“Olive Young,” I greeted.
“T-minus seven days until I come and you have yet to make an itinerary.” My little sister lectured.
“I live by the beach, it’s spring break—what more could you want?”
“Museums? Parks? Shopping sprees sponsored by my super famous and rich sister?”
My gaze landed on Brittney, who had thrown her head back and cackled without sound like she had been trained to disappear into the background.
“What are you looking at?”
“Sorry, my roommate is being annoying.” I checked Brittney’s appearance before I flipped the camera, “This is Brittney, Brittney this is Olive.”
“Hi Olive!” Brittney lit up, her smile so wide I wish it was on me. “You can call me Bee. If we’re on a nickname basis.”
“We’renot even on a nickname basis,” I clarified, moving my phone to show the profile of my face while I put Brittney in view. It didn’t matter that I’d called her Bee just a few minutes ago. Now that we weren’t blinded by lust, it was important I listened to Brittney. That she knew I was listening to her.
“I think I can now promote you to the next role.” She winked at me, and goddamn my face was hot again.
“Bee…” I whispered, letting the syllable roll around my brain, my tongue, my lips. It tickled my brain, the same way eating cookie butter did. A buzz from my tastebuds, straight to the nerves in my brain.
“I’m gonna head to my room and let y’all finish.” And then she was up, and I was flipping the camera back to my face. What I hadn’t realize was that my sister was watching smugly.
“You have the hots for her, don’t you?” Olive practically screamed, making me rush to lower the volume.
“No.”
“You were distracted.”
“And now you have my undivided attention.” I looked back at the camera seeing Olive in the bathroom parting her hair.
“And why was your attention divided, Nolly?” I was about to answer, then I realized how much I’d missed my sister. She was about to enter one of the toughest phases of her life, and I was ogling my roommate.
Grow up.
“That doesn’t matter. What matters is I’ve already made an itinerary for your approval, so just take a look and tell me if there’s too many museums or not enough beaches.”
“Is Disney on there?”
“We do not live near Orlando.”
“I think we should go to Disney. Ineedit.”
“You only like roller coasters; theme parks are not your vibe. You did a whole presentation for the family on it.”
“Yeah, well I’m one inconvenience away from being someone who becomes a Disney adult.”
“An inconvenience? You’re thirteen.”
“I’ve lived a long life.” Olive rolled her eyes.
“Tell me about your life. What’s new?” I was all ears.
By the end of the call, I was feeling less paranoid that I was a terrible older sister, and a growing dread over where I stood with Brittney. I hesitated at the frame of her door, hand ready to knock when I listened closer to the other side. Slow R&B was on, which meant she was winding down for the night. I didn’t hear the water, which hopefully meant she wasn’t in the bathroom washing me off.
I knocked hurriedly as if I could stop the task myself.
Brittney opened the door quickly, her hair down and parted in the middle, in an emerald green sweatshirt and sweatpants so long they dragged on the floor. Maybe she hadn’t washed me off yet, but I clocked that every inch of her was covered now.
