Inferior [completed]

...even...

"He wants you to hold him," Aunt Clara chuckled as she watched how her baby was reaching out his arms towards Jane.

Jane grinned and reached towards the baby. Aunt Clara carefully passed on the little human to her niece.

"Hey there," Jane cooed and chuckled when her baby cousin made small baby noise in response. "Aren't you a bundle of cuteness?" The baby laughed and smiled brightly at Jane.

"And a bundle of happiness," added Jane's aunt.

"Did you find a name for him yet?"

Aunt Clara gave a puzzled look at her niece. "Uhm yes," she said, confusion still lingering in her voice. "If I'm not mistaken I think I told your mother two months ago. She hadn't told you?"

Jane didn't know what to respond. She felt embarrassed at that moment even though she had no reason to be. It was not her fault if no one told her anything.

"Maybe you forgot," dismissed Aunt Clara, indirectly saving the situation. "His name is Kellin."

"Kellin," Jane repeated softly, gazing down at her little cousin. "Oh right! I remember now," she lied and chuckled.

As if the baby understood that she was saying his name, he laughed merrily.

Jane held Kellin for a good fifteen minutes; playing with him, telling him stories and singing lullabies to him until the latter fell asleep in her arms. Kellin looked so innocent and adorable as he slept peacefully, without a care in the world. Before giving him back to Aunt Clara, Jane lowered her head and gave her baby cousin a loving kiss on his forehead.

"I guess it's bedtime for all of us now," affirmed Aunt Clara as she tried to muffle a yawn.

It has indeed been a long day, which had passed by surprisingly fast. Only one more day was left before the guests would take their leave. Jane once again felt mixed emotions at the idea — she was sad that the baby would be going but quite relieved that Derek and Olivia were too.

It was hard to grasp the fact that none of them had tried anything else since that incident in the living room. Jane was not complaining, but she felt like maybe they were saving it for later or tomorrow.

She took a deep breath before opening the door to her bedroom, knowing very well who to expect in there. There was only one guest room which was already occupied by Aunt Clara, Uncle Will and Kellin. Derek went to sleep in Connor's room while Olivia crashed in Jane's room. She could not really object because that would raise suspicions and which in turn would cause more trouble. To her mainly.

"What kind of books are those?" Olivia asked as she threw a hardcover book carelessly over shoulder, and it fell right on the floor next to a pile of other books.

Jane felt anger overwhelming her as she watched the mess Olivia had done. She felt even angrier when she saw that one of her books had a torn page.

"What the fuck did you do?" she yelled and charged towards a scared Olivia. "How dare you touch my things?" Jane shoved her cousin away with such force that had the latter stumble onto the bed.

Olivia has never seen Jane so angry before and she didn't realise how terrifying the sight could be. She dared not speak a word and instead watched speechlessly as her cousin started picking up the books before reinstalling them back in their respective places on the bookshelf.

"You have no right to speak to me like that. I am older than you and you must show some respect," Olivia said after a moment of recollecting herself.

Jane ignored her.

Frustrated at the lack of attention, Olivia added, "And besides, I am your guest and you should not be treating me that way. You know how Indians treat their guests?" she paused. "Like God!"

At that, Jane scoffed. Turning to face her annoying cousin, she said, "You are anything but God. If I have to be honest, you are the Devil. And I would gladly drown you in holy water." Jane was surprised at herself, not believing that she actually said the words that just came out of her mouth.

Olivia's mouth remained shut and a scowl appeared in her face. It was the first time that someone actually stood up against her and she was not liking this at all.

Without any more word, Jane gathered her homeworks and pencil-case and walked out of the room. She was not feeling sleepy yet — especially not after this outburst — and decided to complete any work left. She descended the stairs silently and went to settle her books and copybooks in the living room. She placed them down onto the coffee table, sat on the carpet Indian style and leaned against the edge of the couch. Soon enough, she set to work.

As much as she tried to concentrate on her maths problems, Jane's mind kept wandering back to the incident earlier. She could not believe that she had actually stood up against Olivia. She had never knew that it felt so nice to be in control for once.

She was proud of herself. She felt like this was the beginning of something great. Her courage was building up and she hoped that it will keep up this way. God knew how much courage she needed to be able to speak up like this again.

Jane was brought out of her thoughts when footsteps were heard coming down the stairs. Thinking that it was probably her brother coming down to get a glass of water, she didn't bother looking up.

But her heart stopped for a second when she heard the voice; that famous taunting voice. She was scared to even look up at him.

"Oh! Look who's still awake," Derek said, advancing in her direction.

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Stay beyoutiful,
Peace!

P.S: If there is any Indian reader, please forgive me if this part about 'guests' is not true. I just heard it in an Indian movie that "mehmaan to bhagwaan hain" (please excuse my Hindi).