"What's his major, anyway?"
"You don't know his major?"
"No. I despise him; why would I? We pretend each other doesn't exist, and I'm looking forward to getting back to that."
Nolan laughs. "Yeah, I don't think Elias is ever going to pretend you don't exist."
"Well…what do you mean by that?"
He cocks his head, giving me a look. "Come on, Saige; I think you know. And it's sports management. I think he wants to coach."
I scoff. "He would be a terrible coach."
"Really? I'm not so sure."
"Well, I am." I turn on the kitchen light, sit on a barstool, and open Elias's book. Nolan crosses the room and sits on the couch next to his sister; he starts asking her about school and their mom, and I try to tune it out and give them some semblance of privacy.
I am the intruder here, after all.
But he's softer when he talks to her. He teases her; they laugh together. Their movie ends, and they start fighting about whether or not she can watch something rated PG-13.
"I bet you watched PG-13 movies when you were my age," she scoffs.
"Yeah, you know what? I did. I saw a lot worse than that, and now I'm a deeply, deeply troubled individual. You don't want to go down that path. It starts right here. In front of a TV."
"You're full of shit!"
Nolan laughs, and I can't help but look over my shoulder. I just want to see him smile. "What the fuck? You can't say shit!"
Even his eyes look lighter. And he has dimples. I've never seen him smile enough to have actual dimples.
"Why not? You just said the f-word!"
"Yeah, well, that's because I'm allowed to do whatever the fuck I want."
"You're a mean brother. I stand by that. You're a very mean brother. All of my friends are allowed to watch horror movies."
"Well, then your friends are going to be criminals," Nolan says, pulling out his phone. "I'm ordering pizza. What do you like on your pizza, Saige?"
"I'll eat anything," I tell him.
"How about a bird's head?"
Avery's face twists with disgust. "Ew! Why would you eat that?"
"I don't know; ask him. And no, I'll pass on the bird's head, thanks. Other than that, I'm good with anything."
"Even pineapple?"
"Especially pineapple. With jalapeños. And hot sauce."
"Get breadsticks, too," Avery says.
"Of course I'll get breadsticks; I'm not amonster. Even Saige's brother would get breadsticks."
"Eh, not for me," I mumble.
"I don't know, Saige," Nolan says. "I think you're wrong."
