I'm in Love with my Little Sister

Chapter Two

I spin around as I hear faint footsteps walking up the stairs. Logan’s head appears shortly after. “Do you make a habit of talking to yourself or do we need to call a doctor for reports of schizophrenia?” Logan jokes. I force myself to laugh and it didn’t sound fake. I guess I can lie easily around her.

“Um no,” I say. “I was just muttering to myself,” I explain.

“What about?” She didn’t hear me, thank god.

“Nothing important. Just reassuring myself that I'm safe. It’s a bit weird not hearing the hum of machine guns or the sound of rebels dying.” I make up something quickly. She nods her head trying to understand. “Did you want anything?” I ask calmly. Logan nods her head.

“Just wanted to know if you needed anything. I know it must be strange. When mum told us you were coming home, I did some research in finding out ways to make your life more comfortable. One advice was ‘to help them retain their sense of humanity’ so I email your dad asking for some of your personal stuff like clothing and books.” Logan rushes her words. I raise an eyebrow and she nods her head in the direction of my wardrobe. I slowly get up and open the door to see all my old clothing stocked away neatly. I marvel at what she has done. “I guessed I missed my older brother.” She smiles a small smile. I wince at the comment, but she didn’t notice.

“Thanks. This must have taken you a while.” I comment as I look through my old clothes. My favourite wine hoodie sits at the back, with a layer of dust gathering on it.

“I didn’t mind.” I smile at her and I start asking her questions about her life.

“Did Jasper step up and take care of everyone?” I sat on my bed while Logan places herself on my desk chair. She thinks to herself for a minute before replying.

“In his own way, I guess. When you left, he was a wreak because we started to go to him for help instead of using you, and he didn’t realise. As he got older he’s learnt to fill-in but he was never the big brother to the younger ones like he was to me. I knew what to expect but the others expected too much from him.” Logan says honestly. She narrows her eyes at me and I jump a little. “It’s your fault for setting the bar too high.” She says coldly. This new tone surprised me and to be honest, kind of scares me a little. She quickly spreads a smile across her face. “Sometimes, I would forget you are my stepbrother, and just think of you as a family friend whose parents just suddenly died or something.” She mutters. My heart stops and I feel excited.

“And school?” I ask.

“When we finally moved to secondary school, Jasper and I stopped being the kids who lost their older brother. Of course, everyone sounded like you died. One person really thought you died, that was pretty funny.” We both chuckle softly. “Year Seven through to Year Nine was rough but I balanced out my life and I’ve got pretty great friends now. I never told them about you though.” She lowers her head.

“Logan?” A voice I've never heard before calls up. My head snaps and my body on alert as I jump to my feet at the sound of Jadyn’s voice. Logan watches me, almost as if she was walking on eggshells. Jadyn’s head appears first, followed by her body shortly after. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t interrupt, did I?” Her voice is high, like a young child. I shake my head. She sighs in relief. “I want to finish the science project before you go back later,” Jadyn mutters to Logan. Logan nods her head, and with a quick ‘Goodbye’, Jadyn disappears back downstairs.

“Go, I’ll catch you with you before you leave.” I smile politely at her. Logan grins and thanks me before following Jadyn to their room. I decided to go bond with the boys and Nathan and I walk down the stairs towards the family room. In the middle, sat Easton with Peyton standing next to him. Both are holding Xbox controllers connecting to the game on the T.V. but I couldn’t tell what they were playing. I then suddenly hear machine guns, and as a safety precaution, I drive for protection. I hear Jaspers wild laugher and I poke my head out from under the table. Jasper was rolling around on the floor while Nathan and Easton sniggered and fist-pumped. I roll my eyes and I pick up Peyton and place him on my shoulders as he shouts his kiddie swear words at the game.

“Who’s winning?” I ask Jasper. Jasper points to Easton. I observe the game to realise its fighting against zombies. I tap on Peyton’s leg. “Hey, little man. Can I borrow that controller? My training might help you win the game.” Peyton smiles and hands me the controller.

In no time, Easton and my score are even. I could see Easton getting frustrated as the timer on the game battle round was running low. With a triple kill, all headshots, I speed past Easton, adding 1000 points to the scoreboard. With the sound of bombs exploding, signalling the end of the battle round, the final score is 23,563 to Easton and 24,758 to myself and Peyton. Peyton jumps the best he can from my shoulders as we five high.

“You cheated,” Easton yells. I roll my eyes.

“We didn’t cheat, we simply joined teams.” I laugh and the others do too; over Easton furious face. I lift Peyton off my shoulders and set him down.

“Ha-Ha, loser, loser, loser.” He kept repeating over and over while doing the ‘TAKE THE L’ dance of that new game. I shake my head and laugh at their childish games.

“I’ll challenge you again,” Easton says. Famous last words.

++

Two hours later and I'm surprised Easton is still willing to be a ‘sore loser’ as Jasper calls it. At some point, Logan and Jadyn had come down and started cheering along. As I won the final game, Easton’s pissed off face became my best friend.

“Logan are you still here?” My mother says. Everyone looks to the clock and suddenly starts pushing Logan out the front door.

“Crap, you have ten minutes,” Jasper says as she sprints down the path. Jasper looks at me and shoves me out the door as well. “Dude go with her.” He says.

“Why?”

“Just go.” He says and shuts the door. I catch up with Logan after I round the corner. As I assume we get closer to the house she is currently staying in, we slow down and continue walking.

“What was it like? Being in the army?” Logan asked suddenly out of the blue. I turn to her and I think about my answer.

“Sometimes, it felt like we were the only people on the planet. There were a few times when one of our squad members would get separated from the group and it was just them against the world. No matter how much we cried out for help, no one was coming. No one would make your experience perfect because most of the time, you’re taking lives of others who are just caught on the wrong side of the war.” I explain.

“My best friend Joe joined my squad, so I had him but sometimes I just felt so…helpless. There are other timed where it felt good being the only ones on the planet because then the others would never find out what crimes you’ve committed.” I whisper flashing back to the moment I watch as a child, no older than 9, drops to the floor, lifeless. My breathing wavers and I pray she doesn’t notice. My Nokia brick buzzes in my pocket. Like before, this makes me jump and I quickly open the text message.

Mya: Hey D, I haven’t heard from you since before getting on the plane. You didn’t die right Teehee. Anyway, I miss you and I’ll see you in a few days. Thanks again for what you’re doing. Love you XOXO Mya.

I quickly shove my phone back in my pocket before Logan sees it. Luckily, she doesn’t see my cheeks turn a bright red colour. How was I going to telling them? I shake my head, forgetting my thoughts of Mya and her text message.

“I’m sorry.” I hear Logan whisper. I turn to her wondering why she was apologising to me only to realise it was about my mini speech I just gave her. I give her a side smile and tell her that I’ll be fine. As we neared the end of the street, Logan pointed out which house she was staying in. just as I was continuing to walk towards the house, she grabbed hold of my arm. I widen my eyes and I suddenly feel my heart racing. She chews her lower lip and I freeze.

“Give-me-your-phone.” She rushes her words into one. I raise an eyebrow before she says it again, slower. “Give me your phone.” She pauses. “Please.” She adds. I hand her my phone and I watch her do a couple of things before handing it back to me. “I’ve added my number.” She says smiling at me. I smile back, and we continue heading down the path.

“Do you remember the last time I saw you?” Logan asks. I nod my head. “You said something to me that day and I guess I was just wondering about it. I never forgot it.” She mutters. I think back to that day. I had finished school the day before I was leaving, and I begged my mother to let me pick up Jasper and Logan from school. We walked back to our old house and along the way, I told Logan something which I start to regret now. “You said ‘Someday, I hope that you’ll realise that you don’t see me as your brother. I’ll wait till that day’. I kind of remember how you never called me your sister, which was awkward thank you very much, but that confused me so much. I thought, maybe I’ll get it when I'm older or when your back, but I'm still as clueless as ever.” Logan sighs in defeat. Good, she never read to much into it.

“I thought it would be easier for you if you just believed I was a family friend or something. You were young when I left so I was sparing your feelings. Maybe you wanted me to be your older brother and I kept saying I wasn’t because I knew the truth and you were a little kid who didn’t know any better.” I tease. She laughs, and I poke her in the stomach. She screams quietly and cursed my name. I laugh as I watch her cute angry face. She smiles after having a laugh.

We walk up to the front door and I knock on it, not thinking she would have a key. Within the minute, a woman in her 50s answers the door. She didn’t look fragile like my mother did and she had a certain vibe coming off her. I sense intimidation from her as she glares down at me. The once cute smile disappeared from Logan’s face and I see a small scowl forming.

“Good Evening, Ma’am. My name is Damon Franco. I’m Logan’s step-brother-“

“But not anymore.” She snaps. I widen my eyes.

“What?” I say.

“You said you were Logan’s step brother, I suppose you’re the one who went away, but Logan isn’t under your family’s custody, so you are no longer her step brother. Continue.” She hisses.

“I have come to take Logan home.” I finish. This woman is scary.

“Leave him alone Heidi.” Logan mutters before going through the front door. The woman-Heidi- eyes follows Logan as she goes up the stairs. I narrow my eyes at the strange woman.

“I would like it if you didn’t bring Logan home again.” She says and before I could argue back, she slams the door closed. I back away from the house and I look onto one of the upstairs windows, thinking Logan could be in one and I am right. She waves goodbye to me before closing her curtains.

However, in the other window stood five teenagers, all different ages. Heidi soon joins them, and she too is looking down at me. Everyone of them creeped me out. How the hell does Logan say here. My phone buzzes in my pocket to find its from an unknown number.

I’ll see you tomorrow. Ignore the foster family, they all look like globins – Logan.

I laugh out loud as I read the text. I smile as I jog my way home. I smile.

I'm smiling.