Volunteer In Her Place

"Since you're being so stubborn, I'll just have to volunteer instead."

It was that last thing I wanted to do, but it didn't seem like I had any other options that would prevent Chloe from going. She was dead set on helping our father, so the only way to prevent her from going was to volunteer myself.

"What the hell, Sara?" She asked furiously.

"It's only because I care so much for you. I only want to help you." I say, hoping my answer will show Chloe that I'm not against her. It seems to have the opposite effect though.

"I don't need your help! It doesn't matter anyway since I volunteered first, right?" She looks over to Mr. Shears, who had been sitting silently the whole time.

"It's up to your father." Mr. Shears answers, seeming **** to now be involved in this argument.

Once again, Dad agreed with me. I don't know if his reasoning was that I didn't have as much to lose or if he would rather see me suffer for him instead of Chloe, but his support of me keeps her going to school, which is all I cared about in the moment.

Trying to rationalize the situation for Chloe, I pull the older sister card, something I had often done while growing up, almost always to the benefit of her. The only difference this time is that she doesn't realize that I'm actually doing her a huge favor. She shoots me an evil glare and buries her face in her hands, reluctantly accepting that she can't change anything now.

Mr. Shears closes up the meeting and says that he will contact the company to figure out all of the details about the agreement, then promises to forward them to me. My father and I sign a waiver acknowledging that we are agreeing to the proposal and then leave. Chloe says nothing to either of us on the way out. I have to admit that I'm pretty nervous about taking this deal without knowing all that much about it. A rehabilitation center for women does sound reassuring and non-threatening though, so hopefully it all works out.

I can't really describe how I feel about Chloe right now. I would never have agreed to this had I not been looking out for her best interests. Her stubborn foolishness is what has gotten me into this whole situation, so I feel like the small amount anger I hold towards her is justified. I guess I just love her too much to see her miss out on the opportunities that she deserves and has worked hard for. Hopefully she realizes that when her hatred of me eventually passes, like it always does.

The timing for this couldn't have been any worse either. In less than two weeks I was supposed to return to college as well. I'm one more year of schooling away from my bachelor's degree and now I'm going to miss all of next semester because of this. To put that aside to help my father who has done nothing for me would sound insane to anyone who doesn't understand the circumstances. I try to remind myself that I'm doing this for Chloe, not him.