10 Things I hate About Her (10 Things #1)

10. Sister's Quarrel

Mother nodded. "You should let her practice," she said to Juliana.

Juliana argued, "She jumped on me and attacked me! I was sitting here all innocent, and she had to come with her annoying self and interrupt my TV time."

To me, mother said, "You should let your sister have her peace."

"Exactly," muttered Juliana.

"Now, no more noise, it's time for my afternoon nap," my mother said, "if I hear a peep out of either of you, I'm calling your dad."

The threat worked. I got off my sister and waited until my mom left the room to tell her, "F you."

She replied, "F you too."

I returned to the piano; she returned to her show and the popcorn enjoyed its seat on the floor. The melody of the piano conflicted with the voices from the sitcom. Chaos knocked on my eardrums. I turned to my sister and without any trace of enmity said, "Please turn it down, I have a hard time focusing."

She turned it down.

"Thank you." I went over the refrain for Ed Sheeran, "Perfect", singing the lyrics in my head as I went. Though I'd be singing and playing the song for the final version of the performance, I was in a terrible mood and didn't desire to sing out loud. My left pinky lagged behind the others, and I took a deep breath. I went over the measure a second time and managed to get the right tempo.

I heard Juliana shift on the couch. "Can I ask you something?" she said.

My fingers froze above the keys, and my heartbeat slowed. I had no idea what it could be, but I felt that after the miserable week I had, this wouldn't be a fun conversation. Besides, her tone was serious, and she was rarely serious about anything. "Alright," I answered.

"Did Naomi and Hunter... you know?"

"No, I don't think they did," I replied honestly though it had been a few days since I last spoke to Naomi or attended my classes.

"Hmm, do you think he's big or small?"

"Hunter?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know; I don't think about that kind of thing," I said.

"Okay, so what's the first thing you notice about a guy?"

My mind was blank. I didn't spend a lot of time staring at men. Sure, some of them were good-looking, but I didn't get that feeling around them. The one that made you stop everything you were doing to watch and study them. The one that made you want to hold them in your arms and protect them, kiss from their neck to their waist and sometimes lower... Unable to answer, I turned on her, "Why are you asking this?"

"Can't I get to know my own sister?" her face seemed innocent, but there was a calculative disposition in her erect yet cold posture.

"I just don't think about things like that; let's drop the subject."

She held my gaze; her lips parted, and she smirked. It was the most irritating gesture I had ever seen, and I wanted to throw something at her. She leaned forward and said, "You leave your phone on the bathroom counter whenever you shower, and your password has always been Naomi's birthday."

I knew where this conversation was going. "You had no right to do that." The heat drained from the uppermost part of my body, retreating downwards, further and further.

She clucked her tongue. "You check my phone. I never confronted you about it, but I get suspicious when conversations I have never seen are marked as read."

"Your password is Mom's birthday," I told her.

"So, did you find anything?"

I frowned. Aside from annoying female chatter about cute boys in school and parties, her phone was clean. She had no boyfriend from what I could tell. I asked, "Did you find anything?"

A devilish smile creased her cheeks. "What do you think?"

I thought of the message Cassandra had sent, which I in my absence of mind had yet to delete. Juliana walked over and hugged me. "If you don't want me to tell, then you have to be nice to me. I need you to take me to a party tonight. Thanks, sis. I love you so, so much."