Him & I

8

He nodded, though before I left, he stopped me to say something I'll probably have tattooed on the right part of my brain forever.

"And for the record, freckles aren't ugly. They're beautiful."

My brain completely blacked out. Even right now, it feels like I'm still floating. Sometimes, I wish I could show my emotions - smile, scream, dance, but I've got a suspicious sister on my trail. So, I can't.

"Hell no, I'm not buying any of that 'woke up on the right side of the bed' shit. You. Are. Different."

"Hm." I shrug, trying extremely hard to avoid her gaze as she follows me down the stairs and to the living room.

"Is it Tyler?"

"Soledad.."

"Is it him?"

"Stop."

"He popped it?"

"Popped what?"

"Your-" She then breaks into a hysterical laugh. In-between laughs, she talks about how red my face went. Honestly, out of all sisters, I think I got the worst one. "Okay, okay, I'm joking. But is it him?"

"Soledad, I've told you already, I had a good night rest. Woke up on the right side of the bed. Simple. C'est fini. End of story. Now you can live happily ever after, I've answered your question."

"Don't try to be funny."

Out of frustration, I stop walking. Facing her directly to allow her do her very 'thorough' investigation on my appearance. "Um- okay, your skirt is shorter. Why?"

"Because I'm wearing the second one."

"Why are you wearing the second one?"

"Because you stained my other skirt with your make-up shenanigans yesterday, so I had to put it in for laundry!"

"Alright, good point."

"I have no time for this. Toby!"

"Coming!"

While he remains on his way, Danielle continues her blubbering. "I am definite something happened. Tell me."

"Stop."

"Tell me."

"Stop."

"Tell me. Tell me. Tell me."

"Danielle!"

"It's Danielle-Soledad. And Alright, it's fine. It's okay. I'll let it go."

The sound of Toby's door slamming shut loudly fills the house and after a while, we hear footsteps of him coming down.

"Just this once." Danielle finishes.

I leave her in the living room, walking towards the stairway to check if my brother needs any help. He's got a project we both did yesterday that might be double his size when lifted.

On getting there, I see he's holding it quite... well? I think.

"You good?"

"I'm good."

"Need help?"

"No."

I would say yes, but I'm well aware the ego of boys is not the type you trample upon. Or all males, to be honest. I hear it's much too fragile.

He eventually makes it to the bottom of the stairs, placing the project carefully on the nearest entry table. Dusting his hands after.

Ruffling his hair a bit, I check out the project just as my sister walks in. When I look back, she's got her arms wrapped around Toby's neck, her head on his as they both watch me.