Emilin POV:

Similar monologues went through Emilin’s pretty little head every single day: ​​

‘God damn it, why am I still such a nervous wreck! Get your act together Emilin! You’re already 15 years old today, you can’t keep going on like this. How do you expect anyone to want to be your friend at this rate? Even when they are just asking you a question, can’t you try to hold a longer conversation? It shouldn’t be too hard to ask about the weather’

‘Wait I think I can’t blame everything on my skills, there should be something wrong with my face too. Yes! I remember that time I tried. I swear I did. I was about to ask about the weather when everyone just ran away. God, I think if I don’t keep my poker face people might really start to run away. Then they won’t even ask me about classwork.’

‘At least there is something I can talk about without being awkward. Yeah, facts. I should spew facts. You can’t go wrong with facts. More facts. Yeah. I should try that next time. Facts!’ That was Emilin’s mantra for the rest of the class. Yet she still wasn’t able to go around actually talking to someone.

‘Why does everything work so much better through a computer? But that was all work-related, those were just facts.’

‘I should just ask Theo how he does it.’

[For the readers out there. Just so you know, this is most definitely not the first time she has asked, nor will it be the last.]

***

Back to when Theo walked in followed by Nathaniel. When he came into Emilin’s vision, she was shocked.

Both Theo and Nathen had grown quite a lot in the past years. Nathen had become more mature and of course much taller. He pursued various sports and learned many martial arts throughout the years, to make sure he wouldn’t fall behind Theo in his growth.

His hair color became slightly darker over the years; however, it still could not compare to the dark brown that was Theodore’s hair color, it was more of a latte brown, while Theo’s hair was a coffee brown. His eyes were still as soft as ever and even though his build grew quite large at 186cm and muscles in all the right places, he still remained the perfect image of a friendly, admirable young man. He was wearing a white dress shirt that wasn’t able to hide his figure and black trousers.

Now he was 20 years old attending one of the top universities on a sports scholarship as the valedictorian of his year, with the help of his siblings when it came to the matters of his studies.

The truth was that both of the younger siblings could easily start taking university classes, but Emilin could not afford to skip more grades for various reasons. First, they would become too eye-catching, not that they minded too much, but being the center of attention prevented her from being able to start normal conversations. If she were to start ‘studying’ with even older kids, she might as well give up on her goal of making normal friends or even starting a normal conversation.

Theo on the other hand seemed to be more of a ruffian bad boy. He was on the skinnier side, yet his muscles were not to be undermined. As a boy, he didn’t want to be any weaker than his older brother, but he didn’t have as much interest in sports. He just opted for swimming and running as well as some trips to the home gym.

Emilin was startled by his big brother’s appearance. Her classmates even more so.

‘Who is this?’ Of course, some noticed Nathen’s appearance was exceptionally similar to Theodore’s. Only an older, friendlier version who was also more muscular and a tiny bit taller, a bit that was barely noticeable. Actually, since Theo was on the leaner side, if they weren’t standing side by side, one would think that Theodore was in fact taller.

After looking at Nathen, everyone’s gaze naturally shifted to what he was holding. It was cake. And on top of it were the words ‘Happy Birthday Emi’ written using a candle in cursive. They seemed like individual candles, but the letters were all connected.

In the past, this never occurred because Emilin’s birthday would be on the weekend, and this year, she thought she wouldn’t be able to see Nathen because he had school and it was March. They were nearing testing season.

Emilin quickly stood up and was closing the distance between the two siblings. Nathen who saw her movements quickly handed the cake to Theo who was next to him and opened his arms for the young girl that was closing in for a hug.

“I thought you weren’t coming back this year!” She said, in a rather loud voice.

“How could I miss such an important occasion. You know you’re growing up way too fast. I can’t have my little sister, who’s not so little anymore start dating in secret, now can I? I have to come to check, but of course, your birthday is equally as important.” As he said this, he scanned the room for any possible threats. He still maintained his gentlemanly expression, this being one of the greatest differences between Nathen and Theodore.

“Hey! My little sister too. Emi, how come after Nathen comes, you forget that there’s this big brother here that has been taking care of you this whole time.” Theodore who had been forgotten on one side had put down the cake on his own desk, which was closer to the door, but also in the middle row and walked back. He then joined in for the now group hug.

Emilin chuckled a little. With her the appearance of two people she didn’t have to be nervous around, she quickly forgot that she was still in her classroom surrounded by her classmates who were now in a state of disbelief.