Marianne lay on the floor of her bedroom, throat hoarse from yelling and eyes burning from crying. It had been four hours now since she caught them. Caught her boyfriend, Roland, on the couch with another girl. She had gone over to his apartment to surprise him, opened the door, and saw them there. It was the most painful thing she had ever experienced; like a knife stuck through her heart that was still lodged there and showed no signs of healing anytime soon.

First came the screaming. She wasn't usually a screamer, but something inside of her had snapped. Everything, all the doubts and insecurities about their relationship came flooding in all at once. Every suppressed comment or feeling from the past five years burst forward into one perfect storm. She was like a tornado, on a rampage with no signs of stopping. And there was certainly nothing Roland could do to stop her. He could only stand there and cower before her fury. His lover was smart at least: She fled the scene almost immediately.

Now the tornado had calmed, and Marianne was left with the damage. A shattered heart and empty tear ducts. A mind swarming with regret and hoplessness and shame. She felt used and broken. She couldn't quite remember how she got back to the apartment afterwards, or how she found herself on the floor, but she could not bring herself to move just yet. Her eyes squeezed themselves shut and she buried her face into the soft carpet. Perhaps she could just lay there forever and gradually fade away into nothing...

The door to her bedroom opened, and soft footsteps padded their way towards her. She felt a small hand touch her back ever so gently. The smell of cherry blossoms filled her nostrils and brought the tiniest bit of comfort: It was her sister, Dawn.

"Oh Marianne," she whispered, laying down so that her body was parallel to her sister's and curled herself around her. "I'm so so sorry."

Marianne wasn't sure if she could bring herself to speak just yet. When she tried, her throat closed up and her eyes burned even more as fresh tears arose. She took the hand that Dawn offered to her and squeezed it tightly to her chest. No matter how bad the pain, at least her sister was there. Even if it couldn't heal her aching heart, it was a comfort to know she was not alone.

She didn't know how long they laid there like that. Minutes? Hours? Who could say? When she thought she was ready, Marianne turned over onto her other side so that she was facing her sister. Dawn's usually cheery expression was not there today. It had been replaced by one of anguish and concern. It pained Marianne to know that her distress was leaking into her sister. Dawn was, after all, like an emotional sponge.

"Five years," Marianne croaked to her at last. "I gave him five years of my life. And this is what I get?"

Dawn brought a hand up to stroke her older sister's cheek in a comforting manner. "He was an asshole, Marianne. He doesn't deserve to even look at you."

"What's wrong with me, Dawn?" she continued. "Why wasn't I good enough for him?"

"Don't talk that way," her sister warned "Don't you dare say that. He was too busy looking for rocks, he couldn't see the diamond he already had."

Marianne smiled sadly. "I'm no diamond, Dawn. I'm a pebble. An ugly, worthless pebble that no one should ever pick up." She rolled back over away from her sister once again. She knew in her heart she shouldn't feel this way. Doing so was only letting Roland win. After all, his last words to her that day had been meant to tear her down:

"No one else is ever going to want you."

And they had. They hung onto her, tearing her slowly to pieces. He was right; she was too prim, too difficult, too...different to love. No one in their right mind would want her.

"I'll get through this," she said, more to herself than to Dawn. "Just...give it time."

Two weeks later, Dawn sat at the kitchen table eating a bowl of Apple Jacks and reading Cosmo Magazine. Some movement caught her eye, and she looked up to see Marianne entering the room. Dawn gave a small shriek.

"You're wearing pants!" she cried out, dropping her cereal spoon into the bowl with a small splash of milk.

Marianne looked down at her jeans in confusion. "Um, yes? Why is this a big deal?"

"You've stayed in your room and worn nothing but your underwear and the occasional sweatpants for two weeks. So, you're finally wearing real clothes and I'm proud of you."

"I didn't think I'd ever get a congratulations for dressing myself," the older sister remarked as she crossed to the table and stuck her hand into the box of Apple Jacks. Retrieving a handful, she proceeded to stuff most of it into her mouth. "Besides, you told me to," she added through a mouthful of the cereal.

Dawn nodded in the affirmative. "Yes, because we're going shopping today."

Marianne raised an eyebrow. "Shopping?" she repeated.

"Yep, you heard me."

"For...?"

"Going out clothes."

"And why is that?"

"Because," said Dawn, getting up from the table to grasp both of her sister's hands. "We're going out tonight."

Marianne stared at her sister for almost a full minute before replying "No."

"Awww c'mon Marianne, we have to. Look," she said, digging into her purse that was sitting on the table and whipping out a silver credit card "daddy lent me his card for us to get some nice things."

"Did he really?" she asked skeptically.

"Well...I may have kind of suggested to him that it might cheer you up. And that it would make me happy too."

Marianne sighed. "Shopping doesn't make me feel better, Dawn. And neither will going out."

"But Marianne," whined Dawn "you used to love going out and drinking with me."

"Dawn, I literally have to babysit you the entire night because you always get way too drunk."

"I do not!"

"Oh yeah? The last time we went drinking, I found you trying to marry a mailbox and a parking meter to each other. You kept telling me they should be free to love whoever they want to."

Dawn's cheeks turned pink. "Tonight will be different," she promised "because tonight, you're the one who's gonna get super drunk. It will be fun, trust me."

Marianne sighed. She didn't want to go, but on the other hand getting drunk was tempting. The last couple of weeks had been rough, what with trying to avoid Roland's constant calls, texts, and visits. He was attempting to win her back, and it was tiring. Perhaps she could do with a night off.

"Fine," she said at long last. "On one condition: You let me be the one who gets up to drunk shenanigans, yes?"

Dawn squealed in reply and threw her arms around her sister. "Oh you bet, big sis. Tonight is going to be the best night ever."