I unpacked the final box of books, meticulously arranging them in my bookshelf - genre-wise, then series-wise. By the time I was done, it was almost dinnertime.

I was famished.

The only thing that kept me going was the sight of filling of the big bookshelf which was my proudest possession. It seemed a worthwhile effort.

A part of my mind, undoubtedly the pessimist one, taunted, Why do you even bother? You'll probably have to move again after this semester!

Shut up, I snapped at it. Dad promised that he won't make us move again.

 If only it were that easy to tame the negative thoughts.

Yeah right, It drawled, like that has ever worked before.

We won't have to. We stayed in NYC for two years, didn't we? I retorted.

Only because Jake was with you.

He is now as well. Ha. I said triumphantly.

He'll be in college most of the time. This doesn't look good, Izzy. It cackled.

I groaned.

Lack of sleep, an empty stomach, and a had of relentless hard work obviously didn't go together. I skipped lunch since I was in the zone and I had the house to myself. 

Usually, I didn't miss meals. Actually, scratch that, I never missed meals if I could help it. Food is life, don't you agree?

Unpacking was never fun. Somehow, for the first time in a long time, I got through without once plotting a murder. No, wait, at one point I halfway did plan my last Biology teacher's demise . . . Hehe. See? Never fun.

I briefly wondered getting up from the bed I had so decidedly sprawled myself on but then scoffed at the idea. I was pretty sure my zen would be short-lived. Might as well make the most of it, eh?

I stretched, groaning unattractively, trying to reach my phone on my bedside table and almost dropping it in the process.

Did I have a mini heart attack? Yes. It was my lifeline, ya know?

Did I regret it? Nope. I didn't drop it and all's well that ends well, right? 

I increased the volume of the songs playing on the Bluetooth in my room, singing along loudly in my probably pig-like voice.

I've been hurt before, and that's why I close the door
Scared of the daaaaark 
And broken heeeaaarts
I can't let you in
'cause I'm crawling in my skin
Oh, I've been scaaaarred
 By broken heeeaaarts............

"Isabelle!" a gruff voice all but screamed. "Shut the bloody fuck up!"

That, ladies and gentlemen, is my oh so well mannered sibling, Jacob.

Obviously, I ignored him, refusing to let him dampen my spirits. I sang at the top of my lungs, knowingly annoying him.

What? Don't judge me! That's what we siblings do. It's our way of showing love. Can't say I really minded it. Not in the moment, at least.

My door burst open with a bang.

"Heyyyy big bro!!" I greeted him cheerfully. His blue eyes were glinting with a dangerous edge and his pink lips were pressed together in a thin line forcefully. His brownish golden hair was recklessly tousled and his hoodie was wrinkled with the day's wear.

Sometimes I almost pitied him, having to deal with me all the time.

Keywords: 'sometimes' and 'almost'.

"Isabelle." He warned.

Mission: Annoy Jake.
Status: Accomplished.

"What's wrong?" I asked him innocently, not bothering to lower the volume of my speakers. The bass was strong and the music was thumping pleasurably. He closed his eyes, his palms balling into fists.

"Either lower the volume of that damned speaker or get out," he spoke through gritted teeth.

Whoa, someone was a little cranky. I scrunched my nose. This wasn't normal. The Jacob I knew would wrestle the phone out of my grasp, tickle me till I cried to teach me a lesson, and then make a dramatic exit with a cocky grin of achievement on his face.

I unlocked my phone and paused my playlist altogether.

"What's wrong, Jake?" I asked him. He shook his head in denial.

"Nothing." He stated.

"Oh, bite me," I rolled my eyes, moving to sit against the headboard of my bed and patting the space next to me. He hesitated for less than a second and then taking long strides plopped down next to me. 

With our parents out of town 90% of the time, we siblings learned to set apart our differences when needed and bond. We love each other to the moon and back. Our bond was one of the ones that can probably be considered enviable: full of love, (over)protectiveness, fun, pranks, and mutual understanding. We could go from being at each other's throats to hugging in seconds. 

In fact, believe it not, he gave me the talk about the 'Birds and the bees' since our parents couldn't be home because of some important case they were working on. Most embarrassing conversation of my entire fucking existence. I distinctly remember literally kicking him out of the room and staying locked up in there for four days. He understood I needed space and would drop me articles of food outside my room and leave so that I could eat and be in peace. He definitely took the award for Best Brother of the Year every time as far as I was concerned.

I let him sit in silence, collecting his thoughts.

"You know you're too perceptive for your own good, right?" He starts after a few minutes.

"Have you ever thought that maybe it's you who's too transparent?" I retorted with a chuckle.

"Only to you, Izzy. Only to you," he smiled fondly at me, his eyes still looking tortured.

"Jake . . . do you wanna talk about it?" I asked him gently.

He hummed.

"So, I was talking to the Blacks today," he began and my brows furrowed. The Blacks were our old family friends. They owned a Law firm just like our parents and had two sons - Carter, who was Jacob's age, and Logan, who was a year older than me. Us children were pretty tight since we had a lot in common - alone at home, siblings, family drama, constant shifting, and whatnot. In fact, Carter and Jacob were even best friends.

"Did you and Carter get into a fight?" I asked him in the same gentle tone.

"What?! No!" He laughed. "Patience, sis."

I shut up. They didn't fight. That was good.

"Go on," I urged when another minute of silence passed. I swear the suspense was killing me.

"Hmmm?" He started out of his train of thoughts. "Yeah. So. He was telling me how he got accepted in Stanford too and . . . he's majoring in Electronic and Electrical Engineering."

He paused and I took a deep breath. Carter was majoring in something that wasn't Law. Wow. How did he manage to convince Michael and Sophia? When Jake asked our parents to major in Human Physiology from Harvard, he was shot down faster than one could blink. We tried for days to convince our parents but we failed. He was heartbroken. 

Moments passed in silence.

"I'm so sorry, Jake," I whispered, hugging him.

"It's okay," he pulled back, smiling weakly.

"No, it's not!" I said. "It's bullshit! This is your life, they are unknowingly making it fucking miserable!!"

His smile faltered.

"We've tried, it never works," he replied forlornly.

"I don't care!" I cried. 

I loved him with all my heart. He had always been here for me. He loved me, sheltered me, protected me. He was my safe place when my parents weren't. He picked me up from school, he took me to the sports academies I enrolled in, watched my games, gave me boy advice, took me to eat out, and let me sleep in his room when I had nightmares. 

What hadn't he done for me? He fought for everything and managed to convince people to see his side. The one thing that matters, they didn't listen and I could see how it broke him every living second. I needed to convince our parents to think otherwise. For him.

"We'll find a way, Jake. I swear we will."

**********************

"I love you so much!!" I cried as I heard the front door open, sprinting towards the source of my happiness. Jake looked less alarmed than amused at seeing my state but chose not to comment as he held what I assumed was my bag of food away from himself to avoid getting mauled. I jumped at it, hugging it to my chest, and wasted no time storming to the kitchen to pull out the utensils.

I put the scorching bite of that delicious goodness in my mouth and almost moaned at the taste. My favorite dish - lasagna.

"Drama Queen," He muttered under his breath.

"Heard that!" I snapped at him. He shrugged nonchalantly.

"It's true . . . just look at you," he said humorously. I rolled my eyes, ignoring him. I could deal with him later when I was not worried about my precious food getting cold.

"Water?" He offered, amused.

"Sure," I accepted the glass and chugged half of it down in one go. I was done in a record time of 8 minutes.

I rubbed my satisfied belly, finally leaning back in my chair. I closed my eyes.

"That was bliss," I declared.

"Hmmm," he was still eating.

Then I remembered. School. I groaned.

"Trouble in paradise?" Jake taunted.

"Bitch, you knew," I groaned. He knew. Now I know the reason behind his inexpiable amusement. He was waiting for me to realize that it was a nightmare tomorrow.

He laughed.

The bastard fucking laughed.

I picked up my glass of water which was still half full and impulsively threw it his way. He startled, his eyes wide, his hair sticking to his forehead, water dripping down his face. The look on his face was too much. My frustration forgotten, I snickered. Hard.

His nostrils flared comically.

"Oh, it's on," he declared, pushing his chair back to stand up. Alarmed, I scrambled out of my own. My body was shaking with laughter and my eyes were blurring with tears of amusement.

Still laughing, I raced out of the kitchen and up the stairs, only to realize that no one was following me. I waited for a few seconds and then heard a faint thud.

"Jake?" I called.

My first mistake.

Confused, I slowly made my way back down the stairs.

My second mistake.

As soon as I stepped off the last stair, I was ambushed. I screeched in panic as Jacob got hold of me and the next thing I knew, I had a centimeter thick layer of whipped cream on my face. I laughed at his attempt at revenge, grossed out, and entertained in equal measures. I tried to evade it, but let's face it, I was not fit enough to escape a bulky ex-varsity lacrosse player.

That night, I didn't have time to think that school would be again unexplored waters. I was so exhausted by all the unpacking and messing around with Jake that I fell asleep before I could even dwell on anything else. 

That, and well the hot shower definitely helped.

*************************

A/N:-

so that was the first chapter

thoughts??