His Sister, My Love.

I had known Alex for almost seven years. Seven years of friendship. Seven years of stupid arguments, late-night conversations, terrible jokes, unexpected adventures, and secrets that neither of us had ever told anyone else. Alex wasn't just my best friend. He was family. That was why, when his sister came back into his life, I promised myself I would treat her exactly the same way I treated every other member of his family. Like a sister. Nothing more. At least, that was the plan. It was a warm Saturday afternoon when I arrived at Alex's house. I pushed the front door open without knocking. "Alex!" I shouted. "Upstairs!" I smiled. Some things never changed. I walked toward the stairs, but before I could take the first step, I heard footsteps coming from the kitchen. I turned. And froze. A girl stood there holding a glass of water. For a few seconds, neither of us spoke. She looked different from the picture Alex had shown me years ago. I remembered a shy teenage girl with long braids and an enormous smile. The person standing in front of me was no longer that little girl. She was older now. Confident. Beautiful. And completely unfamiliar. She raised an eyebrow. "You're Alex's friend, right?" I cleared my throat. "Yeah." She smiled. "I'm Mia." My heart skipped for reasons I didn't understand. "Mia?" She nodded. "Alex's sister." I already knew. But somehow, hearing her say it made the words feel different. "I'm—" She laughed. "You don't have to introduce yourself. I know who you are." "You do?" "Alex talks about you all the time." I smiled. "Hopefully he says good things." "Mostly." "Mostly?" She laughed. "I'm joking." There was something about her laugh that made me want to hear it again. I immediately hated myself for noticing. She walked past me, but after a few steps she turned around. "Alex is upstairs." "Thanks." She smiled. "No problem." Then she disappeared down the hallway. I stared after her for a moment. "Don't." I whispered the word to myself. "Absolutely not." Mia was Alex's sister. That was the first rule. I repeated it silently as I climbed the stairs. Alex was sitting on his bed playing a video game when I entered his room. "Finally," he said. "I thought you weren't coming." "I almost didn't." He paused the game. "Why?" I shrugged. "I met your sister." His face immediately lit up. "Mia?" "Yeah." "She's back for good." "For good?" "That's the plan." I nodded. "That's nice." Alex looked at me suspiciously. "Why are you acting weird?" "I'm not." "You are." "I'm literally sitting here." "Exactly. You're sitting there strangely." I laughed. "You're ridiculous." He threw a pillow at me. I caught it. For the next two hours, everything went back to normal. We played games. We argued. We ordered food. We laughed until our stomachs hurt. And I almost forgot about Mia. Almost. Until she knocked on the door. "Can I come in?" Alex looked toward the door. "Yeah." Mia entered carrying two cups of juice. She handed one to Alex and then looked at me. "Do you want one?" "Sure." She handed me the second cup. Our fingers touched. It was nothing. A tiny accidental touch. But I felt it. And judging by the way Mia immediately pulled her hand away, she felt something too. She looked at Alex. "Mom said dinner is ready in thirty minutes." "Okay." She turned toward the door. Then she looked back at me. "You're staying for dinner, right?" I looked at Alex. He shrugged. "Obviously." Mia smiled. "Good." Then she left. I watched the door close. Alex looked at me. "What?" "Nothing." "You were staring." "I wasn't." "You definitely were." I laughed. "Shut up." He smiled and returned to his game. But I wasn't listening anymore. My mind was somewhere else. With Mia. Dinner was worse. Or better. I couldn't decide. Mia sat across from me at the table. Every time I looked up, she was already looking at me. And every time our eyes met, one of us looked away. It became a strange little game. A dangerous one. At one point, Alex was telling a ridiculous story about something that had happened at work. Everyone laughed. I looked at Mia. She wasn't laughing. She was watching me. Not Alex. Not anyone else. Me. Our eyes met. She smiled. A small, almost secret smile. And suddenly the room felt too warm. I looked down at my plate. Stop. I didn't know whether I was talking to my heart or my mind. Maybe both. After dinner, Alex went outside to take a phone call. I stayed in the living room. Mia walked in a few minutes later. "You've been quiet." "I'm usually quiet." She sat on the opposite side of the sofa. "Not around Alex." I smiled. "He's different." "How?" "He's annoying." She laughed. "True." Silence settled between us. For once, it didn't feel uncomfortable. Mia looked toward the window. "I missed this place." "Your home?" "Yeah." She paused. "I missed my brother too." "You two seem close." "We are." She smiled. "He talks about you a lot." "Good things?" "Mostly." I laughed. "You already used that joke." "I know." She looked at me. "Can I ask you something?" "Sure." "Why are you always here?" I raised an eyebrow. "Because Alex is my best friend." "Only because of Alex?" I didn't answer immediately. There was something in her voice. Something I couldn't understand. "What do you mean?" She shrugged. "Nothing." She stood. "I'll see you later." "Mia." She stopped. "Yeah?" I wanted to ask what she meant. Instead, I said, "Goodnight." She smiled. "Goodnight." She walked away. I sat there staring at the empty space where she'd been. A few minutes later, Alex returned. "You ready to go?" I nodded. "Yeah." As we walked outside, Alex put an arm around my shoulder. "You know you're family, right?" I smiled. "Yeah." "I mean it." "I know." He squeezed my shoulder. "My sister likes you too." I stopped walking. "What?" He laughed. "I said Mia likes you." "Oh." I tried to sound normal. "That's good." "Why are you acting like that?" "Like what?" "Never mind." We continued walking. But my heart was beating faster. Because for the first time, I wondered whether Alex's words meant something more. And as I looked back at the house, I saw Mia standing by the upstairs window. Watching me leave. She lifted her hand and waved. I waved back. Neither of us knew it yet. But that small wave was the beginning of something that would change all three of our lives. Because I wasn't supposed to fall in love with Mia. She wasn't supposed to fall in love with me. And Alex was never supposed to find out.