You entered the Wilder Mansion hesitantly, following your parents inside. Robert and Tina Minoru picked you up from school and insisted on joining them. They assured you that you were not mandated to listen to their meeting. Geoffrey and Catherine Wilder spotted you, and their lips curved into big smiles. "Ah! You must be (Y/n)!"
You clutched on your handbag as you gave them a nervous smile. "Um, hello..." Catherine stepped forward and gave you a warm hug. "My, what a beautiful young woman you are, huh?" Her simple compliment made you slightly blush.
Catherine slightly cupped your cheeks. "Oh, dear." She frowned. "Have you been eating lately? You look like you're sick." She stated worriedly until she noticed your bandaged hand. "Are you okay?"
You nodded and gently removed her hands away from you. "Yes, Mrs. Wilder."
"Make yourself at home, sweetie."
You gave her a silent nod before walking towards the living room. Tina and Robert turned around to Catherine, who placed her hands to her hips. "Did you really have to bring her here?"
"Nico isn't at the house to look after her," Tina informed. "She's not doing too good today, so Robert and I have to keep an eye on (Y/n)."
Geoffrey sighed. "You're still at it? (Y/n)'s—"
Tina gave him a look. "I'm making sure, okay?" She spun around and saw you were about to sit on a couch. "(Y/n), honey, you can stay at the Wilders' guesthouse."
You opened your mouth to protest. "I, um, don't know where that—"
"I'll take her there." Catherine volunteered as she approached you. "Come on." You followed her out of the living room and got outside of the house to get to the guesthouse. Catherin opened the doors and let you inside. "There are pizzas and drinks here, okay? You can wait for Alex and his friends."
Just as Catherine left, you blinked in surprise and turned around to see the woman was gone. "Alex?" You asked. You thought for a moment before shrugging and sitting down on a chair, pulling out your headset and connecting it to your phone. You began browsing for some sitcoms to watch, and you found The Dick Van Dyke Show. A smile formed on your lips as you watched Season 2, Episode 21 of the show.
You snatched a pillow and gripped it closely as you sat silently watching the show. Sitcoms and illusions were the only things that could bring you complete joy.
Casting illusions? Yeah. When you were about fifteen years old, you discovered you have the ability to create illusions. You were crying in your room until you unintentionally projected a happy dream you had the night before. Although casting illusions provides you joy, retaining them for too long or making them vast saps your vitality and leaves you exhausted.
Let's just say you only get three or two hours of sleep per day as a result of how often you use your abilities. Molly was the only one who knew about your abilities. You knew you could trust her, and she kept it a secret. She has never told anyone about it.
You were mindlessly caressing the pendant of your necklace while watching on your phone. Your thoughts went away from the show, causing you to lose attention.
"Nice necklace."
You instantly pulled out your headset and turned your head to see the young Wilder entering the guesthouse. "Shit." You whispered. "S-Sorry, they let me stay here. I could leave if you want me to—"
Alex shook his head. "No, no." He lightly waved his head, gesturing you to continue whatever you were doing. "It's good to have some company."
'Not if you don't know the person...' You dragged your legs towards you and hugged them close as you continued watching the old show. But you couldn't focus anymore, so you pretended to watch while you were actually looking at what Alex was doing.
When you eventually noticed six boxes of pizza on the table and drinks all around, your eyes widened. Alex was unconcerned and grabbed his controller, which he used to switch on his television while listening to music. Alex paused for a bit before putting down his controller and pulling out his phone to look at the group photo he took with his friends two years ago.
When Alex peered at you, your stomach groaned quietly, and you quickly hid half of your face in your sleeves while maintaining eye contact with your phone. Before directing his whole focus to you, Alex hurriedly forwarded the old group photo to his old friends. "Hungry?" He asked, and he saw you shook your head timidly. "You can eat some pizzas if you want, Newbie."
"Newbie?" You asked.
Alex shrugged. "I'm not good at nicknames or codenames. Besides, I didn't really catch your name, and all I know is that you're the new student and Nico's adopted sister." You hummed in response until Alex moved closer to you to check on the show you were watching on your phone. "You like sitcoms?"
You closed your phone and looked away from him, feeling your cheeks heating up from the small conversation between you both. "Mhm..." You mumbled as you buried your face completely behind the sleeves of your oversized hoodie.
"So, may I know your name, Sitcom Girl?"
"You're making nicknames for me now, huh?"
Alex shrugged. "They're not good, but they're not bad either." He moved his head closer to you to see your face, but you were too shy and stubborn to look at him in the eye. "Come on. I'm not that scary, am I?"
You shook your head and slightly turned your head to look at him with half of your face still hidden behind your arms. "You look friendly."
Your heart skipped a beat when you saw him smile, and this time, it reached his eyes. "Really?"
"Yeah."
You looked away and noticed the video games the guy have. 'Star Wars, The Elder Scrolls, Street Fighter, Grand Theft Auto... sheesh.' Your eyes looked up and stared at his huge television and found two names on the screen: Alex's name and Amy's name. "You miss her, don't you?"
Alex glanced at the screen before heavily sighing, standing up to take the remote, and turning off the television. "Yeah." He immediately answered, not wanting to ruin your night about Amy's death.
"What was she like?"
Alex hated you had to press, but he knew you were just curious, so he sat down next to you. "She was my best friend." He stated. "And she was a good sister to Nico too." Alex glanced at you as you processed his words in your mind. "I'm sure she'll love you."
You gave him a brief glance as you clung to the pendant of your necklace for support. Meeting Amy Minoru would be a great experience because she sounded like such a nice person. You know how difficult it was for everyone to accept that she had been gone for two years. And you just happened to enroll in your new school at Amy's second death anniversary. You gulped hard. "You don't think I'm replacing her... right?"
"What makes you say that?" Alex asked curiously.
"Everyone thinks I'm replacing her." You confessed. "I think... even Nico feels I'm replacing her sister."
"No, Nico isn't—"
Alex's sentence was interrupted when the two of you heard the doorbell. "Hold on." Alex excused himself for a moment. You watched him leave the guesthouse, so you slipped your phone back into your pocket and looked around. You put your hood up and took out the Twister game lying on the floor. 'What is this?' You tilted your head in wonder, trying to figure out how to use it.
"They're here!" You turned around and found Alex and his former friends behind him, entering the guesthouse. Molly grinned widely when she saw you while Nico's eyes slightly enlarged in shock. "You're here too?"
You slightly waved, feeling uncomfortable all of a sudden. "Um, hi?"