Chapter 52: Wife

           On the night of Seppen's birthday, Harry dragged me to his room. "This is repulsive," I commented, staring at his mess. I had always known that Harry was lazy, but the sight of dirty laundry dumped on the floor, month old food, and—was that a fly?—brown newspaper made me want to vomit.

           His room was fairly unchanged from Uncle Buzz's time in it. That was most likely because they had the same tastes. The pinups were in pristine condition, and I wouldn't have been terribly surprised if Harry polished the framed photos of scantly clad girls. 

           "So, my fraternal twin, why have you called me into your lair?"

           "Well, my esteemed womb-sister, I have been occupying my time most obsessively at the chemistry table," Harry said.

           "Yes, I have wondered about that."

           "See, I found this note that Uncle Buzz had written. It was a formula for... well, I know you won't laugh at me, but promise?"

           "Why would I laugh at you?"

           "We'll see. Anyhow, it was a formula to make a potion that would turn one's... imaginary friend real."

           "Imaginary friend?" I asked, surprised. It seemed unlikely that such a thing was possible. The potion, that is, not the imaginary friend.

           "We got these dolls when we were younger, Yuki, and I talk to mine," Harry explained nervously. He opened the door to his room and called, "Dopey!" He then shut the door. A few moments later, the door opened, seemingly on its own. "Yuki... meet Dopey."

            "Well, in that case," I responded, navigating around where I believed Dopey to be and reopening the door, "Doc!"

           "You've got your own imaginary friend?"

           I nodded. We waited patiently for a few moments. Doc entered. I could see him, as usual, but Harry's eyes were looking at the space to the right of his head. I wondered whether Doc could see Dopey. If he could, I wondered if they talked. It seemed quite likely, as they would have no one else to occupy their time.

           "Then, it's as I thought," Harry concluded. He opened his dresser door and handed me a stoppered flask, identical to the one he was already holding.

           They were filled with a cloudy, orange liquid. "So, what exactly do you mean by 'real'?" I asked.

           "This will turn Doc and Dopey human," he replied, clenching his flask tightly.

           "What if something goes wrong?"

           "Nothing will go wrong. I've tested and tested this. Trust me. If anything is wrong with these potions, then I would have known—every failed attempt I've had has blown up in my face. Literally."

           "How could it turn them real?"

           "I don't know, exactly. I was just following Uncle Buzz's recipe. I think he's a lot smarter than he lets on."

           "Ready, then?" I asked nervously. Harry nodded, and we handed our potions over. Doc seemed hesitant (he was always cautious), but Dopey downed his right away. I still couldn't see him, but bright purple light started shooting out of him. It seemed to be a good sign, as Harry sighed in relief.

           Doc followed suite.

           Within ten minutes, their transformation was complete. Dopey had dark skin and hair and was pretty well muscled. He had a very 'Californian surfer' way of speaking, while Doc was nearly the opposite. Doc had pale skin, blue and black hair and freckles sprinkled all over his skin. He had on glasses and a posh uniform. He was also a bit heavy. He was exactly as I had always imagined him. Perhaps Dopey was exactly as Harry had imagined him, and that was why they had transformed in such ways.

           Harry and Dopey immediately threw signs of friendship and bromance at each other, while Doc politely introduced himself to me. "I already know who you are, silly," I squealed, and gave him a bear hug. He hugged me back. It was something that we had done many times before while he was in doll form, but he was even squishier in human form. 

           We hurried downstairs for Seppen's party. Her initial surprise at seeing two random boys didn't last long, as she was more concentrated on continuing with the festivities.

           She made her wish and blew out the candles.

           Doc seemed to take an inexplicable liking to Seppen and immediately started flirting with her. She was just confused. Doc had never mentioned this before—surely he must have seen Seppen? Yes, he must have, as he had told me that he could see everyone in my family. I wondered if he had ever watched Seppen bathe. I shuddered at the thought. He was a gentleman, and I was rather doubtful that he was interested in human anatomy.

           Dopey also seemed to like my sister, and went to talk to her after Doc. Again, she seemed pleased, but confused. She didn't know that these boys knew her very well. After all, they had lived with her since we were little kids. I reminded myself of this fact around Dopey, who had also grown up with me, though I hadn't been aware of his existence until some hours ago.

           Seeing how everyone was distracted, I snuck back upstairs. My instinct to clean was way too strong, and I walked into Harry's room armed with garbage bags, Windex, and gloves. I started off by scooping up trash into the garbage bags, then by piling his laundry into a laundry bag. I was glad for my gloves when my fingers touched a pair of jeans that were stiff at the crotch. Despite the gloves, though, my instinct to vomit was so strong that I dry retched, glad that I hadn't had any birthday cake. 

           I returned a little while later with a vacuum cleaner in order to get rid of the tons of flies swarming around his room and to vacuum up the food crumbs and dirt in his room. How could he live like that? I was almost disgusted that I had shared the same living space as him for nearly nine months. Poor foetus Yuki.

           Even though I had cleaned his room, Harry was still a teenager. He told me all about his dates with his girl, even though I never wanted to hear them. He had left the house wearing the most ridiculous get-up; a tropical shirt that one would ordinarily only find on tourists with his hair blow dried to the side. It had worked like a charm, apparently, as the moment that she had seen him, Shauni Stevenson (as she was apparently called) latched her lips onto his. 

           They were making out behind the park's outdoor bathrooms, too. Really classy. An unimpressed adult had eventually kicked them out, but not before Harry had, and I quote, 'copped a feel.' 

           They had proceed to go see a movie called "I'm Dying, Let's Dance", which was a chick flick chosen by Shauni. At the end of the movie, Harry had presented her with a bouquet of red flowers, which she was apparently quite pleased to have received. He had been trying to work up the courage to ask her to be his girlfriend, but hadn't quite gotten to that point.

           On a happy note, something wonderful happened on Seppen's graduation day. 

           She had been feeling disheartened, lately (understandably) and was anxious to move out after graduating. As a present to me, and a way of saying goodbye, she was painting a picture. I felt bad for her. She had never been close to Harry, Bert or I. She was closest to me because we had shared the same room, but we had never shared a connection. I confided in Harry a lot more than I did in her. Harry and Seppen, though looking almost exactly like each other, were virtually strangers, and she had never had many friends in school.

           Despite their disagreements, Sep had always respected daddy and had been friends with him. It helped that they both had a kind heart and a great sense of humour. I had always been jealous of Sep and daddy laughing together at television shows when I never understood the joke.

           Anyway, as I was saying, the morning of her commencement ceremony, daddy approached her at her easel. He was nearly in tears and had a hard time choking out his words, so Seppen had to calm him down.

           "I'm sorry," he managed to say before tears flooded his face. "I'm so very proud of you, and now that you're a grown woman... it's hard to see my baby grown up, and I guess I just wanted to shelter you forever."

           "Dad, I'm not Yuki," she had said (which was rude, but never mind), "I'm aware of what's going on around me in life and I want to be part of it."

           "I know that, and I'm sorry that I tried to deny you that. I'm sorry about all the horrible things I said. I'm very proud of you, Seppen, and I want you to know that. And your mother—" he couldn't finish his sentence.

           "I understand, dad," Seppen said, trying to hold back tears herself.

           "Here," daddy said, his voice breaking, and handed her a gift.

           "It's the hair tie that Jessie always wore," daddy said, smiling. "I know that it doesn't seem like much—"

           "It's perfect, dad," Seppen responded, pulling it out. She slipped it on her wrist and her smile wobbled. The elastic was stretched loose from wear.

           "I love you, honey," daddy said, pulling her into a hug.

           "I love you too, dad," she responded.

           "Now, no more crying," daddy scolded, wiping tears out of Seppen's eyes and his own. "You've got a graduation to attend!"

           Seppen hadn't asked Harry or I to go, as most of the ceremony involved her peers and would be boring to us. Daddy went to support her. He even let her drive there in his expensive car. He didn't approve of the cap she was wearing, but he decided not to mention it. He had learnt from his sister that sometimes, it was best to let women be.

           Seppen graduated with honours, which made her pretty happy. She was so happy about the situation with daddy and at her graduation that she allowed daddy to take a photo of her. Of course, she had to act the part of the diva and hammed up as much of the photo as possible. Daddy was very proud of her, though, and eagerly showed Harry and I the photo.

           I had been busy learning how to ride. Flame was improving so much faster than I ever could, and he was prone to trying new things that I didn't like. I knew that I had to train him properly if I was ever going to learn how to ride well.
           Daddy had finally given me the new riding clothes that he had promised, and they weren't too shabby. I looked cute while being comfortable; although nothing could save my rear end from the soreness it felt after a particularly long riding session.
           I had discovered that Flame loved eating apples. After I let him out of his pen to drink and stretch his legs out a bit, I would tend to the garden that gramma had started. I would gather apples and keep them on hand, giving them to him whenever he did something good. I also enjoyed them, and would crunch on my own apple while he ate.

           Now that Harry was spending more time with Shauni and Seppen was devoting all of her time into job applications and finding a home, I in turn concentrated my efforts towards Flame. The girls at school... they were making my life difficult, to say the least. I was never sure of what I had done to them, but they were out to get me. Not all of the girls at my school, obviously, but one group of girls despised me. I was never sure, but I always thought that they were jealous of me because I was dating Stefan. Because of this, I tended to avoid Stefan. I hadn't responded to his texts or phone calls in over a week, and had ducked into the girl's bathroom every time I saw him at school. Perhaps I was hoping that everything would return to normal, when we were just friends.
           "But no one's jealous of me loving you, are they, Flame?" I whispered into his mane, leaning forward on my saddle. He tilted his head back at me.

           Once I was good enough, I entered in the local racing competition. I was extremely nervous, but it helped that I had Flame right under me. He was the one doing the hard work, in any case. At first, I thought that everyone would be fairly advanced, even though I had entered in the beginner's competition. I was pleased to see people who looked just as nervous as me, and spoke to a girl next to me.

           "Is this your first time racing?" I asked.

           She shook her head. "Second," she corrected, "but I'm just as nervous as the first time."
           It was a simple exchange, but enough to give me confidence. We wished each other good luck and went to our starting posts. With my coaxing and careful monitoring of Flame's progress, we managed to finish third! I was ecstatic, especially because we won a small amount of prize money.

           Seppen told me that she had gotten a job interview at the local business centre. She had tried to appear calm and professional, but I could sense her excitement anyway. I told her to tell me all about it. That night, she did just that.
           "Yuki!" she squealed, bursting into our room at three a.m.
           "Wh-what?" I mumbled, blinking at the sudden light.
           "I got the job!" she yelled, causing me to shrink below my covers.
           A few minutes later, I had properly woken up and was sitting on Seppen's bed beside her. Her breath smelt of alcohol and she was acting a lot sillier than usual.
           "So, the interview went well?"I whispered cautiously.
           "Yes, and the interviewer told me to meet my boss. He said that his boss had the final word. So I went over to the bar—"
           "The bar?"
           "Yeah, it's where he liked to work. Anyway, as soon as I shook his hand I felt weak at the knees. He's gorgeous, Yuki Blanche, gorgeous. Blonde, tall, strong, and handsome."

           I tried not to roll my eyes, but Seppen was too drunk to notice, anyhow.
           "He bought me a beer and we chatted for a while. He was really impressed with me and thought that I would be a great addition to his team. He liked my attitude and my confidence," Seppen said, preening. "We chatted for a while and I discovered that we share a lot of the same interests."
           "What was his name?" I interrupted.
           "Degan Rhodes."
           I filed the name away for the future.
           "I guess I was a little drunk, because Isortofkissedhimeventhoughehasagirlfriend," Seppen blubbered.
           "What did you just say? He has a girlfriend?"
           Seppen whimpered. "Her name's Sadie."
           "And you kissed him?"

            "Well, she's not really his girlfriend, they just have a thing. It's kinda like you and—um, it's like Harry and Shauni," Seppen stuttered, avoiding my gaze. I narrowed my eyes at her. Was she going to mention Stefan and I? It was a sore topic, and one she knew better than to bring up.
           "So what did he do?"
           "He kissed me back," she said, and smiled shyly. I was happy for her, but it wasn't like she was special to Degan, necessarily, just a girl he found attractive. She seemed to sense the doubt on my face. "I'm not in love with him," she chided, "but he is fun to be around."
           "Have you got a picture?" I asked, curious.
           Seppen pulled out her phone. "Got one right here." She showed me the picture. It was a selfie of the two of them smiling. They looked cute together, I had to admit.

           "I'll be moving out soon," Seppen said, more seriously. "I'm going to finish my gift to you first, but after that, I'll be gone." Seppen looked sad and pulled my head to her chest, wrapping me in a tight embrace. "You're the best little sister I could have asked for," she said.
           I smiled. "And you're my favourite big sis'."
           "Hey! No fair, loser!" she laughed, pushing me off her bed. I giggled and scrambled into my own bed. "Night, Yuki."
           "Night, Sep."
           Harry was also keeping me updated on his dates. He still hadn't asked Shauni to be his girlfriend, but Harry had eaten dinner with her and her parents before attending a movie. He had gotten all dressed up in a suit, which impressed her parents. "They were nice," he said, but he mostly told me about how pretty Shauni looked.

           A week later, I had the surprise of my life when I walked into daddy's room to see Doc and Dopey. I was about to question their presence when Dopey held a finger to his lips, giggling. "Yuki, look!" he snickered, pointing at Doc. Doc was making the most ridiculous expressions in a fashion entirely unlike his own. I was concerned, especially because Doc was nothing if not regal. Dopey pointed at the black and white swirly device behind them, and it clicked.
           Doc was hypnotized.

           "Can you even do that?" I asked, amused.
           Dopey shrugged, then made Doc act like a chicken. "Does it matter? When he wakes up, he won't remember any of this."
           "But it seems like a violation," I tutted. I wouldn't like it if someone did that to me.
           "No, because he volunteered to look at the hypnosis wheel. He claimed that it was impossible to hypnotize him. We had made a deal. If I managed to hypnotize him, then I was allowed to do whatever I wanted," Dopey said, then asked Doc to stand on one leg.
           "Take pity on him, then!"
           "Fine," Dopey sighed, "But one last thing." He tapped his cheek with a finger, raising his eyebrows at Doc. "A kiss."

           "Dopey!" I cried. That was really crossing boundaries.
           "What? He would never do it consciously. Besides, it's only the cheek," Dopey defended himself.
           "Still..."
           "Yuki, you can give me a kiss, if you'd prefer. I'd pay a million of Doc's kisses for one of yours."
           I blushed. Dopey was like that. He fell in love with everyone. He told me that he had loved Harry since they were kids. He loved Seppen. He loved me. He loved Shauni. He loved Doc. Once, he even said that he thought daddy was hot, but I made him swear to never bring it up again.
           Doc leant forward and gave Dopey a big kiss on the cheek. I had to smile—it was pretty cute.
           "Okay, I promise to wake him up now," Dopey said, grinning ear-to-ear. I simply laughed and exited the room.

           In preparation for my inevitable (yet eventual) independence, I revisited my childhood baking memories. It all came fairly easily, and I managed to get the batter all sorted out for my waffles, but I nearly cried when I saw that they were all burnt. I left the burnt waffles on my kitchen table and ate cereal instead.
           "You know," Harry said from his seat next to me, "waffles aren't supposed to go in the oven."
           I ignored him. It would have been too embarrassing to acknowledge him. I had definitely read somewhere that it was possible to cook waffles without a waffle iron, but I didn't exactly have ironclad proof to back me up.

           Seppen called me upstairs a few days later, telling me that she had a surprise. "I'm finished the painting!" she announced.
           "Oh my! It's lovely!" I said. I felt honoured to have been given such a gift, but sad, as I knew that it would mean Seppen would leave.
           "A little something for you to hang in our room. You can think of me when you see it, right?"
           "I wish you had painted yourself, though," I sighed.
           Seppen chuckled. "If I had the same looks as you then I would have."
           I only smiled. I hugged her and we brought the painting downstairs.

           "And one more thing, Yuki," Seppen said as we walked downstairs. She had her bags in hand, ready to move out. "Doc and Dopey talked to me. They wanted to know if they could come live with me. I said as long as you and Harry were okay with it, I was."
           I smirked. While Doc hadn't yet confessed his love of Seppen to me, I knew that his feelings towards her equaled Dopey's. Once they grew up a little and turned of age, I hadn't a doubt that they would stop at nothing to try and marry Seppen. "I'm fine with it. They talked to me about it already," I lied. I didn't often lie, but I knew that this one would reassure her.
           She smiled and pulled me into an embrace. "I'll call you as soon as I get there. I'll tell you everything. And you have to promise to tell me everything, you hear?"
           I hugged her back. "Of course, Sep. Now, hurry up, Doc and Dopey are already in the taxi."
           Seppen ran back inside to say goodbye to daddy and Harry. I fastened my riding helmet and let Flame out. It was time for our daily training session. My three family members waved to me from the back of the taxi as it drove away.

           Even a mere week after Seppen's departure left the house in silence. Daddy was at work all the time and Harry spent every waking (and sleeping) moment with his girl. I went on long rides with Flame, so more often than not, our house was pitch black and empty.
           I was beginning to avoid every human in my life. Daddy always looked full of sadness and tiredness, while Harry simply dragged on and on about Shauni...
           "So while I was buying food for us, I saw her talking to a cop," Harry told me one night as I was attempting to do my homework. "Turns out that she had gratified the guy's house a few nights back and had gotten caught. He made her clean it off."
           "Then why was he talking to her again?" I asked, turning to the answer page of my textbook.
           "I had initially thought that she had done something else, but he just wanted to make sure that she was staying out of trouble," Harry continued.
           "Riveting."

           "But Yuki, wait!"
           "What is it?"
           "I finally built up my nerve to ask her to be my girlfriend."
           "Really?"
           "Yes. We were finished our meal and we had taken photos in the photo-booth. She was acting extra romantic and resting her head on my shoulder and holding my hand as we walked around. I turned to her and asked her how she felt about me."
           "That's an awkward way to go about it..."
           "Well, I never said I was perfect. She said that she really liked me and she wants to make a go of something. I said that I really cared for her. Then I just shot it out there. I said, 'Shauni, I want to be your boyfriend.' And she said, 'As long as I can be your girlfriend.'"
           "Aww," I cooed. It sounded cheesy, but I couldn't help but smile at my brother's happiness.

           "To celebrate, we went skating for a while. Roller skating," Harry continued, mimicking the motions. "We held hands since every time we tried letting go, we would fall," Harry laughed.
           "That sounds symbolic."
           "What, that we'll fail without each other? Not exactly the healthiest relationship."
           "I dunno, I was just trying to sound phil-lo-si-phi-cal."
           "Phi-li-saw-phi-cal," Harry corrected, "Philosophical."
           "Whatever!"

           "We fell while holding hands, so your theory doesn't really work, anyway," he shrugged.
           I refrained from saying "Doomed to fail."
           "It was fine, though. We started laughing once we both realized that we were okay."
           I sighed and checked my watch. Shoot. "Well, Harry, I'd love to stay and chat, but not only have you prevented me from doing my math homework, I'm also late for a race that Flame and I are competing in!"
           "Aw, don't be like that, Yuki, if I knew..."
           "No hard feelings, it's just that I've really got to go. Goodbye, uterus-brother."
           "Au revoir, womb-sister."

           That night, I was in game-mode. I made sure that Flame and I were both focused. "I've  got everything hedged on you, Flame," I whispered into his ear. It twitched, but he remained perfectly still otherwise. We were going into another beginner's race, and this time, I planned to take home first prize.
           "Slow is okay," I muttered to myself as we took a sixth place start. I was very familiar with signs of tiredness from Flame, as well as when he felt he could speed up. I knew him better than my own boyfriend. "Now!" I shouted, squeezing my legs. He lowered his head and increased his speed notably, bypassing four opponents. We were at a solid second place, but I wasn't sure we could beat the one ahead of us. There was one lap left. I let Flame relent slightly, allowing another opponent to pass us.
           In the final stretch, I let Flame know that it was all or nothing. And that's when it happened. When Flame and I connected in one, our breathing matching each others and our heart beating in time. Flame burst forward with amazing speed, giving us a clean first place finish.
           The announcer went crazy, congratulating 'the newbie' and her first place finish. I took the trophy with pride. It had a little horse on it. "That's you," I breathed to Flame. He nibbled on his reigns.
         

The trophy was a thing of beauty. I wanted to show it off to my friends and parade around the school proudly with it in one arm. A trophy.

Chapter 51: Pain in the Rear

           Bert finally completed military school. He came home top of his class, full honours and with the ability to get a head start in his military career. We were ecstatic to have him home, but it was painfully obvious that he was desperate to get out of our house. Dad even took a week off to spend some time with his eldest son, although if it weren't for the fact that he was between cases, I doubted that he would have done even that.

           The first thing I asked him to do was to throw his graduating certificate in the air. He told me that he was awarded the title of Warrant Officer and had a proper red top, black bottom suit that he wasn't to wear at home. He called his regular attire 'play-military grub.' I noticed that his hair was still shaven, and that he had a real scruffy beard growing in. "You're allowed to grow your facial hair?"
           He laughed, rubbing it with his hand. "No, they like a clean and sharp look. I just haven't shaven in a few days, that's all."
           Even more, I noted that his acne had cleared up and he had gotten rid of his scars. He later told me that one of his military buddies had told him about some face product that could work wonders. I was just happy that he was more confident about his appearance. Good thing, too, seeing as he's a grown man now!
           Too bad mommy couldn't see her first born turn eighteen. She would have been so proud of him.

           To celebrate his graduation, we held a giant party. Dad invited all of our relatives and told us that we could invite anyone we wanted. Except for Seppen Hiver, who was still grounded and not allowed to attend the party. She didn't mind, though, as her best friend was our cousin Ami, and she would be at the party. 

           I didn't have anyone I wanted to invite except for Stefan and his mother. Harry invited several of his friends from school. I dreaded their arrival, as three of his invites were girls that despised me.

           A few days before the party, Seppen dragged me inside our room and sat me down. "Yuki," she said, "our room still looks like it was decorated by a five year old. It could do with a makeover for the party, don't you agree?"

           I reluctantly accepted her request, if only because I loved decorating as much as Flame loved rolling in the mud.

           "One more thing, Yuki Blanche," Seppen said, pointing over to the wall next to our bed, "Harry said that you and Stefan are a thing now."
           "Yeah," I said, nervously glancing over to the pictures I had hung on the wall. One was a set of photos from when we were kids. The other was from the photobooth the other day. "I mean, we're close friends an' errything," I mumbled, my words jumbling together, "and it just sorta happened."
           Seppen peered at me through her white framed glasses, then chuckled. "I guess I could see it happening. But just remember, Yuki, that just because he's the first boy you've ever dated doesn't mean he has to be the last."
           Getting more embarrassed by the second, I nodded and darted out of the room. How humiliating. I'd never seen Seppen with a boy before, so who was she to direct my love life?

           That evening, when I came down to work on my homework, I found my brother and sister sitting at the dining room table working away. I figured that Harry could help me out with mine, since we had a few of the same classes. I should've prepared myself for the Spanish Inquisition when I saw them exchange a knowing look.
           "So, Yuki," Harry started off, casually, carefully, and much too slowly, "Roger Lawson is a decent, chap, don't you think?"
           "He's nice enough. What's the equation for a parabola again?" I responded, trying to lean over the table to look at Harry's work.
           "Y equals x squared," Seppen automatically answered before propelling another question at me. "He's interested in you. We think that you should go out with him."
           I turned my head at them in disbelief, but they maintained innocent expressions. "Unbelievable," I scoffed, "I have a boyfriend, brother and sister."
           They glanced at each other again and I felt like cursing. "Yuki," my brother continued, "are you really Stefan's girlfriend? Did he ask you?"
           It dawned on me that he had done no such that, and that we couldn't even be called a couple. We weren't steady. I kind of thought that it was self explanatory, but now I would have to ask him.

           I closed my notebook and stood up, peeved. I would just have to ask one of my cousins for help. "You can tell Roger that I'm not interested in him," I snapped, and glancing at my brother, said, "And for crying out loud, Harry, stop being such a pig and clean up after yourself! That plate has been here since four days ago and it's starting to attract flies."
           Disgusted, I turned on my heels and left.
           The following evening we had our party for Bert. I felt bad for him, as he was distressed about having to talk to each of our seven cousins, plus their parents, Stefan, and Harry's friends. It was later in the evening when Bert was allowed to retreat inside, letting me finally talk to Stefan.
           "Hey, baby," he said, smiling as I approached. He gave me a gentle peck on the lips. Was it tentative? I couldn't tell.
           "Stefan, I have a question," I began, suddenly feeling antsy, "are we a couple? Are you my boyfriend? What are we?"
           He smiled and stroked my cheek gently. "Babe, you're the only girl for me. We're a couple now."
           In relief and happiness, I grabbed him and planted a big kiss on him, trying to ignore the fact that my cousin, Marcus, was watching us. Marcus had gone from the geeky little boy who had denied my comfort when he had gotten picked on, to a chubby, greasy teenager with a bad sense of fashion and a caterpillar on his upper lip.

           Casting me his most charming smile, Stefan left to go grab a bite to eat inside the house. I decided to chat with some of my cousins, if only to avoid my creepiest one. I was quickly corned by Alice Hawthorne, one of my brother's friends and one of my tormentors. Her ombré hair reached her skinny hips, framing a china doll complexion, lipstick gobbed puckers, false eyelashes and an all too familiar snarl. "Hey, loser," she chirped casually, her screechy voice grating my ears.
           "Hello, Alice," I sighed, looking for possible exits, "glad to see my brother invited you."
           "What, are you surprised?" she shrieked, giggling, "Your brother is one hot piece of meat that I intend to get my hands on."
           Grossed out, I couldn't hide my revolted expression.

           "What's the matter, Little Miss Priss? Too prudish to think about your brother doing the dirty with a sexy girl like me?" She gave a little groan and a growl, licking her lips as she glanced at Harry.
           "Alright, that's enough, Alice. I don't care to think about any of my siblings doing the dirty with anybody, thanks," I said, starting to walk away.
           "Wait just a minute!" she cried, grabbing my arm. Her fingernails dug into my arm, causing me to yelp. "You're going to set me up with your brother, or you'll regret it."
           "Alice," I cautioned through gritted teeth, my patience wearing thin, "if my brother wants to date you, then he'll ask you. I can't force his hand in a matter like this."
           "Of course he wants to date me," she spluttered, "who wouldn't? He's just shy."
           "Or maybe he doesn't have low standards," I muttered, wrenching my arm out of her grip and turning around, eager to leave.
           "I heard that, bitch!" In a split second, Alice pulled my around by the shoulder and smacked me across the face, her fingernails raking my cheek. "I'll have you know that I've dated more guys than you could ever fantasize about seeing, kissed more lips than you could imagine existing, and sucked more—"
           "I don't give a—I don't care, Alice!" I yelled, spinning away from her and darting through the gate and back to the crowd, my cheek still smarting from the slap.

           No sooner had I rid myself of one dreaded enemy, I found myself standing in front of another. Leila Boucher was obsessed with Stefan and had been pining after him since he first moved here. Before our first kiss, Stefan had confessed to me how annoying she was, constantly asking him stupid questions and phoning him. When we first started to date, Leila had been a wreck for a week, not talking to Stefan and avoiding him whenever she saw him. The week after, she had transformed herself from a nerdy Asian kid to the hottest girl in the school. She had become cold, hostile, and ruthless. I didn't think that her change was completely because of Stefan's rejection, but it had a part to play in it.
           Which meant that so did I.
           Leila greeted me with a sneer, and I couldn't help but scowl in response. I had been on the receiving end of her icy words and I didn't wish to be targeted again.

           "Well, well, well, if it isn't Goody Two-Shoes herself. Tell me, Princess—"
           "Leila," I interjected before she landed the first blow, "I'm so sick of fighting with you and the other girls in our school. What've I done to you? Can't we call a truce?"
           I put my hands together, begging for a little bit of complacency. She seemed to consider it.
           "I can't speak for the other girls in our school, but personally, you snatched Stefan away from me," she sniped, eyes narrowing, "and the only way I would consider a truce is if you gave him up."
           "What a ridiculous proposition! Stefan belongs to no one, and he's free to date whomever he wishes to date," I said, feeling like I was on repeat. What was with all of these foolish girls and their desperate attempts to woo boys?
           "Then there's no deal," she tittered, "so don't expect me to start curtsying to Her Royal Highness in the hallways."
           I slumped my shoulders, defeated. People could be so unreasonable.

           After exhausting all conversations with the remainder of my guests, I noticed one late comer who I had never seen before. She was wearing a low cut shirt, had blonde hair with a portion of her head dyed red and black—although perhaps she was a natural redhead and the blonde was dyed. I wasn't sure.
           In any case, I immediately went up to her to make introductions, eager to gain an ally.
           "Hello! Are you one of Harry's friends? I'm his sister, Yuki," I said, and noticing her earring, added, "Whoa, nice earrings! Any idea where I could get them? And cool nose ring! I was thinking about getting one." The last bit was a lie, but I was sure that she would appreciate that comment.

           "Whoa there, honey," she interrupted. Her voice was raspy, lilting, yet soft. I felt entranced by her voice, yet repelled by her words. "You seem a little bit too square for piercings, sweetie. Listen, Yuko, is it?"
           "Yuki."
           "Right. Anyway, Harry invited me to this lame party, but I know that he's just too timid to ask me out so this was his anti-rejection method of doing so. I don't really care since I'm interested in him. But here's the thing—tonight, I plan on getting into his pants, and all I ask of you is that you stay out of it and don't interfere or tell anyone. Comprende?"
           "Y-yes," I stuttered, shocked that this girl just met me but already disliked me.
           "Great," she said, walking away from me.

           "Harry!" she chimed, her enchanting voice causing heads to swivel towards her.
           "H-hi," he said all too nervously. I realized that this was the girl he had been talking to me about earlier, the one that he planned on asking out. He probably invited her here so that she could scatter if our family situation really did freak her out.
           She pulled Harry into a tight hug and he froze, then quickly wrapped his arms around her back. She glanced at me from over his shoulder and winked.

           Tired of getting emotionally abused, I retread to my room upstairs. Seppen was nowhere to be seen. She was probably chatting with Ami somewhere. To my shock, I stumbled into my room to find Stefan sleeping in my bed. I gently nudged him awake, realizing in horror that he had left a pile of clothes at the foot of my bed.
           Thankfully, when he got up, he had on a pair of boxers, so he wasn't completely naked. "Stefan, what were you doing in my bed?" I asked, trying to not let my eyes wander down to his six-pack.
           "Sorry, Yuki, but I was completely wiped and my mom wanted to stay a while longer so I needed to find somewhere to crash. I probably should've just taken a couch, right? I'm sorry," he said, taking my hands in his.
           "Oh, Stefan, I couldn't be mad at you, but if my dad saw a boy in his boxers sleeping in my bed, he'd be awfully mad. He wouldn't let me see you," I explained. I was mainly relieved that I had taken Seppen's advice and remodeled our room, making it look a little more mature. It would've been so embarrassing to have him see our fairy castle painting.
           "Well, we can't have that," he chuckled, kissing me on the cheek. He dressed, bade me goodbye and left with his mom. When I fell asleep, I could smell his minty shampoo on my pillow.

           The next morning, I nearly threw up when I walked downstairs into the living room and saw Harry necking that girl from the previous night. The worst part was that they were both in their underwear. Guess she got her way after all. It would just be nice if they didn't parade it in the faces of the rest of the family. What was the animal attraction about Harry that made so many girls go crazy for him? He was just a goofy guy that never combed his hair and farted at the dining room table. Nothing appealing about that.
           When I noticed the girl's hand trailing up Harry's leg to his crotch, I darted out of the room and dry retched. Get a room!
         

           Bert probably saw it, too, because two hours later he announced that he had found a place of his own and was moving out. He had been so busy those past few days, between enrolling himself in university and looking for a home that he had forgotten to shave. I wished him well, and Harry even dressed himself to say goodbye. Dad looked impassive, simply nodding and shaking Bert's hand as a way of goodbye. Bert looked so sad when he shook dad's hand.
           He also felt like we had lost dad.

           With Bert gone, the house felt empty. Feeling lonely, I returned to my room in search of Seppen. Finding no trace of her, I scoured the bottom floor for her. A daunting feeling came over me and I walked upstairs to find Seppen standing in front of a completed painting. It was different than the one she had been working on when she got into her fight with dad.
           "Seppen," I whispered frantically, "you're not allowed to paint anymore! You'll get in trouble!"
           "I'm already in trouble," she mumbled miserably, staring at the bright colours of the flower she painted. How could someone so glum make something so brilliant?
           She sat down and leant against the wall, closing her eyes. "The painting needs to dry," she said hoarsely, "I was up all last night and I need to sleep. Leave me alone."
           "Then sleep in your bed," I suggested, but she was already sawing logs.

           Turning once more to my non-human friend, I decided that today was the day that I was going to ride Flame. I had been putting it off, noting his unwillingness to be led, his habit of scratching at his saddle or attempting to rub it against something, no matter how much I loosened or tightened it. I had researched all the possible reasons that he didn't like it, had accommodated as much as possible, but in the end, it turned out he simply wasn't a horse that liked to be ridden. But he was a horse, and no matter how much I loved him, I wasn't content to spend the rest of my days shoveling his poop when I could be riding on his hairy back.
           I started off by picking his hooves, minding his frog. There was nothing worse than an irritable horse with dirt under his toes, so to speak.

           After combing through his hair, most of the top hairs that were bleached by the summer sun fell out, giving way to silky, darker hair.
           "Wow, Flame," I said, brushing dirt out of his hair, "you're going to get ladies with hair like that." Flame had never been castrated, so it was entirely possible that I could put him up as a Stud. I wasn't sure if dad had his papers, but it sure would be helpful to have them, because for the life of me I could not figure out what his lineage was. He was a horse mutt, as far as I knew.

           I saddled Flame and prepared myself to actually mount him. I was nervous, but it was important that I didn't let my nerves show, lest I freak him out even more than necessary. Carefully placing one foot in the stirrup, I was suddenly aware of two things—I was wearing wedges, and even worse, I was wearing a dress. A dress.
           "I'll buy you some riding clothes," dad called out to me as he passed by, dressed like a detective from some sort of Film Noir. My heart warmed at the fact that daddy still cared about us, still payed attention to us, and still loved us, even if it was just something as small as him buying me riding clothing.
           "Thanks, Daddy. Do you have a new case?"
           "Yes, pumpkin, and it's a doozy. Good luck trying to ride Flame—don't get hurt."

           With one big pull, I managed to fling myself over top of Flame, my dress providing little rear end support. Thankfully, the saddle wasn't too hard, but it was still hard enough to let me know that I'd be sore tomorrow. I turned slightly in my saddle to grin at dad, but he was already in his weird red van. Maybe he had seen me anyway. I grabbed the reins and felt them in my hands, stroking Flame's mane. He looked back at me, confused. He was probably wondering why I was on his back.

           "Alright, Flame, I've seen you jump a few times, so we could start with that if that's what you're comfortable with. Of course, maybe it's better if we start at a nice, easy walk, eh?" Flame's ears twitched and he snorted, but he made no movement otherwise. "Er, go?" He stayed still. I knew not to pull on the reins—that would only stop him—but leaving them loose wasn't doing anything either. I gently flicked them and he whinnied. Not a good sign. Ever so slightly, and very gently, I squeezed him with my legs, hoping he would get the message.
           He immediately bolted, causing me to screaming and clench the reins with fear. "Flame, stop!"

           Afraid of getting hurt (and realizing that I should've worn a helmet), I pulled on the reins very hard. Much too hard apparently, because Flame let out another whinny and reared, bringing his forelegs high in the air. "Oh, that is enough of that rubbish!" I yelled, frantically trying to stay on Flame. He stopped rearing and stood still. Horses were hard to train, for sure, and I was no trainer, but Flame was my friend and he would listen to me better than anybody.
           "Flame," I said, wrapping my arms around his neck and whispering into his ears, trying to sound as calm as possible, "Baby boy, listen to me, you can't do that." I made my voice sound hardened and strict as I scolded him and he seemed to relax as he listened to me speak.

           I squeezed Flame again, and he started to run again, but this time he had nowhere to go. "No," I told him firmly as he started to rear. He walked around in a huff, thankfully never trying to buck me, but being a pain in the neck nevertheless. An hour of later, we had circled the house several times and Flame was starting to get used to having me on his back, although I was sure that he despised it.
           Yet as I looked at the low jumping obstacle that Flame could just about walk over, I was overcome with a need to make him jump.
           It was probably a terrible idea, seeing both his and my own skill level, and was crazy considering what I was wearing, but I needed to see.
           Just one try, I promised myself, then I'll get down and give Flame a nice treat.
           As we approached the obstacle, I sighed in disappointment as I felt Flame's front feet lifting again. Great. Another rearing attempt.

           But once I realized that his hind legs had lifted as well, I nearly whooped with joy. We were soaring! Flying! Flame had jumped high, much higher than needed, and all the frustration I had had with him, all the sweat I had shed, it all felt worth it now that Flame was jumping. We were jumping.
           True, my butt hurt like the dickens and I needed a good, long shower, but I had never felt as I did riding on top of Flame at that moment. Not even when I kissed Stefan. Not even when he had told me that he loved me.

Right then and there, riding the horse I had known since I was a child, I knew that I belonged there.

Maybe in different clothing, however.