her. It didn’t take long for her to crawl underneath her blanket and resume her staring at the ceiling. What did Danni see in those player-types anyway? Gabby couldn’t tell, but she had a hunch it might be some long lost animalistic craving in girls. They wanted to tame a beast. And beast would be a pretty spot-on term for hormonal teenage guys.

The silence was driving her insane. Normally, a low sound of music would be playing from Danni’s room. It was an odd thing -- When Danni was happy, she couldn’t sleep without the radio playing. However, when she had a broken heart like now, she couldn’t stand any music at all.

Gabby yawned. It would be so much easier if only she could make a boy for Danni. So much easier than this.