I stepped into the house and closed the door behind me. A familiar figure loomed in the corner of my vision, but I paid it no mind as I slowly slid the shoes off my feet.
"You got home later than usual today. You aren't in any clubs, so did something come up?" she probed.
By this point, I had finished taking off my shoes. Usually, the moment I get home, I want to go to my room for a little bit of relaxation after school. In order to do that, I have to pass this person. Without any hesitation, I began walking toward the stairs, staring at the empty space between her and the first step.
"No, Luna and Yu just wanted to hang out a bit after school," I said dismissively.
"Ohhh, I like both of them. Out of all your friends, they are the only ones I like. You should try hanging out with them more!"
I responded with a shrug, walking past her. She didn't say anything else once I did, but I felt her heavy gaze levelled against my back as I climbed. Yet, I continued to maintain my steady pace.
The moment I escaped her field of view, my steps seemed to sink just a little bit deeper into the ground. I trudged along the hallway until I reached my room. Once I did, I closed the door behind me and let out a deep sigh.
What a long day…
Now that I was finally alone, I could allow myself to just… breathe. I changed out of my uniform and into my home clothes. When I'm at home, no matter how hot or cold it is, I like wearing a plain sleeveless shirt along with basketball shorts.
It looked much more sloppy compared to what I normally wear, but I don't need to care at home.
After I finished changing, I collapsed onto my bed and sank into the soft, cool mattress. Nothing beats the feeling of just lying around doing nothing after a long day like this.
I closed my eyes and embraced this comfortable silence.
*Thump*
Surely, nothing could go wrong here…
*Thump* *Thump* *Thump*
Ugh. Out of all the times, it always has to be when I'm trying to relax!
I let out a loud, irritated groan to signal that whoever was approaching was unwelcome. I knew better than anyone, though, that it was a hopeless endeavour to try and stop her.
Suddenly, the door to my room swung open. I kept my eyes closed, but judging from their ragged breaths, I knew who it was.
"What do you want, Lily?"
Lily didn't respond. She just remained standing completely still where she was. Despite the fact that I had my eyes closed, I could vividly imagine the face she had on.
"Why do you sound like you're annoyed? I just want to talk to you for a bit!"
…Looks like I was right.
"Can't you use your eyes? What does it look like I'm doing? I'm trying to have a nice time over here—and you ruined it."
Lily snorted as she approached. "Oh boohoo, stop complaining! All I want is for you to listen to me for a bit. Is it too much to ask for some of your time?!"
I sighed and reluctantly opened my eyes. The light blared into my face, burning my retinas. It was the least of my worries right now, though, so I hardly noticed it.
My room was pretty simple. There was a closet, a couple of kid photos of me that my Mom hung up and refuses to let me take down, a fan, and lastly—a desk and a chair.
I let out one more sigh before I rolled off my bed and sat in the chair. My sister smiled happily as she leaped onto my bed and snuggled into my blankets as if she owned them.
"Well, hurry up, what are you here for?"
Lily pouted. "Oh, cmon! I just got here, let me get comfortable first."
She said that she was getting comfortable, but I knew damn well she was just stalling for time. As much as it annoyed me, I didn't say anything to rush her. Instead, I pulled out my phone and checked my notifications. A text had popped up in the group chat with Yu and Luna.
"Hahhhh, what a day. Anyway, as you already know, I went shopping today with my friends. Well, I say shopping, but it's us just looking around because we have no money–"
As Lily began talking, I opened the group chat and saw that Luna had sent us a message. Well, it couldn't have been anyone else. Yu sucks at texting or even checking his phone, and I… well, I check, and I can initiate, but I try not to.
"So we went to all these stores—which, by the way, everything was ugly. There's just nothing for me! That's what I thought, until I went into the nail store where I met you and your friends–"
Luna had asked us if and when we were going to eat ramen. My eyes widened as I read the message under hers. Surprisingly, Yu actually responded, saying that he was down and free whenever.
Well… shit! Now I have to respond.
"There was this really cute set that just screamed my name. But, as you already know… I'm broke! So I had to ask Dad to give me money. To which–"
Luna is good at wanting to hang out, and Yu is down for whatever, anytime. It should be easy to make plans with these people… but it isn't. Whenever someone asks something, the response is always "I don't care" or "I'm fine with anything," and we never get anywhere. That forces me to be the one to actually have to make the decisions when I don't care either. It's a lot of work.
"I tried putting it on today, but it was really hard! I don't have a single clue what I'm doing. And the instructions make no sense at all! I could ask Mom… but I want to do it myself and show her. I don't know what–"
My fingers quickly typed out the message: "Tmr. After shcool. See u all thrhe." There were a few typos in the message, but Luna seemed understand what I meant as she replied with a thumbs-up. While Yu… didn't reply at all. I don't even know if he saw the message.
Whatever, I can just tell him tomorrow. He'll probably be free anyway.
Suddenly, my phone was grabbed out of my hand and thrown onto the bed.
"Are you even listening to me?!"
Before I even realized it, Lily had gotten out of bed and was now in front of me with her arms crossed. Since she was standing over me, she looked down with a scowl on her face. Her foot repeatedly tapped against the floor as she impatiently waited for my answer.
"Yeah, I was. Why?" I said calmly.
Lily scoffed. "Oh yeah? Then repeat everything I just told you."
I didn't reply. The longer the silence between us held, the further a victorious smirk crept onto her face. "What's wrong? Can't you? This is why–"
"TL;DR, you went out shopping with your friends. Nothing was for you, blah blah blah. You went into the nail store, found something you liked. You're broke, asked Dad—he probably gave you money. Tried doing it yourself, failed, don't want to ask Mom, and don't know what to do. Is that everything?"
Her mouth hung open as her scowl morphed into pure disbelief.
"I—you—that's—you're… cheating! You can't do that!"
I remained as neutral as ever.
"Can't do what? Listen? Well—clearly, I can. And did."
She clicked her tongue, her brows furrowing together. "Well… if you were listening… why didn't you act like it?!"
"What do you want me to do? Every time you talk, I mindlessly nod my head and say 'uh-huh'? If you ask me, what I did was much more considerate."
Lily childishly stomped her foot on the ground. "Oh, don't play smart with me! Engage in the conversation! Ask questions, say some of your stupid jokes, I don't know!"
"You clearly don't know a lot today."
"Oh, shut up!"
Lily reeled her foot back and launched it towards me. Since my chair had wheels, I pushed my legs against the floor, sending myself backward. Lily's foot skimmed the hairs of my leg before making direct impact with the hard wooden desk.
The desk rattled with a loud bang the moment her leg hit. Lily immediately lurched back and fell to the ground, clutching her foot.
"OW! OW! OW!!!!"
Tears formed in the corners of her eyes as she desperately massaged her toes.
You idiot… this is why you shouldn't pick fights you can't win.
I sighed as I got up from the chair and walked toward her.
She looked up at me with pained, watery eyes, her lips trembling. Her mouth opened and closed, but the only thing that came out of it were pathetic whimpers.
Okay, okay, fine. Just stop looking at me like that!
"Hahhhh. Stay put, I'll go get something."
Lily gave me a pitiful, feeble nod. I gave her a light pat on the head—trying to be as gentle as possible—and left my room to enter hers.
Always making me do extra work even though I should be relaxing. I hope she's grateful!
Even as I grumbled in my mind, I continued moving forward.