“I picked up that habit from Brianne.  I know it’s a weird one and can be super annoying, but I’ve done it for so long, I can’t stop.” 

“You can stop, just try harder,” my mother snapped.  “You can’t blame Brianne for everything.” 

I opened my mouth to argue, but I knew it wouldn’t work.  When she was right, she was right and nothing I said ever mattered.  I headed toward the sink to do the dinner dishes to  keep her off my back for the rest of the night. 

I was about to turn eighteen and once that happened, I planned to move out as quickly as I could.  I had worked with my school counselor and would graduate from high school in December and hopefully would start college in the spring, but more likely in the summer.  I was hoping to get as many scholarships as possible so my working wages could go to living expenses.  I just needed to find out how to get custody of my two siblings.  I knew they would never survive with my mother. 

I had barely survived her regimented eating, workout  and sleep schedule and I knew Thomas and Diana didn’t have the same toughness I did.  The twins were people pleasers and I knew they would comply with my mother’s every wish.  I just wasn’t expecting them to choose her schedules over their own safety.  Maybe if I told them about the sister they would never meet, they would understand.