They Called Me Worthless Until I Rose

3: 3

3

Mom and Dad stood up on that stage looking like they wanted the floor to open and swallow them, and they kept shooting me pleading looks.

I climbed onto the stage, grabbed Lillian by the hair, and started dragging her out.

People around us moved to stop me.

"Who do you think you are? Community college dropout, right? Where are your manners?"

"Yeah, dragging Lily around like that. You break her, and a broke community-college nobody like you is gonna pay for it?"

I gave a thin smile. "This is your business how? If I can't afford it, are you going to foot the bill?"

That shut them up on the spot. The only sound left was Lillian yelping in pain under my grip, with Mom and Dad hovering beside us going, easy, easy.

I acted like I couldn't hear a word of it.

With a spoiled, brainless little wrecking ball like this, one who can't tell good from bad, I've never bothered to hold back.

Once we got home, Lillian threw herself facedown on the couch and sobbed.

"Bertie, you're just a lousy community-college washout. Who are you to grab me like that? You're not worthy!"

I rolled up my sleeves, ready to go again, but Mom and Dad blocked me.

Dad hurried over with a bowl of blueberries and started feeding them to Lillian one by one.

"Lily, your sister only wants what's best for you. Getting into college doesn't mean you forget where you came from."

Lillian turned her face away, her voice thick with tears.

"Dad, I got into a real university. I haven't forgotten where I came from. If anything, the rest of you are the ones who never rose above community-college level!"

Mom rushed to dab at her tears with a tissue. "Lily, you can't talk like that. We're your elders!"

"Mom! Get this straight. A bachelor's degree is a community-college degree's strictest father! From now on, you'd all better show me some respect when you see me."

Hearing that, I just stared, stunned.

Twelve years of school, and now the world had flipped upside down. Now our parents were supposed to call her their elder?

Mom and Dad didn't seem to know how to argue back either. All they could manage was an awkward laugh.

Seeing that no one answered, Lillian tipped her already-raised chin even higher.

"Of course, if I ever need something in the future, I'll still come to you for advice. We university students may be a cut above, but we're not too proud to ask questions of those beneath us."

"And you, Bertie. When we're out in public, stop putting your hands on me all the time. A community-college student laying hands on me is a subordinate defying her betters!"

I frowned.

So now I was dragged into this too, this little struggle session turning on me?

I smiled. "So what you're saying is, from now on, only a university graduate has the right to discipline you at home?"

Lillian scrambled up off the couch and made a point of standing on the cushions, looking down at me from a full head above, and patted the top of my head.

"That's right. Sister, 'the immortal lays a hand upon your crown and grants you long life.' I've already reached a peak you'll never touch, but you can always keep working to close the gap between us."

I gave a thin laugh, yanked her back down, and slapped a lavish sheet of paper down in front of her.

A master's program acceptance letter from Harborview University.

"A bachelor's is a bachelor's, and a master's is a master's!"

"So you tell me, does a master's candidate have the right to discipline a lousy little bachelor's like you?"