A trophy child, to my parents, that was all I was.
What I wanted didn't matter. I had one goal in life, and that was to please them, and to do that, I had to be better than any other child. There was no room for error; I had to be perfect.
A metal bottle suddenly hit my head. I stumbled back, in a daze.
And slowly, the vision in my right eye turned red.
A liquid trickled down my face and onto the carpet. I looked down.
Blood.
"You useless brat, do you know how much that carpet costs?!" My mother exclaimed, rage filling her face.
"Get out before you ruin it even more," my father continued, his gaze still glued to his phone.
"I'm sorry," I replied in a low voice as I quietly left, closing the door.
My head felt lightheaded as I made my way down the stairs towards my room.
I missed a step and fell down the stairs; that was the last thing I remembered before someone began screaming my name.
I slowly opened my eyes to see a boy 3 years older kneeling in front of me with the same hair and eye color.
"Big brother?" I mumbled, sitting up.
"*beep*" he said with a relieved expression on his face, but it immediately disappeared as he stared at my forehead, "What happened?"
"Nothing, I'm fine."
"*Beep*"
He stared at me, waiting for an answer.
"It was my fault, my rank dropped, I got a B in maths and came 2nd in my grade," I reluctantly admitted, "mother and father found out, and in a fit of rage, mother threw a bottle at me.
His face twisted with rage, as he stood up, "Damn them," he muttered under his breath as he began climbing the stairs.
It dawned on me what he was going to do.
"No! Stop big brother!" I exclaimed as I climbed after him, still dizzy, "It's my fault, not theirs, don't be mad at th–"
I tripped falling.
He finally stopped as he ran towards me, "Are you okay?" He asked, helping me up.
"I'm fine."
He lifted me into his arms against my protest, "I already called Dalila, she'll be here soon, and we'll take you to the hospital immediately," he stared at the wound on my forehead.
But said nothing as we made our way out of the house. But as he closed the front door and we stood there waiting for Dalila, he finally spoke.
"I'm sorry *beep*." He said, his voice shaking, "I know what they're like, I shouldn't have left you alone with them."
"It's fine, it's not your fault, it's mine, I should have been better, I should have studied more. Maybe then they'd lov–"
"Stop," he gritted his teeth, "you're a child, you shouldn't be perfect, it's not your fault, none of it is. You shouldn't have to work for their love. You should be playing with your friends, not studying all day."
"It's fine, I don't even have friends."
A drop fell onto my face. Was it raining?
No.
It wasn't.
"Just wait a little longer, I promise, I'll get you out of here *beep* I promise," he whispered, tears running down his face.
I wiped his tears with one hand, "It's fine, big brother, don't worry about me."
He held me tighter, still sobbing.
And I leaned on his chest, warm in his embrace.
"They love us, don't they? In their own unique way?" I asked my voice barely above a whisper.
He didn't reply, but every parent loves their child, do they not?
My big brother was my idol, though my parents called him a failure when he stopped listening to them and began rebelling.
He had a bunch of friends, both girls and boys, was a child prodigy like me, and was super athletic.
While he may not have been top of his grade because he played around a lot, teachers kept saying he had a bright future ahead of him. With his social skills and his while not perfect but amazing grades, he'd get into a great university.
When we were younger, he never smiled, not unless he was trying to reassure me about something.
Yet that smile was also empty.
But as he gained more friends, he smiled a lot more, a real smile.
He'd be happy, and I'd be the child our parents want; then there would be no reason for them not to love us both.
Dalila approached me as I sat on a hospital bed.
"I'm glad it didn't leave a scar on your pretty face," she said with a smile.
I smiled back, "Yeah, my parents paid a lot of money to make sure it didn't, they said my only redeeming quality other than my brain in my face. And I guess they're right."
She stared at me, taken aback for some reason. A look of disgust on her face.
"*beep* your parents have always been strict, right?" she asked, sitting next to me.
"Yeah, they want us to be the best, so they push us extra hard."
"And your brother?"
"He's the best, he's the A to my killer B."
She chuckled, "he has you watching anime now?"
"Only watched Naruto, and I've only watched the first episodes of that. But I've watched some edits and chibi episodes. Father found out, though, and punished me; I should've been studying. Though my bro said we'll go on a trip when summer starts and that I can watch Naruto then."
She suddenly hugged me tightly, "I'll always be for you and your brother, always."
I sat there confused but thankful.
"Hey, were good to go, the doctor said your wound healed up perfectly, and you should be fine, but if you don't feel well, you should come back just in case," big brother said, walking in a few minutes later.
"So no more check-ups?!" I asked excitedly.
He chuckled, ruffling my hair, "No more check-ups."
"Then I should get back to studying."
"Not so fast, we're getting ice cream."
"Huh? But mum said eating stuff like that would make me ugly."
"It'll make you add weight, not ugly. You don't have in your DNA to be ugly, and it only makes you add weight if you eat too much of it too often without exercise."
I hesitated, mother and father wouldn't like me doing this. But I've always wanted to know what ice cream tastes like.
"Come on It'll be my treat," Dalila said with a smile on her face.
I jumped down from the bed.
"Okay!" I agreed with a large smile on my face.
"I think I need to go back to the hospital," I said, holding a cup of ice cream, my head ice cold.
They both chuckled before big brother said, "You should be fine, it's called a brain freeze."
And just like he said, soon enough it stopped.
"This is amazing!" I said back to eating my ice cream, "thanks Dalila."
"My pleasure," she replied before suddenly heading into a store, "Give me a second."
We watched her through the window as she grabbed something, bought it, and got it bagged.
"What do you think it is?" I asked.
"No idea," big brother replied.
Dalila stopped in front of us, "a gift to mark your first ice cream."
"Uh, you didn't have to," I replied, backing away. The only person I had ever kept a gift from was my big brother.
I don't deserve a gift if I'm not perfect.
"It's rude not to accept a gift."
I stiffened before reluctantly collecting it, thanking her.
I opened it to see a colorful charm, "thank you! I love it," I said, staring at the charm.
Unable to stop myself from smiling.
"I'm glad you like it."
I placed it in my pocket, disposing of the bag so I could hold my ice cream and brother's hand at the same time.
We made our way back to Dalila's car, which was parked not too far away. The two talked as I continued to eat my ice cream.
After we crossed the road, I realized my charm had fallen out of my pocket.
I let go of his hand as I quickly ran back to get it.
"*beep*!"
I stopped just a few steps away from the charm.
The world seemed to move in slow motion as I watched my brother run towards me, screaming for me to move.
I turned, and a truck was coming right towards me.
Time seemed to speed up once again as the truck crashed into me.
Then everything went black.
"If there truly is another life, I hope you have a good family and live it to the fullest," a distorted voice said. I could hear it in their voice that they were crying.
Then I saw a bright light; I couldn't move well. A few minutes passed before I heard a baby crying.