Dad had laid down the law: We were to keep a
low profile at school, no talking about family connections, no attracting unnecessary attention. Tiffany, clearly, had forgotten all about that. Being Ethan’s sister made her even more popular than her spending spree. Kids wanted to befriend her to get Ethan to tutor them. Some wanted to absorb his genius by osmosis. And a lot of girls wanted to be his girlfriend. Because Ethan wasn’t just a brain; he was also seriously cute. The school forum still
buzzed with debates over whether he was
hotter than Jake Riley, the school bad boy.
The day Ethan was supposed to transfer, the
seats next to Tiffany were suddenly the hottest
property in the classroom. Girls scrambled to
<
switch places, leaving only the seat next to her
open, presumably for Ethan. Tiffany’s desk
overflowed with love letters and gifts. Someone
had tried that with Jake when he first showed
up, but he’d tossed everything in the trash.
After witnessing his brutal fighting skills, no one
dared try again. They avoided him like the
plague.
When we heard footsteps outside, the girls.
around Tiffany went into a frenzy.
“OMG, he’s coming! I can’t believe I’m in the
same class as Ethan Miller!”
“Tiffany, Tiffany, he likes white, right? I’m
wearing a white dress! I even got detention for
not wearing the uniform! He has to notice me!”
“Tiffany, remember? I’ll do your chores for a
week if you give him this chocolate!”
“Is he really aloof? I heard he doesn’t talk
Tiffany simpered. “Ethan’s only quiet around strangers. He’s a chatterbox around me. He’s always been clingy. So don’t tease us if he
sticks to me like glue.”
“He totally transferred for you! You guys have
such a close bond. I’m so jealous!”
Sarah whispered to me, “Ashley, are you sure
Ethan is Tiffany’s brother? I mean, they have
the same last name, but I’ve never heard of him
before. You’re a Miller too, you know.”
I kept memorizing vocabulary. “Doesn’t matter.
Stay out of it.”
“But he’s so cute! Do you like guys like him?”
Jake, who usually slept through class, opened
one eye and looked at me.
I shook my head.
<
Sarah just said, “Oh.”
Jake closed his eye and went back to sleep.
Ethan walked in with Mr. Harrison. The
classroom was eerily silent. Mr. Harrison
introduced Ethan, telling him to pick any seat.
He’d rearrange things if needed.
I looked up. Our eyes met.
He was staring right at me.
I blinked. He’d lost weight, probably from being
sick. His eyes were red–rimmed, like he’d been
crying. He still looked like he was holding back
tears.
A girl stood up and introduced herself. Others
followed suit, eager to make friends.
Ethan kept his eyes locked on me, ignoring
everyone else. Finally, prompted by Mr.
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Harrison, he spoke. “I came to this class for one person. To protect her, to study with her, to go to college with her. That person is my sister—”
Squeals erupted, cutting him off. The girls around Tiffany were practically vibrating. “Tiffany, Tiffany, he said he came for you! That’s so sweet!”
Tiffany, barely concealing her smugness, giggled behind her hand. “He’s so silly. I told him not to make a big deal out of it. He’s so embarrassing.”
Ethan walked straight towards Tiffany’s desk. The squeals intensified.
He stopped beside her desk. Tiffany stood up gracefully, feigning annoyance. “Silly brother, who needs your protection? I didn’t ask for this. Why leave the advanced class? Mom and Dad are going to be so mad.” She made sure her
voice was loud enough for everyone to hear.
<
Ethan ignored her. He picked up the empty
desk next to hers, grabbed the chair, and
walked towards me.
The squealing stopped abruptly. The classroom
fell silent, except for the sound of Ethan’s
footsteps. Tiffany stood frozen, her face cycling
through every color of the rainbow.
Ethan set the desk down in the aisle next to
mine and tapped the kid sleeping next to me.
“Hey, can we switch seats? Move back one.
Ashley Miller is my sister.”
Everyone: “???!!!” Jaws dropped. Eyes bulged.
Jake woke up and looked at me, not Ethan.
I spoke up, refusing Ethan. “I’m not your sister,
and I’m not switching seats. If you want to sit
there, I’ll move.”
Ethan’s eves welled un “Sis—”
<
Ethan’s eyes welled up. “Sis-”
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“Didn’t you hear her? She doesn’t want you here,” Jake growled, glaring at Ethan, his fists clenching.
The teachers, unsure what to do, stayed silent.
Ethan stared at me, his eyes red. I kept my face impassive. He finally set the desk down behind me and sat down.
Mr. Harrison was also our math teacher. I struggled with the homework, biting my pen in frustration. A folded piece of paper landed on my desk. I opened it cautiously. It was covered in neat calculations, showing the solutions to the problems I couldn’t solve.
I froze. Ethan’s behavior was starting to look a
lot like Dad’s. Had he had a dream too? A
dream about my…previous life?
After class, some girls tried to ask Tiffany what
was going on, but she ignored them, burying
her face in her arms and sobbing.
The other kids exchanged confused looks. They
looked at Tiffany, then at Ethan, then at me.
Ethan appeared, holding a stack of books. He
placed them on my desk, his face flushed. “Sis,
these are some reference books. Ask me if you
don’t understand anything. I’ll explain it to you.”
He returned to his seat.
