Austin fell face first onto his king-sized bed with a loud groan. And there he stayed without movement for several hours until there was a knock at his door.

    “Austin, Mom says to come down for dinner.” The voice hesitated before throwing open the door, “Fuck, Austin are you dead?” 

    Austin felt a foot plunge into his side, which caused him to finally move, “Violet that hurts.” 

    Violet Ianu was Austin’s 25-year-old sister. She had short and thick auburn hair, and her eyes were a soft hazel. Despite their 10-year age difference, the siblings had always been close. It destroyed Austin when she moved out with her husband Connor, 7 years ago, but luckily for him, she and Connor were constantly visiting. Unfortunately, they would always bring his archnemesis with them. His 6-year-old niece, Abby. No one could explain their hatred for each other, but the feeling has always been there. Austin first met her after her birth, and she immediately threw up on him then screamed. His parents always claimed that she didn’t actually hate him, but she was just shy. They weren’t completely incorrect, Abby was quite shy and very hard to get along with, but her distaste for Austin was beyond any other bond. Luckily, she avoided him like the plague, otherwise, Austin would constantly be in trouble for quarreling with a 6-year-old.

    “Good, you’re not dead. That would have been a pain to explain to Mom and Dad.” Violet pushed on his back again, this time with her hand, causing the boy to sit up and face her. “Oh. That’s not a happy face. What’s going on?”

    “Ugh,” -Austin flopped back down on his bed- “Didn’t you say we have to eat. Let’s just go do that.” 

    As Austin tried to stand, Violet pushed him back onto the bed, “Stop being an angsty teen and tell me what’s going on. Dinner can wait. We have microwaves.”

    Austin knew his sister. She wasn’t going to let this go. “I think I ruined my friendship with someone.” Austin’s face flushed at the thought of Samuel, which he tried to hide, but Violet caught.

    “Friendship, huh?” Austin nodded, not making eye contact. “Ok, I’ll go along with that for now. What’d you do, idiot?”

    Austin narrowed his eyes at his sister. “It’s hard to explain, but a rumor is being spread because of me.”

    “A rumor? How did you manage to spread a rumor about a friend?” Violet’s face was tinted with slight anger.

    “I didn’t spread it. I didn’t even know it existed until someone pointed it out.”

    “Wait, wait. How are you the cause then?” The woman’s face softened into confusion.

    “Well, my sorta friend Samantha, says it’s because I may have sorta, maybe, possibly developed a teensy-weensy crush on our mutual friend—”

    “The one the rumors about?”

    “Yeah. Apparently, I wasn’t hiding it as well as I thought I was. But people already disliked my friend, so it got all twisted around. And I think people are taking it differently than a crush. And now my friend is like really upset, but too stubborn to admit it. So we can’t help. And AGH… I don’t know what to do. Samantha told me I just need to use my status to stop it, but what if that makes things worse.”

    Violet placed her fingers on her chin and tapped, “I understand where you’re coming from, but I think you should risk it. I mean you could just let it fizzle out, but if your friend is really affected you should try to end it as fast as possible.”

    Austin nodded, stood up, and grabbed a notebook. He and Violet then spent the next hour planning how exactly he would stop the staring and rumors, without Samuel knowing. Finally, the plan was worked out and Violet stood to leave, before turning back to him.

    “So, your crush. What’s his name?”

    “Samuel,” Austin answered quickly still studying his notebook. He froze with realization, “Wait… What? How- How did you—”

    Violet smiled, “You used a serious lack of pronouns in our conversation just now.” She laughed a deep and genuine laugh. “Don’t worry buddy I won’t tell.” Violet winked, before leaving the large suite.