A Sentimental Sunrise

“Why did you drag me out here so early?” 

Matt groans as his sister Brooklyn drags him across the beach, a tight hold on his wrist. She doesn’t even look back at him as she rolls her eyes. “I want to watch the sunrise. Mom or Dad wouldn’t go with me, so I’m taking you.”

Brooklyn, although three years younger than the seventeen year old Matt, was an energetic ball of manipulation. Matt was told they were going to walk on the beach town’s main street to look for breakfast, but was quickly ushered to the beach behind their rental house instead.

Brooklyn knew that Matt would just roll his eyes, claiming how boring watching a sunrise would be, so she knew to not say anything and instead take him against his will. He’ll get over it.

“Well why not?” Matt asks his sister, finally able to pull his wrist back from her grasp, smoothing his hand over it to relieve the pain from her tight grip. 

With her free hand she crosses her arms across her chest, looking down as her flip flopped covered feet sift through the sand. She’s silent for a moment before letting out a sigh, “I don’t know.” She says, her tone changing from energetic to somewhat solemn. 

Matt raises an eyebrow as he falls into step now beside her, but he silently understands. He’s had many things he’s wanted to do in the past, but never seemed to quite get there when his parents would much rather stay on a conference call. 

“I’m sorry Brook. How about we watch the sunrise and go get breakfast.” Matt compromises, feeling sympathetic towards his sister, and not liking her sudden mood change. He’s not used to her being serious when she always wears a smile, no matter how tough something could be. 

Brooklyn gives her brother a smile. “Thanks Matt.” She says, then stops at the edge of the shore, looking out into the horizon where it’s slowly getting lighter.

The siblings plop themselves down into the sand, neither caring about the sand that will inevitably get in their clothes. 

Matt’s gaze flicks all across the sky, never having understood people’s love of sunrises or sunsets, but as he sits here admiring the swirling colors, he feels somewhat.. Calm. Like everything happening back home doesn’t exist anymore. Like it’s only him, the ocean, and the sky. 

It’s surprising when the sun is fully risen, and the siblings haven’t said a word between them, both captivated from the view. It wasn’t often they were close enough to the coast to have a view like this. 

This is actually one of the first vacations the family has been on in years. Their parents, somehow (Matt is still a little shocked), noticed that he’s been a little on edge since his senior year had started, and decided that he deserved a break.

When the two siblings were sitting in the living room receiving the news, Matt almost laughed at them as he had assumed it was a joke. Maybe their parents knew how uninvolved they were, rubbing it into his face. Maybe they were playing a trick, pretending like they actually cared when in reality they would spend the next week with a screen lighting up their faces, the mouths only moving when they talked about where their company may expand to next. 

But when Matt managed to suppress his smile, his parents were looking at him. Almost.. Hopeful. He could only blink back in return, muttering an okay before disappearing upstairs to think about what just happened. 

Their faces definitely looked hopeful. They looked as if they granted this vacation to their kids, the lack of involvement the past ten years would suddenly be forgiven. Matt shook his head to himself, amused by how hollow his parent’s brains really were. He didn’t feel sorry for them. 

He didn’t even glance at Brooklyn to see her reaction, but she was younger, more gullible. He bet she had a large smile on her face as she jumped up and down, thanking her parents as if they gave her the moon. 

He didn’t know that Brooklyn had only given a polite smile, and a small ‘thank you’ before retreating to her room as well, the one beside Matt’s. 

“I know what they’re trying to do.” Brooklyn mutters to her brother as the sky is fully lit, and families are trickling onto the sand, little kids splashing quickly into the chilled water. 

Matt turns his head, raising a brow. “What?” He asks, having no idea what she could be alluding to. She sits up from her position of laying back on her arms, and turns herself to Matt. 

“They’re trying too hard, or.. Not even.” She sighs, rubbing a hand down her face, “They shouldn’t be trying at all, it’s too… It’s far too late.” 

Matt knows what she’s saying now, and he gives her a look. “You think so?” He asks, just wanting to know her real look on how their parents have treated the both of them. 

“You don't?!” She asks, perturbed. Matt shakes his head quickly, “Of course I do.” He exclaims, “I’ve felt that way for years. I’ve practically raised myself and you. I just didn’t want to ruin your image of our parents. I assumed you liked them, or appreciated them at least.”

Brooklyn’s mouth drops open, “Matt! They haven’t baked me a birthday cake since I was five. I have quite an idea that they really don’t care much. I don’t need you to act like they’re good parents for me. I know.” 

She frowns, looking back out into the ocean. “I feel like they might have realized how little they know about us. Like they’re trying to make it up to us. As if this vacation was an abandonment band-aid and could easily heal us.” 

Matt frowns as well, but at his sister. They’re both quiet for a minute or two, “How much do you miss them?” He finally asks her. 

She turns her head to him momentarily. “A lot. Which is ironic knowing they’re sitting in some house half a mile that way.” She mutters, pulling her knees close to her chest. Matt has to chuckle at that, because she’s not wrong. 

“I know. Me too.” He says. A family a couple of meters down catches his eye. He watches as a mother helps her daughter put sunscreen on her face, laughing when she glops it on her nose. The daughter pretends to run away. Their son sits in the sand, looking as if he’s trying to teach his dad how to build a sand castle. 

If Matt’s dad asked how to build a sand castle, Matt wouldn’t be able to do anything except glare at his father and walk away. He doesn’t trust himself to open up to them about how he feels, because he feels as if he started talking, he wouldn’t be able to stop. 

If his mother wanted to help Brooklyn put sunscreen on her nose, laughing, Matt would step between them, not wanting a woman they barely know touching his sister’s face. Even if that woman was their mother. 

It hurt Matt to think about it. He wishes he could go back to when his parents first succeeded in their business idea. He wishes he could have.. ‘Accidentally’ messed something up for them. He wished he knew how lonely it would get in the following years. 

He’s glad Brooklyn never seemed to hate him, because he doesn’t know what he’d do if his entire family never attempted to get to know him. 

His school life didn’t make it better either. Sure he had a couple of friends, usually drifting between friend groups. But he didn’t want to drift, he wanted to find someone, or some people that made him feel like he belonged to a certain group. He doesn’t want to be the outsider friend who only seems to be there because he has classes with one person. 

He knows Brooklyn has gotten by better. She has a wide variety of friends to hang out with. She doesn’t go out much because what is there to do when you're fourteen? But she’s happy with her school and her friends. Which Matt is quite thankful for. 

Matt is finally able to tear his gaze away from the happy family, and turns it back to his sister, but she doesn’t seem to notice him. He sees her watching the same family, her eyes kept on the mother and daughter. 

Matt frowns when he watches a tear fall from her eye. She immediately puts her head down, wiping it off, about to pretend like it never happened. But Matt knows she’s upset, and he doesn’t blame her. What fourteen year old girl is happier without the company of her mom?

He lets out a breath before scooting over and putting an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into a side hug. His heart breaks a little every time he sees the bright, bubbly girl in tears, which isn’t very often. 

When her tears are acknowledged, she doesn’t even try to hold them back, placing her hands over her face as she cries. Even though she knows crying once won’t change anything about her parents, It’ll help her feel better for a while. 

After ten minutes of sitting in silence, yet again, Matt looks down to see his sister sitting still. Her red eyes facing the ocean as she watches the small waves crash against the shore. 

“Okay?” He asks her, knowing she’ll nod even though they both know that’s not really the right answer. 

She does nod, wiping her hand down her face once more before standing up and swiping the sand from her clothes. “Yea,” she says as Matt stands as well. 

“Let’s just go get breakfast.”

x

The End