I walked into the living room, cradling the starfish stuffed animal in my arms. Fortunately, the sight of my sister hunched over the dining room table greeted me, so I didn’t have to go searching for her. A deep frown marred her features as she scribbled something onto a piece of paper before letting out a long and dramatic sigh and erasing it. I couldn't help but chuckle at her antics, causing her to stare at me like a deer caught in the headlights. She almost fell off the chair in her haste to reach me, and I braced myself, so as not to be bowled over by her. Her small arms latched around my waist and she started talking a mile a minute.

"You're back. Thank god! Mom tried to help me with my homework, but I don't think she knows what she's doing. She keeps saying kids these days are doing too much in math, and back in her day they just solved the problems. And what's that?" She pointed to the oversized stuffed animal pressed against my chest.

I ruffled her hair. "It's a starfish, squirt."

Bonnie released me, hands flying to the top of her head in an attempt to smooth the frizziness. Sadly for her, she inherited the same messy hair everyone in my family had. "You know that's not what I meant."

I understood exactly what she was trying to ask, but teasing her was so much more fun. "Can't say I do."

She fixed me with a glare. "Is that for me or not?"

I cupped my chin and stared off, pretending to be lost in thought. "I wonder? It'd probably be better to give it to a little sister who loves and respects me."

She pounded my chest with her fists. "You're a big jerk!"

"Hmm..." I kept up with my charade. "Not really convincing me here."

That was when my mom entered the dining room, an apron tied around her waist. It was one of those stupid novelty ones with the words 'World's Best Chef' written across it in big bold letters. We all knew it was a blatant lie, but my mom found it endlessly amusing. She watched my sister hitting me with a hint of amusement before shaking her head. "Bonnie, leave your brother alone please."

With a huff, she backed away from me. Her scowl informed me this wasn’t over, but being her older brother, I took the high road. I blew raspberries at her while pulling a stupid face.

My mom crossed her arms. "Oh, darling children of mine. If only everyone was as mature as both of you, the world would be a better place." Her tone dripped with sarcasm and made my sister do a double-take. My reaction was less over the top than Bonnie's, but I always found it amazing how she could go from sugary sweet to sarcastic at a moment's notice.

"Anyway, give Bonnie that before she blows a gasket. You know how crazy she gets over stuffed animals," she said.

"Here, squirt." That was all the warning I gave her prior to tossing the starfish over to her. She snatched it out of the air, showing off her skills acquired through years of playing softball.

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"It was nice of you to get your sister a gift. That must have been pretty expensive," she added, admiring the stuffed animal while Bonnie fussed over every little stitch.

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Well actually my..."

I trailed off, unsure how to describe my relationship with Rika. She wasn't exactly my friend, but she wasn't a stranger anymore either. What did that make her? An acquaintance? That seemed too weird and informal to explain our relationship.

My mom raised her brows. "You didn't have some random person buy this for you, did you?"

"Of course not. Rika bought it for her."

The name piqued both of their interests, enough for Bonnie to stop fawning over the stuffed animal and for my mom to beam. I could almost see the gears spinning in her mind about the different ways she could taunt me. "Who's Rika?"

I shrugged my shoulders at the low ball question. "A friend from school."

"Oh, knock it off. You can talk to your mom about these kinds of things. What about cute, little Rika caught your eye?"

Holy shit did I wish the ground would swallow me up right now. I ignored the snicker from Bonnie, as I tried to control my blush. "Mom, Rika and me aren't like that. This is the first time I’ve ever hung out with her."

She appeared skeptical. "Uh-huh. And she happens to buy Bonnie a gift even though you're just friends?"

I rolled my shoulders again, unsure of the answer myself. "She's weird like that."

My mother flashed me a knowing smile. "If you say so. Anyway, do you have your homework done?"

"Not yet. I'll go get it done now."

"Good idea. I'll call you down when dinner's done."

I give them a back-handed wave on my way out, rushing up the stairs to my bedroom.

____________

With my homework, helping my sister with her homework, and dinner out of the way, I could finally relax. I sent Rika a message earlier telling her how grateful Bonnie was with the gift. She hadn't responded yet, but that was fine. I was just glad we were able to find a suitable birthday present for Ethan. I browsed through some of the comments on my latest chapter, picking and choosing which ones were worth responding to. I ignored the obvious troll and replied to the commenter thanking me for my hard work and the commenter worried that the plot was getting derailed. In the middle of responding to a review, I received a text. The banner on the top of my phone let me know it was from Rika.

Rika: Here's something nice like I promised. No need to thank me.

This girl was too much.

My phone vibrated twice more, and she sent me an image and another text. I miss the finer details, however, because I was focused on finishing my response to the review. Once that was complete, I massaged my temples and mentally prepared myself for whatever nonsense was in store for me. Opening the 'Messages' app revealed the photo of me in the eyeglass shop Rika took without permission. Underneath the picture was her message.

Rika: Guy's a solid 7/10 in this pic. Would've been a 9/10 if he smiled like he did at the board game store

It was obvious she was teasing me, but suddenly my room felt way too stuffy. I dropped my phone onto my bed and trudged out into the hallway, coming face-to-face with my sister. Bonnie took one look at me and cackled. "Mom, his face is all red and he's grinning like an idiot."

"Don't be mean to him. He probably just got off a lovey-dovey phone call with Rika."

The two of them broke into hysterics as I returned to my room and slammed the door behind me; it wasn’t so stuffy after all.