Before We Knew

"You have always been timid. How were you supposed to go that far away all by yourself when there would be no one there to take care of you?"

My sister, Nevaeh Charlton, frowned as she spoke.

My nose stung, and I lowered my head, my voice muffled. "I have made up my mind. There are more job opportunities there, and it will be easier to find a job after graduation."

Nevaeh noticed something was off with me, so she did not press any further.

Mom pressed her lips together, looking surprised.

After all, I had never mentioned wanting to move somewhere else before.

Afraid I would not be able to hold back my tears, I mumbled a few casual excuses and hurried back to my room, trying not to look as pathetic as I felt.

My sister had always been the one who stood out.

She was better at talking, better at winning people over, and better at school. She had even skipped several grades.

Whenever our relatives mentioned my sister, they praised Mom and Dad for being so lucky to have a daughter like her.

However, whenever the conversation turned to me, they exchanged awkward smiles. They said I was sensible, obedient, and easy to take care of.

Sensible. Obedient. No trouble.

Those were pretty much the only things I had going for me.

With my grades, the best I could hope for was an ordinary college. My sister, on the other hand, had always been the center of attention from elementary school through college.

That was also when she and Edward Jones first became tangled up with each other.

They had been desk mates for all 3 years of high school.

One ranked first in their grade, and the other ranked second. Neither of them was willing to admit defeat.

Edward could not stand my sister. He was annoyed that she always managed to beat him by just enough to stay on top, and he had an attitude to match.

Still, everyone could see what was really going on.

The more Edward claimed he could not stand my sister, the more often his eyes seemed to find her.

Every time we went home for a break, my sister spent days complaining to me about Edward.

She said he was childish, obnoxious, and annoying. She said there had to be something wrong with his brain. His grades were terrible, yet he was always trying to compete with her.

I sat beside her and quietly listened.

The more I heard his name, the more Edward slowly took up a little space in my heart.

Later, I met someone in a gaming group who had an incredibly sharp tongue.

His username was "Q."

He typed fast, and his words were even faster. Whenever he got into an argument with someone in the group, he never backed down.

I could not stand watching it, so I finally shot back at him.

Somehow, that night, the two of us ended up going back and forth in the group chat for hours.

By the end of it, he actually added me as a friend.

His very first message was:

[Not so good with words anymore? Why did you stop?]

I was still annoyed, so I replied:

[Are you crazy?]

He sent back a question mark. Then he wrote:

[Wow. You have quite a temper.]

We kept arguing for another 2 days. Then, on the third day, he suddenly asked me:

[Wanna play a game?]