I want

"WHAT'S UP WITH DANIEL?"

The simple question gets Aubrey riled up. 

She looks to her brother as he speaks, admiring his somewhat-long brown hair that reaches to cover his eyes. After months of trying to get him to cut his hair, she has promised to sneak up on him at midnight to trim them off herself. Now, the 17-year-old barely sleeps at home.

"He totally ignored me at the Bus-stop today, I wonder why."

Aubrey sighs loudly, dropping her bowl to the ground and patting her still-flat tummy. She is already in her 2nd year and is used to the crappy lifestyle of an average college student. One time, she was so exhausted from lectures and part time jobs that she slept the night without eating dinner. When her friends were out partying the night away, she was working night shifts to keep her and her brother going.

She is much strong now and not even her ex-boyfriend, Daniel can pull her down.

"We broke up after 8 months. So, don't worry about it."

-'You're always too busy to hang out with me, it's like I'm not even in a relationship. I can't do this anymore.'- Her mind flashes back to his words last week's Thursday; the day before the robbery.

"What the… That d—"

"Ahem." She stops him from cursing, "You can only curse when you're 18."

"Well, was it a mutual decision?"

"Don't worry yourself about it, it's over now. At least now I have lesser things to worry about." She forces a smile at her brother.

Brady stays extremely quiet for seconds, not knowing how to console his sister; he has always been best at mocking her. "Is that why you're always tired these days? Because of the breakup?"

She chuckles. "Oh no, you would know when you graduate high school and get into college."

Brady laughs out loud, standing up to take his bowl and his sister's, to the sink. That simple gesture warms her heart. She is even more surprised when he proceeds to wash them. Even if he mocks and laughs at her most of the time, she knows he cares about her.

"That won't happen because I would find a minion to do all of my work."

She glares at him in the kitchen, "And I'll tell mum and dad."

He goes silent and she laughs.

"Just focus on football and getting a scholarship, so tuition and everything else would be easier for mum and dad." She says absentmindedly. 

Her sentence seems to bother him as the sponge fall out of his hands; however, he clears his throat and changes the subject. "What about our toaster? You better get one back." He dries his hand, coming back to sit on the floor, closer to the tv— A habit since he was much younger.

Aubrey groans, "Why did you have to bring that up?"

"What? I had to. You know I love avocado toast."

She rolls her eyes, a smile cracking up her lips. "Well, we don't have to worry about that and mum and dad don't even need to bother anymore because I'll get it back."

Brady turns his head to his sister, wondering what she is talking about.

"The thief promised to give it back to me." She says, feeling smug.

"What?" He exclaims in his loud voice, startling Aubrey once again.

"Gosh, what is it?" She yells.

"He told you that? How?"

Aubrey looks back at the tv, feeling confident in herself that she's going to get back her toaster no matter what. "He came over to my school, saying he wanted to give me back my toaster. So he said we should meet at Groom-vine street 6 am. So, tomorrow morning, I'll get our toaster back, don't worry Brady." She smiles at him.

Her brother stares at her with a perplexed look, "Have you gone insane?"

"Hey." She warns.

"I'm sorry but have you always been this dumb?"

She narrows her eyes at her brother, dropping her voice low to sound threatening, "I can kick you out of my house."

"No thief in the 21st century would offer to give back what they stole." He makes wild gestures. "They obviously want to do something else to you. So, you better not go." He points a finger at her.

She rolls her eyes, "It's fine. Have you forgotten I have a black belt in taekwondo?"

"That doesn't matter. Don't go."

"I'll be fine." She shrugs it off.

Aubrey seems to have forgotten that moment she was filled with utter fear, just staring into his eyes.

After an hour of calculating the bills, it is 10:32 pm. She looks up from her book, stretching out only to catch her brother stealing a glance at her. She gives him a look to speak up but he looks down at his phone only to look back at her within seconds.

"What?" She asks, getting irritated.

"I'm hungry."

Her eyes widen, "But you just ate about an hour ago."

"Well, that was just cereal, I'm still hungry."

Aubrey sighs, regretting having to take care of Brady all on her own. Since her brother became the quarterback of his football team, he would always come back home with the words, 'I'm hungry.' 

"Then drink water, stop bothering me."

"That won't do anything." Her brother continues to complain.

"But I can't start cooking now, it's late at night and you can see I'm busy." She argues, gesturing to the bills she has to calculate and submit to the landlord before dawn.

He sighs, slumping into the orange couch, "It's times like this I miss mom."

She glares at him, getting up on her feet, "Fine. I'm going out to get some bread."

A smile immediately appears on the young boy's face, "You're the best." He gives her thumbs up before going back to text on his phone.

She hurries into her room, grabbing her oversized jacket and pulling it over her pajamas before walking back into the Livingroom. She picks up her phone, carefully tucking it into her pocket. "I'm going to the store down street so I'll try to be back within 10 minutes," She tells him as she grabs her shoes, "If anything- and I mean anything happens, call me."

It takes a couple of seconds for Brady to drag his eyes away from his book to give her a smug look, "You're scared the thieves would come back? Come on, they dare not enter. They probably got in because you're a girl."

She gives him a threatening look, "I'll change my mind—"

"I said probably."

She sighs, moving to the door. "Lock the door after I go out, you hear me?"

He doesn't respond as his eyes are buried into his novel. Aubrey groans, eyeing the big paperback. She doesn't know if she should be at least grateful that he spends most of his time reading instead of mindlessly scrolling through his phone. But it doesn't help that the books he spends his time on are based on Greek mythology and gods that do not exist. 

"Brady are you even listening to me?" 

Her brother groans, still not taking his attention off the book. "You worry too much, nothing is going to happen."

She raises her voice, "Would you stop being stubborn and do what I say?"

He sighs, getting up from the couch and walking after her. Once she steps out of the house, she takes her time to scan the surroundings. Walking out at night can also be dangerous for a girl but she can't send her brother to go for the bread, her mum will murder her.

She is glad the neighbors have all of their outside lights turned on, illuminating the whole street and thereby making it easier for her to walk.

She shuts the cherry-red painted door tightly behind her, "Lock it."