Sister's Complaints

Mira woke up hungry the next morning. Or maybe it was because of the scent of pancakes wafting into the room. She followed the scent to the kitchen where she saw James making tea. He seemed to be on a call with someone and his phone, which was on loudspeaker, was placed on the kitchen counter. She wasn't sure whether it was a professional or personal phone call, so she decided not to interrupt and just watch him. 

"Seriously, what matters is that you are in the school of your choice." He said to the person on the other end of the phone call. 

"Why does everyone ignore the part where I say I do not like him?" Rachel groaned. 

"He acts too... Noahly." She said for a lack of the right adjective to use. "Besides, I don't want to stay with Peter either. Everyone knows how incompatible we are." 

James laughed. 

Seeing it was Rachel on the call with him, Mira entered the kitchen, getting James' attention. He turned to look at her and greeted,

"Morning sleepyhead. I'm speaking with Rachel. She got the admission." He said to Mira.

"Wow! Really? That's huge Rachel!" Mira said, moving closer to the phone. "Calls for a celebration, I think...?" Mira looked at James to check if he agreed, but he simply shrugged. 

"Thanks. Maybe I would have really been interested in celebrating if I were living alone. My parents want me to live with Peter and Noah. Can you believe that?!"

"What? That's terrible!" 

"Finally! Someone who understands me!" Rachel exclaimed in gratitude.

James glared at Mira before he spoke to his sister again. "Mira spent her first year in the school dorms. At least, you were given some level of freedom—"

"With Peter and Noah breathing down my neck. Like, Noah does it literally and it's so creepy. I hate him! He acts too much like my big brother and that's sick. Besides, who lets their teenage daughter live with two guys?" 

"Those who care about their daughter and want her to be safe and those who can obviously see you dislike Noah. Everyone knows you hate him because he acts more like a big brother than Peter does and that's why he's the perfect person to stay with. You won't go astray like Mira did." 

"Hey!" Mira threw the kitchen napkin at him but he was quick to dodge it.

"Jeez! I am seriously beginning to reconsider why I said you were my favourite brother." She sighed causing James and Mira to laugh. 

"How long are you supposed to stay with them?" Mira asked as she took a seat inside the kitchen while James served her pancakes and a hot tea. 

"The entire first year!" Rachel gasped. "One of us must have died before then."

"You can just try, okay? The best thing to do is be good. If Peter and Noah report to your parents that you were good throughout your stay, they may let you move out early, who knows?" 

"You think so, right? You think I can convince them?" 

"Sure." Mira answered. 

"What do you think, James?" 

"A little advice for you, Rachel, I am your big brother. And big brothers see things the way the parents sees them. In fact, they are capable of exaggerating things. If it's up to me, I'd prefer you stay with Peter and Noah until the end of your second year when they'll be graduating." 

There was silence at the other end before Rachel hung up without saying anything else.

Mira and James began to laugh. 

"You know that was mean right?" Mira said. 

"I was serious." He shrugged. 

There was an awkward silence in the kitchen before Mira took a bite from the pancakes and spoke with her eyes fixed on her plate. 

"So... are you ever going to try to start a conversation about what happened two nights ago?" 

"No! Jeez Mira, I don't want to talk about it." He exclaimed and turned towards the sink to wash the dirty dishes. 

"Come on, James, I need to be sure you are not pissed. You have refused to talk about it and has been giving me a strange attitude. I even hand-washed all the sheets and cleaned the room but you refused to move in. 

He stopped what he was doing and turned to look at her.

"Seriously, I think you should keep the room. And that isn't the reason I am pissed. How could you bring a man into our house?! You aren't even sure you like this person. You know basically nothing about him and—"

"He is my boyfriend! Why can't I bring him to the place I live? And we can bring visitors remember? And I like him. And I know a lot about him!" She said defensively. 

He was quiet for a while before he pointed out, "That was a lot of 'and' in one sentence."

There was a moment of silence before the two began to laugh at the same time. 

When the laughter died down, Mira spoke first.

"I'm sorry about that night. Mia would be back today so maybe we can all hang out this Sunday and you can get to meet Michael? He is a great guy, trust me." 

He narrowed his gaze at her suspiciously. "You love him?" 

She hesitated for about three seconds before she nodded, "Of course, he is my boyfriend." 

"Okay." James shrugged. "But if I think he is not good for you, I won't hesitate to say it. You know me."

She giggled, "You'll like him, believe me." She assured him before taking her empty plate to dump on the sink.

"You are doing your own dish, Mira." 

"But my stomach aches."

"You always say that to escape chores. You should start thinking about a better lie." 

She grinned. "Just do the dishes, okay. I'll make dinner." 

He rolled his eyes. "Fine! But this is the last time." Mira smiled in victory. As she was about to leave the kitchen, she smacked James on his butt. 

He gasped in surprise. "You didn't just..." 

"I did, bitch!" She yelled from outside the kitchen.