Six
Sedona
Seventeen years old
Phoenix slams her locker. “The nerve of him. Telling me to ‘buckle down on my studies.’” My twin sister imitates our oldest brother, Austin, with a scowl.
Whereas I’ve always felt sad that Austin had to return home after college to raise us, Phoenix challenges him at every turn. What should’ve been the fun-filled years of his twenties, playing pro baseball and enjoying life, have been spent raising my siblings and me after our parents died. He’s only trying to get Phoenix to take her future seriously. He’s always stuck between the older brother and father role.
“Don’t just stand there and say nothing,” she says, leaning against her locker.
I dig into mine, switching my biology book for my calculus one. “I don’t disagree with him. I get that you’re all i
