She woke up at home, in bed. For a bit, she had no clue of what happened to her. Then, it all came rushing back to her.
“I… I have a brother… Who’s that Mara woman? Dad!” Her father came rushing up the stairs, as did Crystal.
“Hey, Aileen. Glad to see that you’re awake. Apparently you just passed out from lack of sleep. Crystal told me everything. Yes, you have two half-siblings. One brother and one sister, as I recall. The older one is the boy, his name is Matthew. I think that he’s twenty four by now. The other one is only twenty, and her name is Marguerite. Mara, for short. She owns the flower shop downtown, the one you liked when you were really little. It used to be her mom’s, but she gave it to Marguerite when you were sixteen. Do you want to meet them?” Aileen nodded numbly. She couldn’t believe it. She went through life as an only child, and now… She pondered this for a long while, until the sound of a peppy female voice rang out from downstairs, as Aileen’s dad and Crystal went back down.
“Where’s my baby sister, Dad? The one you, uh, never told me about! Seriously, I only learned about her today, thanks to Matt here! Why didn’t you tell us? Oh, this must be her girlfriend! Hi! Can you tell me where my baby sister is?” Aileen called down from her bedroom,
“First of all, I’m seventeen, guys! I’m only about two, maybe three years younger than whoever the hell Marguerite is! Second of all, I’m up here! Please, come in! Oh, but remember to watch the ankle!” Feet pounded up the stairs, as her dad shouted up,
“Language, mija! If you’re going to swear, swear in Spanish so Crystal won’t understand, for God’s sake!” A woman that was barely the same height as Crystal squeezed Aileen into a tight hug.
“Hi! I’m whoever the hell Marguerite is, but call me Mara! Oh, you’re so pretty! How are you? What do you like to do on your days off? Cats or dogs? Hey, Cry-” A hand clasped over Mara’s mouth.
“Hey, Mara, slow down. Give her some time to adjust. Hello there, Miss Juarez-Ellis. How’re you feeling after your little… Tumble in the hallway?” Aileen snorted as Matt adjusted his glasses.
“Don’t tell Dad that I taught Crystal the Spanish swears. Also, dude, call me Aileen. You’re my brother, you have permission, Mister Juarez. Sorry, I meant Matthew. Or Matt. Or whatever you want to be called!” Mara looked at them in confusion.
“Wait, so you had that nerd as a substitute just today? What did he do, did he make you eat worms or something?” Aileen shook her head, and called down the stairs for Crystal.
“Hey, Crys! Could you get me some juice, and maybe tell Mara here about what happened today! Also, I’m cold!” Crystal rushed upstairs with some juice, and instead of bringing a blanket, she just laid next to Aileen.
“Aileen, I will warm you with my body heat. Mara wants to know? So, Leen tried to hold my hand, right? So, we held hands under the table for like, half a second, when a kid saw. They started screaming about it and then Matt here just absolutely roasted them! Then Matt here came up to Aileen after class and she went, ‘Hey, you were a cool sub!’ And then Matt went, ‘Hi, I’m actually your half brother.’ He mentioned you too. Then, Aileen just fainted! I was worried, but it’s kind of hilarious now. Oh, did I mention that I caught her, because I totally did. I also have the vocabulary of a twelve year old in my story telling.” Matt smirked, and spoke with obvious sarcasm.
“Great storytelling skills, Crystal. Although, I can verify that she did, in fact, catch Aileen. You’re pretty strong when you’re scared, Crys.” Mara turned to Crystal, and started questioning her.
“Hey! So, how did you meet Aileen? What happened to her ankle? Would you ever hurt her? If you do, I swear, I’ll hurt you! By the way, isn’t it funny that I met-” Crystal sighed.
“First of all, I ran into her. That’s literal, by the way. She broke it in a coffee shop, and I may or may not have carried her bridal-style to the ambulance. I love her, and wouldn’t ever hurt her. In all honesty, I’m prepared to do anything to keep her from being hurt.” Mara nodded, satisfied with Crystal’s answer.
“Alright. So… When’s the wedding?” Matt stared at Mara while Aileen and Crystal started coughing out of shock.
“We… We aren’t engaged, sis! What the heck?” Mara smirked, and cooly replied,
“Well, who’s going to propose? Don’t act like I don’t see those promise rings! I want to know! Oh, how did you guys get together? Details, details, details!” Crystal patted Aileen’s back, as if saying, I’ll take this one. Soon, enough, she spoke, as if recalling a memory from long ago.
“Woah, first of all, they aren’t promise rings. Leen bought us mood rings on date night a few weeks ago. Anyways, Aileen and I were at the skating rink, like usual. We were just goofing around and having fun on the ice, and I was kind of marveling at how gorgeous she was, but that’s not important. She skated by me, and she kissed me on the cheek.” At this point in the story, Aileen had buried her face in a pillow, amassing a pillow fortress to hide in for all eternity. She was still kind of embarrassed about that. Crystal continued.
“I totally freaked out, and ran to the bathroom. I knew I liked her, but I didn’t think that she was gay. I was convinced that she was a heterosexual, trademark symbol. So, I came out of the bathroom after freaking out for a few minutes, and asked for a date. She said yes. The rest is kind of just history. Man, was that three years ago now? Babe, was that three years ago yet, or are we still at two years and a few months?” Aileen emerged from her pillow fortress that she had created, and said,
“Let’s see… Our three year anniversary is in three weeks and three days as of right now. You’ve got time.” Crystal sighed in relief.
“Good, I for sure thought that I had forgotten.” Matt and Mara giggled. Matt spoke up, with a sly tone evident in his voice.
“So… She’s cute, Leen. I’m just saying, if you really love me, you’ll share her!” Crystal flushed, and Aileen rolled her eyes.
“Matt! First of all, that’s illegal, you’re like, twenty four. Second of all, didn’t you say that you were gay?” Matt fake-sighed.
“Guilty as charged. Touché, little sis, touché. However…” Mara smacked Matt playfully.
“Am I really the only straight person in the room right now?” Aileen nodded slyly, as Crystal slowly emerged from the pillows, still flushed tomato-red.
“Well, probably. Unless Leen’s turtle is straight… Babe, is your turtle heterosexual?” Aileen shrugged.
“Crystal, babe, the light of my life, my gayvorite person- Whoops, vocal typo, favorite person, are you high? I’m kidding, I’m kidding, Crystal has never done a drug in her life, guys!” She said, seeing the looks on Matt and Mara’s faces as Crystal giggled at her slip of words. Aileen yawned, and said,
“Hey, I’m tired… Can you guys head home? I kind of want to sleep.” Matt smiled in understanding, as Mara pouted.
“Fine! But only if we hang out on Saturday! Is that okay, Leen?” Aileen yawned sleepily, then nodded in agreement. Matt spoke up.
“Hey, we should take Crystal home. Crys, do you need a ride?” Crystal smiled gratefully.
“That’d be amazing, guys. Goodnight Leen! Remember, Friday is date night!” And then, the world fell into a peaceful quiet as Aileen drifted off to sleep…