She Can't Read Minds

“No offense Miranda,” my brother told me as I sat beside him in the den, “but you really fucked up. Markus is most likely embarrassed now so he doesn’t want to be around you. He thinks you hate him, not like him. You. Fucked. Up. But on the other hand, Cal’s coming over today so you should be able to clear that part up, you know, explain it was an accident.” I groaned, burying my face into his shoulder while he played his videogame.

“I’ll probably mess that up too.”

“Well, yeah, with that attitude. Come on, sis, you can’t possibly screw up more. Karma won’t allow it. The universe needs to be balanced. Yadda, yadda.” He shook, pressing buttons rapidly and biting down on his lip in concentration.

“Will, fix it. When I was little, you’d always fix it.” I stared at my older brother with love as he glanced at me and rolled his eyes. He sighed.

“I can’t fix all your problems,” Will told me, “especially ones about guys. That’s just plain weird, but I can give you advice.” I perked up and turned to him. He laughed, noticing my change. “I didn’t mean I had advice ready for you right now.”

“Well I assumed.”

“What do I look like? A fortune cookie?”

I chuckled, squinting my eyes as if I were trying to get a good look at him. Will shoved me with his elbow playfully. “A little around the shoulders, yes.” He stuck his tongue out at me, focusing back onto the television screen before him. I sighed, leaning my head onto my older brother’s shoulder. We sat in silence for a while until our mom came into the den and sat down on the couch. “Hi Mom.”

“Hello hon,” she smiled to us, “I wanted to talk to you guys about Lucas, Cal, Belle, Jane, and Grey. Maybe having them…move in?” Will groaned, tossing his controller to the side dramatically with his hands in the air as if he were surrendering. I laughed as he grumbled about taking away all of his dignity and how we should just shoot him. “Drama queen. Gosh, I thought I had a son.”

“Are you calling me a girl?”

I elbowed his side and whispered, “That was kind of the point of saying she thought she had a son…meaning you’re her daughter.” He stared at me. “You’re a girl.” I told him in the most serious of tones I could manage. Mom rolled her eyes and told us to hush down so she could continue to talk to us. That this was serious.

“It’s not all that serious,” my brother reached over to pick up his controller again, “we already know you guys want to get married and have them move in…n’ stuff.” Will shuddered at the thought in his mind before resuming his videogame. Mom laughed at her son, swatting at the back of his head. “Plus, Grey and Belle are already going to college…yes, don’t have to worry about him! He scared me.”

“How? He barely said anything.”

“Exactly.” I nodded my head in agreement before looking back up at our mom. She smiled down at me before flashing a frightened look at her son. Probably wondering what went wrong in his brain.

“I don’t understand you sometimes.”

“All I’m trying to say is it’s the quiet ones you need to watch out for.”

“I just don’t understand you.” Mom told him, shaking her head with a smile. Will opened his mouth to defend himself but she hushed him again. “They’re all coming over for dinner tonight and I want you two to be on your best behavior possible. Sally told me something happened with Markus and Leslie, but get passed it for tonight. They’re having dinner with us too. I want this to go smoothly; we’re telling everyone about the proposal at dinner.” She grinned at us, standing up and heading for the door.

“Whoa, wait right there young lady.” Will demanded, leaving his controller on the floor when he walked over to our mother. She looked shocked. “Don’t you think you guys are moving about this all too quickly? I mean you only just told us about dating him like a week ago. Are you sure about this?” I raised my eyebrows; surprised by him. Who knew my brother had this side to him? I didn’t.

“Stop worrying about me, boy,” mom smiled, patting her taller-than-her son’s cheek, “I am an adult. I can handle this on my own and if I even had one doubt, I wouldn’t be going through with it right now.” Will narrowed his eyes at her before she repeated her first few words and left the den. “Remember what I said about behavior!”

“Whoa! Wait a second! Mom get back in here!” I shouted, feeling slower than usual today. Will laughed at me while our mother reentered the den with an annoyed expression her normally loving face. “Did I hear you right? Both Markus and Cal are coming to dinner…with Leslie too?” Mom nodded at me, looking lost as to why this would make me freak out.

Will burst into laughter at my misfortune, tumbling over onto the floor with a red face and hands on his stomach. Mom looked down at him with raised eyebrows. I stared at her, my jaw to floor.

“You, uh, heard me right?” Mom asked, giving me a funny look.

“Fuck.” I grumbled as she left the den once more. Will wiped at his teary eyes, watching me sit down on the couch and groan. Kill me.