Free The Academie by Amy Joy

Maybe getting along is
impossible.
    I turned and climbed the ladder to my
bed.
    “ That’s about
right,” I heard her mumble.
    I pulled the pillow up over my
head.

     

 
     
     
     
    13. andy
     
     
    The bed shook abruptly. I
pulled the pillow off my head in time to see Tina walking to the
bathroom. Now’s my chance. I climbed down the ladder and opened my drawer
under the bed. Inside I fished around until I found a little, black
book with a leather cover, held shut by an attached elastic band.
My Christmas present from Grandma Marie.
    I grabbed a pen and climbed back up
into my bunk. But when I opened the journal, I was surprised to
find writing already on the first page.
    Pleese dont forgit me Al. I wil mis
u.
    Oh, Andy. How could I
forget you?
    Things changed a lot in my parents’
house after I went off to college and Matt went away to The
Academie. Out of the three of us, Andy seemed to take it hardest.
To compensate, my parents spoiled him like never before. This
became obvious this past May, when I finished out my first year of
college and spent the summer back home.
    “ Alllliiieeeee!” I
remember Andy calling. He scuttled barefooted to the door and
leaped into my arms. I pulled him tight and twirled him around. As
I set him down, it hit me: it wouldn’t be like this when I returned
from The Academie. He’d be older then—way too big for me to
lift—and he’d be different. At six, he was still young and sweet.
Then he’d be…he’d be what we all become the longer we are in
school: guarded. He would learn not to bounce around. He’d learn
that it’s icky to hug your sister. He’d learn that’s not cool to
hang out with family.
    I pulled him close again, squeezing
him tight. Then I kissed him on his soft, little boy
cheeks.
    “ Allllieee!” he squealed,
squirming away. I didn’t care. “Do you want to have a sleepover
tonight, Andy?”
    “ Really?” His eyes were
wide with excitement, and the happy grin that showed his missing
teeth spread across his face, revealing the dimples in his cheeks.
Before we’d each gone off to school, Matt and I had sleepovers in
the family room at least once a week. I’d grab the couch, he’d camp
out on the floor, and we’d talk, eat popcorn, and watch old movies
until we couldn’t hold our eyes open anymore. But being so much
younger and having an early bedtime, Andy had never been allowed to
join us.
    I nodded. “I’ll talk mom and dad into
it. You just think about what you want to watch.”
    He danced around as I watched with a
sad happiness, the image of my future home still swimming in my
brain.
    “ How about a snack?” I
said. Going straight for the pantry when I came home had been my
routine I think since I was Andy’s size.
    “ Okay!” He was already
hyper from the attention. I followed as he ran off to the
kitchen.
    “ Hi mom!” I yelled. She
spent much of her time upstairs in her office.
    “ Hi!” she yelled
back.
    Andy was already hidden behind the
large pantry doors. I stood behind him, still able to see easily
over his head. Looking into the cabinet, to my surprise, I found a
box of S’mores Pop Tarts.
    “ How did you get
these?”
    Andy grinned.
    “ We never had stuff like
this before. I used to beg for them!”
    He put a hand over his mouth and
started to giggle.
    That was it. The boy was obviously
asking for it. I tickle-tackled him and he fell to the ground,
squealing and begging for mercy as he tried to squirm
away.
    “ ALLLLLLIIIIIIEEEEEE!” he
howled.
    “ What’s going on down
there?” mom yelled.
    “ Nothing!” we sang
back.
    “ Fine then,” I said
quietly, grinning at the happy little boy I had pinned. “So do you
want to split a package?” I backed off, but he still lay there, red
in the face with tickle-tears in his eyes.
    “ Well, I don’t know…there
aren’t many left…”
    “ Oh you think so!” I said,
lunging for him again. This time he was too fast, crawling under
the table and running to hide