Beyond Love

Unveil

[Nguyen]

"That's your sister?" I asked under my breath, turning to Brendon who was showing me to his room. "I can see why you guys don't get along." He didn't reply.

Shin and I tailed him as we climbed the stairs to the third floor and took a right to his room. It was only when he closed the door behind us that he got to explaining. "Look, it's not that we don't get along."

"Then?"

Brendon fell spread-eagled on his bed, mumbling into his pillow. "I just don't see her often, that's all. And like, I've always been the one giving in when she goes on about God. Whatever opinion I have doesn't get to her. Shit, I don't even know if my opinion matters."

"Of course it doesn't," I hurled his hopes into the abyss in a mere instant. "She came home just to ask if the school did something about the complaint your family filed. That's dumbshit."

Brendon shrugged, hands dangling over the edge of his bed as he tried to search for the duffel bag that he'd kept my portable charger in. Shin stood awkwardly by the door, characteristically uncomfortable with the sudden change of mood.

"So? What are you going to tell her?" I prompted, spotting a beanbag by the window and drifting automatically towards it. "I don't know how you're going to do it, but just because someone doesn't believe in your God doesn't make them any less beautiful a human being." Burst of unknown philosophy. It's rarely me, you see—it's just the one writing me. You know what I mean.

"Okay but Nguyen. You see, that's not what we believe in...or my family does, at least. They believe that those who do not acknowledge Christ as our Lord and Saviour will go to hell. That's it." Brendon handed me the portable charger I'd lent him, thankfully protected by an air-tight plastic. I threw the latter in a nearby bin.

"Your family can believe in whatever they like," I laid out plainly. "It's the imposing of personal beliefs on others that I don't get. Oh, and thanks for placing this in a plastic. You're not so bad after all."

Shin laughed and Brendon only rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Get out of my house."

"Thank you."

"Yes, thank you—I don't want to stay any longer."

Brendon showed us out of his room and down the stairs; spewing some last-minute nonsense about parties, trying to convince us to attend the one tomorrow night. We arrived back in the living room, and I was already trying to search for the front door when Brendon's sister appeared out of nowhere with a tray of cupcakes.

He froze.

"Oh, are your friends going already?" Rachel sounded like the main scare of a horror movie trying to prevent the visitors from leaving. No kidding. "I was going to bring some snacks up to your room."

I heard her brother curse under his breath, and looked at him weird. What's so bad about the cupcakes? I mean, they look kinda good. Being very honest here.

"Uh, yeah. They just came to borrow my...my notes."

Shin coughed very loudly and Brendon elbowed him in the side. I almost laughed.

"Ah...well it wouldn't hurt for you to stay a little longer?" Rachel smiled very sweetly and it almost seemed as if I was inside one of my mom's favourite horror series. She has a thing for the slasher-types.