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I answer the call, propping myself up on the couch. Helen’s youthful grin comes into view, her face is softer and rounder than mine, but she looks a lot like me. Our brothers got their dark hair and dark eyes from my mom’s side of the family. Me and Helen look similar to our dad’s mom, Gram, when she was young. I can tell by the background that Helen is sitting on the front porch swing, the wind gently blowing her long blonde hair.

“Noel!” Helen squeals. She seems older since I saw her last month, maybe because she recently started her freshman year of high school.

“Are you wearing makeup?”

She glances away, rolling her lips between her teeth like I’ve embarrassed her. “Aren’t you a bit young for makeup?” I add in a playful tone.

Helen rolls her eyes and huffs an annoyed breath, like I knew she would. “I’m not a baby! I’m in high school.”

I can’t help but laugh. Everyone thinks they’re grown-up and mature when they’re in high school, only to look back ten years later and cringe at how awful they were. Helen isn’t awful, she’s honestly the sweetest of us all. But she is immature, as you’d expect of someone at the young age of fifteen.

“I heard you’re taking Gram to a fancy charity gala tonight.” She looks away again, coiling a long, blonde ringlet around her finger.

“Ahh, that’s what this is about.” I pause, waiting for her to look back up. “I can’t bring you to a work event with me, Helen. Not to mention you’re almost two hours away, and Gram lives ten minutes from me.”

“But it would be so fun to dress up!” She leans toward the phone, her eyes pleading.

The swing she’s sitting on jostles and the youngest of our two brothers, Marcus, appears beside her. Landon is off at college in Delaware.

He leans in and waves at me, I can’t help but smile at him. His dark hair is falling over his eyes Justin Bieber style, internally, I shake my head. “At least we get to go to homecoming!” Marcus says, obviously trying to cheer her up. “Homecoming wasn’t even invented yet back in the olden days when Noel was in high school.”

“Ha. Ha.” I cross my arms. “Very funny.”

“Going to a grown-up gala is way better than prom.” Helen crosses her arms, mimicking me.

“All the hot girls in my class go to prom, so I’ll agree to disagree.” Marcus waggles his eyebrows, making us both laugh. For a moment, he reminds me of Colby… the dark hair, the devil-may-care attitude… I push the thought from my head.

Colby is full of two things: himself and testosterone. My adorable little brother isn’t like that. I think…

“You’re ridiculous,” I tell him, but I’m still smiling.

“We’re still on for the fantasy convention in a few weeks, right?” Helen asks, changing the subject.

Marcus snorts. “You two are giant nerds. You’ll never have boyfriends.”

I tense at his words, a small part of me wondering if they’re true. Helen gives him a shove with her tiny arms, making me laugh. Marcus doesn’t budge. Instead, he grins, trying to annoy her.

“We don’t have boyfriends because we have standards, Marcus. Unlike you,” Helen says.

“I don’t have a boyfriend because I’m into girls,” He retorts.

She sighs heavily. “You know I meant girlfriend. Please go away, this is a sister conversation.”

He pushes up out of the swing, then leans in so I can still see him. “Fine. Talk to you later, sis.” He winks and disappears.

“Anyway, the convention,” Helen says, bouncing in excitement. “Did you get you Arwen cosplay?”

I nod, feeling pretty giddy myself. “Yes! Still waiting for my elf ears to arrive, but they should be here Monday.”

“We’re going to look so good.”

I hear some rustling in the background and my parents appear on the screen. “Hi Noel!” Mom’s dark hair is falling into her face since she’s leaning over to look at the screen.

Dad swipes her hair out of her face. “Did I hear mention of a fantasy convention?”

Helen’s eyes widen in panic. “It’s just a sister thing, Dad.”

He deflates. “Oh, right. Girl time.” Dad chuckles.