"Admit it, you've run out of ideas."

"This is a genuine hobby," she said, sounding offended.

I peeled my eyes off of the huge 'SALE' sign with bold red letters plastered on the window of the shop to look at Meadow.

"Looking through records?" I asked.

"Listening to music."

"We can listen to music anywhere."

"But not like this." She spread her arms as she entered the record store, gesturing to the rows of vinyls.

I sighed as I followed her. It wasn't as bad as the vintage shop, but this wasn't any better. It seemed that no matter where we went, it would look old and rustic. It forced you to go back in time whether you liked it or not.

Right now, I felt like I was in the 60s. At least, the CDs and vinyls were organized here. I might've even caught some instruments out back.

"It makes no difference," I said.

"Are you kidding me?" she scoffed, turning to me in utter disbelief. "It makes all the difference. We're surrounded with a variety of artists and genres. We get to bask in the world of music, coming from different decades."

"And shower in century old dust," I muttered, running a finger on a random shelf. It might look tidy, but it was definitely not clean.

"You need to stop nitpicking," she told me, rolling her eyes. "It's not healthy," she added, before walking away and scanning the records.

"Truth hurts," I called out to her.

She ignored me.

Deciding to humor her and kill time, I looked around the store. In all fairness to the owner, they had the latest released singles. A part of me was expecting they only sold albums from the 20th century.

And then... a familiar face caught my eye.

I picked up the album and stared at my sister's face.

If truth be told, I couldn't remember a time when Maxine wasn't famous. I was quite young when it happened. I was barely even in grade school yet.

She and her friends (including her husband, Todd) were only recording songs for fun in the Mantle Studio when a producer heard her singing. He was so mesmerized that he offered her a deal then and there.

And the rest was history.

Her rise up to fame was as fast as her songs climbing up the charts. She became an instant hit. Everybody loved her music that even the toughest critics couldn't help but sing along. Along the way, she also became America's sweetheart.

She was only eighteen back then.

My grandfather and mother tried their best to shield me from the limelight. They didn't want my sister's celebrity status to affect my daily life. It worked, somewhat. Like I said before, money went a long way.

But in the age of social media, it could only do so much. Everybody still knew who I was. Everybody still recognized my face.

I was Alex, Maxine's 'adorable little brother.'

That was actually one of the reasons why I changed my nickname. I didn't like the idea of being stuck in my sister's shadow.

I had my own identity. I had my own life. I had my own purpose – even though I had yet to figure out what that was.

Perhaps that was why I could relate to Meadow when she shared that bit about her sister. She wasn't an extension of anybody.

She was her own person.

All thoughts vanished when I heard a soft humming sound. It was quite solemn, and comforting in a way. Curious, I raised my head and tried to see where it was coming from. I put my sister's album back on the shelf and followed the voice.

It was close now. I guessed it was coming through the shelf. Through the gap, I caught some silky black hair covering half of her face while her grey eyes looked down at something she was holding. She looked almost serene, unbothered like this.

I couldn't hide my shocked expression as I pushed back some records between us so I could see her properly.

"You sing."

Meadow jumped in surprise, clutching her chest and almost losing her balance from the other side. "Anders, what on earth—"

"You sing," I repeated.

"Yes," she mumbled, before avoiding my eye and pretending to be busy looking through the record collection.

"I want to hear more."

"No."

With that, she walked away as if the subject was dropped. Ha, far from it. I went after her, until I was finally standing right by her side.

"Why not?" I asked.

She shrugged, refusing to look at me. "Just because."

"Just because of what?" I urged, studying her.

She didn't give anything away, though. Nor did she answer me. She only fiddled with a random vinyl as though it required her undivided focus.

"You don't think we're close enough."

"No."

"I'm hurt, Buckley," I added, flashing her the sad pouty face I always used on my mother. "After getting wasted together, I thought we reached a new level of friendship."

"No, it's just..." she paused, looking around.

"Are you shy?" For the record, there was nobody here but us.

She glared at me. "No."

Yikes, I must've struck a nerve. "Then, what's stopping you?"

Yet again, she didn't answer me. But I wasn't giving up. And as luck would have it, I spotted an old black piano for sale. I tried not to grin too much.

"Come on." I grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the piano.

Figuring out what I was planning, she looked at me and frowned. "No."

"You don't even know what I'm going to do."

When she opened her mouth for a retort, I quickly raised my hand and called on the man behind the counter.

"Hi! Mind if I test this?"

The man looked up from scrolling his phone, eyed me from head to toe, and then shrugged. "No, go ahead."

God, I loved getting my way.

"Brilliant." I sat down and stared expectantly at Meadow.

"You play?" She shook her head, looking like she changed her mind about asking. "Of course you play," she added in a mutter.

"What, you thought my sister was the only one gifted in the family?"

It wasn't a secret that I liked bragging many things about myself, but my musical talent wasn't one of them.

"You're putting words in my mouth," she said.

"Au contraire, I'm reading your mind."

She looked away and whispered, "Failing at it."

I couldn't help but smile. "Any requests?"

"You're really gonna play?" she asked, meeting my eyes again.

"You're really going to sing."

She crossed her arms, hesitating.

"You promised to keep me entertained," I reminded her.

"I promised to show you how to have fun."

"Right, by keeping me entertained..."

She let out a little laugh and shook her head as if she was about to do something silly, while the smile on my face grew wider.

"Fine," she gave in, rolling her eyes and sitting down beside me.

I only now realized that she smelt of flowers. Not quite sure which kind, though. Nonetheless, it fit her name.

"What will it be?" I asked.

She pursed her lips. "Do you know... Helpless?"

I frowned, recognizing the title.

"Phillipa Soo? Hamilton?"

"Ah, yeah," I said, as understanding crossed my features.

She blinked. "You know that song?"

I nodded. "I was there on opening night." Not to mention, I still liked to listen to Hamilton's soundtrack from time to time – but she didn't need to know that.

"I'll sing that please," she said quietly.

"Alright, then."

I placed my fingers above the keys, feeling its smoothness. It must've been a year since I last touched a piano. A part of me felt excited.

Without further ado, I began playing.

Meadow closed her eyes and hummed, "Ooh, I do I do I do I dooo~"

I watched as she sang it by heart. When she opened her eyes, she trained them on the keys and a little smile appeared on her face.

"I have never been the type to try and grab the spotlight~ We were at a revel with some rebels on a hot night~ Laughing at my sister as she's dazzling the room~ Then you walked in and my heart went" (she raised her fist and opened her palm) "boom."

Wow, she was really good.

I'd met a lot of renowned singers and while they had powerful voices, Meadow's had that intimacy that made you feel as though she was singing solely to you.

She swayed along with the beat, singing, "And you look back at me and suddenly I'm helpless~ Look into your eyes and the sky's the limit~ I'm helpless~"

My lips stretched into a wide smile as I watched her loosen up and get into it. So much so, that Meadow stood up and swung around.

"One week later, I'm writing a letter nightly~ Now my life gets better every letter that you write me~"

It was fun seeing her this way.

I watched her sing and dance around me, finally losing her worries and not caring about what anyone thought of her. And suddenly, I saw the girl who was dancing in the laundry room and smacked me with her hair.

When the male's part was coming up, I cleared my throat and readied myself.

"Eliza, I don't have a dollar to my name~"

Meadow stopped and stared at me in surprise, as I continued to sing the lyrics as I remembered them.

"Insane, your family brings out a different side of me~ Peggy confides in me, Angelica tries to take a bite of me~" I gave a 'yikes' face, making her laugh. "No stress~"

She walked back and leaned her elbows above the piano, watching me sing. Then, I deepened my voice like the original broadway singer did.

"As long as I'm alive, Eliza, swear to God, you'll never feel so~

She burst out laughing. "I do I do I do I dooo~"

We continued to duet, not realizing I had a huge smile plastered on my face. I was having so much fun that I honestly forgot where we were.

"My life's gon' be fine~"

"I look into your eyes and the sky's the limit~ I'm helpless~" She closed her eyes and hit that note. "Down for the count and I'm drowning in 'em~"

"Wow," I murmured, staring at her when she finished.

She laughed, radiating in delight. "That was fun."

"Where did you learn to sing like that?"

"Church choir."

"You have a beautiful voice."

She shifted in her stance, looking awkward. "Thanks."

I studied her and noted that she wasn't used to receiving compliments, which was weird because I heard several people give her one. It made me wonder if she believed a word they said, or perhaps she thought they were just being polite.

"Anyway," she said, clearing her throat. "Were you entertained, your highness?"

I nodded. "Very much so." No lie, I haven't had that much fun in weeks.

She laughed. "Good, now let's go." With the last word, she got up to leave.

"Already?"

The corner of her lips twitched, looking at me with a playful expression. "Careful, I might think you're actually enjoying yourself."

"Who, me?" I asked, feigning innocence. "No way."

I stood up and followed her out. I thanked the man behind the counter when we passed him, and he only gave me a curt nod. She watched me with an amused face as we walked out of the record store.

"I'm not opposed to doing that again, though," I said.

"Aha!" She pointed at me with a triumphant grin. "Admit it," she began, imitating my tone earlier. "You actually enjoyed yourself."

I sighed. "You caught me." I offered my wrists to her, acting in defeat. "Take me in, officer. I'm guilty of having fun."

"Yes!" She raised her fist. "Success!"

I didn't let her know, I'd been having fun since the moment she slapped me with her hair. She laughed wholeheartedly but then stopped short, staring at a guy in front of us. He was around our age, and looked just as surprised to see her.

His dark brown eyes traveled to me before going back to Meadow. He had dark clean cut hair and an olive skin tone. He was tall as well, which suited his lean build. He was wearing a plain red shirt and khaki shorts. Very casual.

I could let them stare at each other all day but I'd rather get a move on.

"Hi, I'm Anders," I introduced myself, reaching out a hand to the stranger like the well-mannered human being I was.

"Hey, my name's Kobe." He accepted my hand and shook it. "New in town?" The question was directed at me, but his eyes kept going back to Meadow as if asking her what was going on.

"Yeah, I'm only here for the summer." I thought I should save them the trouble and answer his unspoken question, adding, "Meadow offered to show me around."

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "She did?"

Meadow looked away, focusing her eyes to the street. I was right. It was definitely out of character for her to do that.

"Did she take you to the diner yet?" he asked.

"The other night. Good food."

He grinned. "The best."

Debatable, but I didn't contradict him.

"You know what," he mentioned, as if he just remembered, "some of my friends are going to Cali's Point this Friday. You guys should come."

"No," Meadow replied.

Our heads turned to her, and I asked, "Why not?"

"It's—I don't think—" She pressed her lips together, then sighed. "Nevermind."

Kobe nodded. "It's fine. You don't have to."

She looked at me. "You should go if you want."

"I'm not going without you."

"Don't let me hold you back."

"You promised," I said, flashing her a knowing look.

She only glared at me.

"Besides," I added, "I don't even know what Cali's Point is."

They both answered simultaneously, "Beach."

"Right," I answered slowly, watching them with keen interest now and realizing there was more to the story than what meets the eye.

"It's cool, Anders," Kobe said. "She doesn't want to."

"The thing is, I think she does. She's just shy."

Meadow stood up straighter. "No, I'm not."

I smirked. "Prove it."

"Don't provoke her, man," Kobe told me.

Ah, was that a protective tone I heard? Interesting.

"I wouldn't dare," I said. "She's smarter than that."

"I'll think about it," Meadow decided.

See? Fighter.

Kobe stared at her. "Meadow—"

"We better go," she told me, cutting him off. "Bye, Kobe."

Kobe could only sigh dejectedly. "Bye."

Before I could offer my condolences to his lack of backbone and say goodbye to him, Meadow grabbed my arm and dragged me away. She looked hellbent on escaping so I let her. She didn't let go of me until we were far enough.

I didn't remind her that my car was parked in front of the record store.

"I'm guessing that was your ex?" I asked.

She looked perplexed. "What? No!"

I gave her a skeptical expression.

"He's not." She paused and swallowed, looking very panicked. "He's—"

I stayed silent, waiting for her to continue.

"He's complicated," she finally finished, looking down on her feet.

Suddenly, it all clicked. "Oh, is he that one friend?"

She didn't reply, which was already an answer in itself.

"Are you not going to tell me about it?"

She sighed, raising her head and facing the road. "I'm tired. Can you just take me home—please?"

I stared at her. She crossed her arms, refusing to look at me. She didn't seem like she was going to give in and tell me the whole story anytime soon.

So I decided not to push it.

"Okay."

I'd drop it for now. But she was wrong if she thought I'd stop asking. I wouldn't let up until I knew what the deal was between them.

It wasn't that I cared – no, not quite.

I was just genuinely curious.

But mostly, I was bored.

_____________

Kobe is Filipino, btw! :)

What do you think happened between Meadow and Kobe?