Quick recap. So, you got to learn about my little standoff with Marcus Liebel back in tenth grade. While in the locker room, we got into it a little bit. Later, in gym class, I got hit by a ball during volleyball. You know now that I think about it, who was it that hit me? Oh well. Anyways, I woke up in the nurse's room after that. I was supposed to meet Erica at my locker. At least that's who I think the nurse hinted. I hope it wasn't Mr. Fisher's daughter. Now I'm walking to room four ten with my little sister Andrea. We're going to see Mrs. Graham at the chess club. 

"Hey, did you get all your homework from your locker? I don't want to have you forgetting something again."

"Don't worry; I have everything."

"Good, I would have made you go to your locker and get it this time."

"So, you said this new girl might know something about our family?"

"It's just a hunch. You know how I am suspicious of everyone."

"When are you not? You're always suspicious when all your gushers are gone. I blame that incident on why you became that way."

"We were kids, and that's just overstretching it. Also, that one time you ate all mine."

"It was that one time. Pretty sure mom ate it all the rest of the time."

"So, who eats gushers and doesn't throw away the box? Not mom. That night I was looking forward to eating them while studying the complexity of matter manipulation. The piece was written by…."

"Please don't start. I can't understand smart people's language."

 "It was a great article that deserved to be absorbed with gushers. Well, anyway, I can't help feeling like I've met Erica before, and I don't know, honestly."

"Hm. Is that so? I thought it would be something interesting. I can't help you out, brother. I have zero relationship experience, and all the boys in my grade just want to rack their girl counts. Oh, the bell just rang."

"We should hurry before the hallway gets crowded. And who said I was looking for relationship advice?"

As you can tell, my little sister and I have a close relationship. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for her. As we made our way to the first floor, Andrea grabbed onto my arm and latched closer to me. I'm guessing because all the bigger kids around tend to scare her. And being four nine must be a whole different story for her. Is it embarrassing? No, not at all. When you do things for family, especially to make them feel safe. There is no shame or embarrassment. It's more happiness.

While we made our way through the hallway, I ran into Jasmine and Valerie. Who both appeared to be waiting for me? My sister is still clinging to me as if we just walked through a horde of zombies, and she has a look of resentment toward Valerie. You're probably wondering about Valerie, but that's a story for another day.

"Aaron, you're finally here."

"Hey, Val. And hi Jasmine."

"Hello, class skipper."

"We went over this before, and I don't skip class. Ok, let's not get off-topic. Has Mrs. Graham arrived?"

"Well, Mr. Smarty Pants Aaron, do you see her around?"

The nerve on this girl is entirely just weird. I bet she's still holding on to what happened this morning. 

"Not yet. Jasmine and I just got here about the same time. No one else has shown up either, and I think she will cancel."

"Why do you say that, Val?"

"Something happened with her husband at home. At least that's what I heard from some other kids."

"Hey, I know you guys are having a discussion. But Aaron, who is that little girl clinging on to you? She looks familiar and is not your secret girlfriend, is she?"

What is wrong with you, Jasmine? She's pushing it today.

"You've known him for how long, Jasmine, and you can't reorganize that's his little sister?"

"Wait, Andrea?! What happened to your long hair??? It used to be so long. I just never saw your face."

"That was mean, what you said to my brother. You better apologize. And I cut it. I'm disappointed you didn't recognize me, considering all the times I've walked home with you and my brother."

"Oh my God, you're so cute with it cut. And I guess I'm sorry, Aaron." 

"Don't touch my head. And you're getting too close to my brother. And you, Val, whatever your name is. Your hands are the dirtiest, so don't let me catch you coming close to him." 

"Andrea, come on. Be nice to them. Sorry guys, she's just overprotective of her big brother. Especially if girls are involved."

"Well, Andrea, I don't know what you mean by the dirtiest. But I can tell you this. I highly respect your brother, and I'm not that type of girl."

Before it went any farther, I decided to put my foot down officially. Valarie still thinks I don't know who she is. So, she'll continue to lie. I'm not too fond of lies, so I didn't want to keep hearing them out of her mouth. 

"Alright, that's enough." 

I could tell Andrea was getting mad as well. She's clenching onto my arm so damn hard. Just why are you still holding on to me? Everyone has left already. 

"Well, Andrea and I are here to tell Mrs. Graham something. I won't be able to attend the chess club."

"You told me you'd be here."

"And you also told me ear morning you'd see me later."

"Well, later did come so…."

"Andrea, that's enough. Well, to both of you, I apologize. We have some things to do at home, and my sister and I."

"What kind of things? What could be more important than the chess club?"

While Jasmine asked that question, I scratched my head, trying to play it off. I could take a glance at Valerie and saw her cold angered eyes looking at Andrea. No wonder my sister was still clinging to me. I brought my sister closer and turned around without answering Jasmine's question. 

"Just tell Mrs. Graham we have family issues. And honestly, I'm not sure if I'll be able to attend the chess club anymore." 

"Huh? Aaron, come on. You're acting strange."

I walked off.

→ Valerie 

"Is it me, or was there something off about Aaron?"

Valerie stood there in shock. Utterly oblivious to the question Jasmine asked.

Without a doubt, he knows. I don't know how he knows, but he does. Just how did you find out, Aaron?

"Hey, Valerie, are you ok? You don't look so good."

"Oh um, yeah, I'm fine. Just felt a bit light-headed, that's all." (Damn, just how did he find out?)

"Well, alright. Here comes Sam and Mark now. It looks like we still have chess today. Come, let's go inside."

→ Aaron

As Andrea and I walked home, all I could feel was frustration. 

"Are you ok, Aaron?"

"I should be asking you that." 

"I'm alright. But you looked scary back there."

"Haha?"

"Yeah."

"Well, you don't have to worry. I can handle myself; no one messes with your big brother. You said you wanted cheeseburgers, right? Well, I think we're out of cheese."

"I went to the store to pick up some yesterday."

"You little...you had this all planned out, didn't you?

"That's a secret."

"Come on, let's hurry home. And you can let go of my hand now."

"Oh right."

I hope Erica isn't mad that I ditched her. That was kind of rude, and maybe I should text her to let her know. Ah, on another note, I'll wait till tomorrow to explain myself. 

My sister and I finally made it to our neighborhood. It's a fifteen-minute walk there. We live in a lovely community—big houses all around with some pools. Most people are doctors, investors, small business owners, and some CEOs. Our home is the last one, but it sits on a hill. For me walking up here is a piece of cake. What kind of athlete would I be if I could walk up a mountain. My sister, on the other hand, gets tired quickly. So, I usually carry her bag for her while she races to the house first. Did I mention there's a gate at the bottom of the driveway? It's finally good to be home. 

"Andrea, what are you doing in the fountain? You're going to get your uniform wet again."

A fountain sits in the center of the driveway, making a loop around it. Every day she tosses a coin in there, wishing mom and dad safe travels.

"Hold on. I'm just tossing the coin."

"Alright, I'm heading inside. I'll start dinner. We can do some of your homework while I cook. Which subject do you want to get out of the way?"

Watch, it's going to be math. 

"Math. Why do you ask that every time?"

"No reason, just checking to see if you're not an alien disguised as my sister."

"You know I wonder about your sanity sometimes."

"Going insane could mean using another part of your brain. We just don't have the technology to know for sure, nor do we understand. Psychology degrees mean nothing when truly experiencing it."

"You know, I'm not sure if half of that makes sense. "

"Haha, see what I mean? Maybe I'm already insane."

"Weirdo." 

"Baby."

"Smartass." 

"Better than being a dumbass."

I headed upstairs to get changed. And made my way downstairs to the kitchen and started preparing dinner. Oh, Right, our parents. Well, they travel a lot for work. My father owns a giant corporation called Wheeler Industries, which is well known worldwide. They specialize in technology, medical research, and many more. And my mother owns a modeling company called Rosé. 

My parents have always been hard workers. But the thing I love about them the most is they'll take weeks or months off to be with my sister and me. When we have any activities at school or celebrations, they always come. My mother and father have a great relationship, and they are too close sometimes. Blah. When they are home for an extended period, we go on nature walks and eat dinner as a family. 

It feels good knowing their main priority is my sister and me. I've learned about quite a few kids that aren't so lucky. Life may seem easy because I'm intelligent, famous, and run track. Or come from a wealthy family, but at the end of the day. Both my parents worked hard to get where they were. Both didn't have much growing up, and they taught my sister and me well. That's why we don't go around telling people who we are or where we live. I just don't like telling anyone. I just want to fit in and hopefully find a place where I belong.

That's one of the secrets I keep from school. Honestly, I like how we do things, and I don't even think the world knows both two the well-known CEOs have children. At least to my knowledge. I'm just glad that last month they said this month would be their last time traveling around for long periods. So, they will be working in our city. They decided to build a new headquarters building. They merged with both of their companies. 

Again, you could say my sister, and I have it easy, but we never attended a fancy school or got special education. We usually lived just like any other kids. We earned what we wanted, never given. She and I both got taught the meaning of working hard for something. Honestly, it feels good to work towards something and earn it. I'm thankful I'm not spoiled, even if your parents are billionaires. 

"Man, you work fast, don't you?"

"Finally, decided to come inside?"

"Don't answer a question with a question."

"Hey, quit taking my lines." 

"Still didn't answer my question."

Damn, she got me good there.

"Yes, I work fast. There. Now bring your math in here."

"Oh, ok, dad."

"Funny."

A little time passed, and dinner was finally ready. I had to write multiple equations for Andrea when I was making it. Andrea seems to understand the homework more when I teach her. She's a great student in the honors program with an IQ of ninety-seven. You were so close to one hundred, little sister, but I'm proud of you. My guess is she probably struggled with the math questions. She gets A's in all her classes except math, in which she only gets Bs. We decided to put the homework away for now and eat. We had some light conversations about school and plans for the weekend. 

After we washed the dishes together, we headed back to the homework. Here and there, Andrea got frustrated, only this time it was science. By the time we finished, it was a little bit after nine o'clock. She went upstairs to shower and will most likely be watching her show in her room. I stayed downstairs in the living room with the light dimmed down. I listened to music while working on the homework I missed for the online computer class.  

Some time passed, and I finished my homework and studying. That's when I received a text from Erica. 

EE_… Are you able to come outside for a moment? I'm at your house.

[~~~]

→ Erica