#Chapter 3: Beloved

Rowena

 

“She’s my most beloved one.”

 

My brother’s hand was wide and warm; too warm, actually, and the feeling of it being wrapped around my waist almost felt as if I had been burned.

 

While Eric was distracted, I took the opportunity to grab my glasses out of his hand. I shoved him away immediately and put my glasses back on, and that was when I saw who had bumped into me.

 

Adrian Almond.

 

His black hair seemed to shine in the sunlight that was streaming through the large windows, and his eyes were the most striking shade of emerald green. The sight of him made my face heat up like it was on fire.

 

“Oh,” Adrian said, glancing at me with a surprised look on his face. “I didn’t know you were Eric Griffith’s girlfriend.”

 

“I’m not.” I adjusted my bag on my shoulder and looked away with embarrassment. “I’m Eric’s sister. We’re brother and sister. He’s just messing around.”

 

Adrian seemed a bit taken aback, just as everyone always was when I told them that Eric and I were brother and sister. He stared at me for a long time—maybe longer than he ever had, actually.

 

“Hmm,” he finally said, leaning in a little closer. “I guess I can see it.”

 

I raised an eyebrow. No one had ever said that before; they usually just said that Eric and I looked way too different, that he was perfect and I must have been a mistake made by my mother, or that we were playing a prank.

 

“Really?” I asked.

 

Adrian nodded. “Yeah. I guess you do have some beautiful features, like the Griffith family.”

 

His words made my cheeks flush even more. I stared incredulously down at the ground, too stunned to speak.

 

Eric, however, was completely unimpressed. “How kind of you,” he teased, looping his arm around my shoulders and causing me to stumble a bit as he ruffled my hair. “But you can be honest. She looks totally like a nerd, right?”

 

Adrian and Eric laughed, but I didn’t. I reached up behind my brother’s back, up under his shirt, and pinched his skin. Hard. He didn’t react, of course. I had never been able to fight back very well, not when it came to him.

 

Adrian walked away after that, and Eric looked down at me.

 

“Oww,” Eric cooed, pretending to wince. “Oww, Rowena, you’re hurting me.”

 

I rolled my eyes and kept walking. Three years. Three years he had been gone, and he still acted like he did when we were kids. I guess warrior training didn’t change everything about a person.

 

Eric jogged to catch up again, falling into step beside me. “So,” he said, grabbing the flyer from my hands again, “you really gonna try out for this internship?”

 

I shrugged. “Maybe I shouldn’t bother. I mean, if you really think my chances are so low, looking like a nerd and all…”

 

“Oh, c’mon,” Eric said, walking backwards now so he could look at me with those striking blue eyes. “I told you it was a 70% chance without the glasses. Change your clothes, and maybe you’ll bump up to an 80% chance.”

 

“So it’s really just my clothes and glasses then, huh?” I asked, glancing at him. We pushed the doors open that led out into the courtyard. The cool fall air was a much-needed refreshment after the eventful morning.

 

“Well, I mean… yeah,” Eric said with a chuckle. “Honestly, you’re probably the nerdiest girl at the school, just judging by looks alone.”

 

I started to grow frustrated then. “And to think I was actually excited to see that you had come back. When did you get back in, anyway?”

 

“Just this morning,” Eric replied. “I came to see you first thing.”

 

I stopped, turning to look at him again. He really did look different now. But not completely different. He still looked like the Eric I always knew. “You did?”

 

He nodded and looped his arm around my shoulders again in that lazy, affectionate way that I had missed, even though I didn’t want to admit it. We kept walking together. “I had to see my little sister.” He paused then, glancing down at me. “And by the way, looking like a nerd isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Just for the record.”

 

I rolled my eyes again. “Yeah. Sure.”

 

“So…” Eric glanced around, his eyes sweeping over the pretty girls that liked to sun themselves on the patio during their break. “You like Adrian Almond, huh?”

 

“Hey!” I hissed, narrowing my eyes at him. “Don’t say it so loud.”

 

“You know he’s not into your type, right?” Eric continued, ignoring me. “He’s a man. He likes… busty blondes. Like most men, you know.”

 

“Adrian doesn’t look at girls in that way,” I said matter-of-factly. “He’s a good guy. He’s not like that.”

 

“Yeah, sure,” Eric said, chuckling wryly. “I’m sure he wasn’t ‘like that’ either when he was dating that cheerleader.”

 

“You’re just pulling my leg.”

 

“No,” Eric said as he slipped his phone out of his pocket, “I’m not. See for yourself.”

 

We stopped in the middle of the courtyard and sank down onto a stone bench together. Eric navigated to his social media account and opened Adrian’s page. Adrian had a clean account, not posting much of note; maybe a picture of a sunset here or a selfie there.

 

“Here. Take a look.”

 

Eric handed me his phone, and I began to scroll cautiously through Adrian’s follower page. Countless accounts that belonged to all kinds of girls stared back at me. They all looked like the hot, party-girl types.

 

And I even recognized some of them as girls who Eric had slept with in the past.

 

I quickly handed Eric back his phone. “This doesn’t mean anything.”

 

“Don’t be obtuse, Rowena,” Eric said as he slipped his phone back into his pocket. “You’re smarter than that; you’re a nerd, remember?”

 

“Stop calling me a nerd.”

 

There was a brief silence between us, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Even after three years of being apart, it didn’t really feel as if much had changed. We had both gotten older, but that was about it.

 

“So,” Eric finally said, “it’s your birthday this Saturday. What do you want?”

 

I thought for a moment, chewing the inside of my cheek. I had been thinking about it a lot lately. I wanted a party, but I knew that no one would attend.

 

“C’mon, Rowena.” Eric poked me in the ribs. “Tell me what you want. Want me to take you somewhere? Go out to eat? Some new clothes that don’t make you look like a nerd?”

 

“I want a party,” I finally said. “And I want to invite Adrian.”

 

“That’s all?” Eric relaxed his arms and turned to look at me, reaching up to brush a stray strand of hair out of my eyes.

 

“What?” I asked, recoiling slightly at his touch. “What’s wrong with that? You should be glad that I want a party; it’s not a nerd thing, you know?”

 

He shrugged and let his hand linger for a moment longer before dropping it back to his lap. “You deserve more, that’s all.”