Chapter 3 - part 2 page 1

Jaye took a little while to settle in. After a couple of days, her clothes were lying out around the far half of the living room and some extra cosmetics were popping up in the bathroom.

Mia sincerely wished she would go out adventuring so she could have run of the house again.

For the past three days, Mia had been cooped up in her room venturing out only for food just like she feared. She guessed it was kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy since she was the one who refused to leave her room, but still. On the second day, Dad knocked on her door an hour or so after he got home and invited her out, which she reluctantly did, and they awkwardly talked about little things for a few hours until she "went to bed". Tonight was day three. She wondered if she should start carving the numbers into the walls.

There was a knock at her door. "Can I come in?" Jaye called through.

"Yeah," Mia replied. There was no escaping this, she guessed, whatever it was. Jaye opened the door, had a look around, and stepped over some clothes to the bed where Mia was nested under her blanket.

"Ooh, it's warm in here," she smiled, but she looked flushed and a bit nervous.

"Mmm." Mia forced a smile.

"So... look." She twirled the chair around from Mia's desk and sat down. "According to your dad, this is pretty abnormal for you. I know you're kinda hiding from me, and I totally get it. I'm barging in on your life, especially since there's no space around here."

Mia watched her silently.

"And I'm sorry, but I really had to get away from shit at home. And... Well..." She gesticulated, looking for words. "I dunno, I guess I always wanted a sister. And, like, nine times out of ten I'd be happy to just keep out of your way, but... I dunno, I just really need this right now. Can we be friends? I promise, promise, promise it'll be fun."

Her eyes were overbright and Mia could swear her hands were shaking. Suddenly, the fact that she had been a total cock so far came crashing down on her.

"Yeah," she said. "I mean, no, I'm sorry too. I've been terrible."

"No, really you haven't." She grinned and stood up. "It's natural."

"No, here you were trying to escape from your parents and I was doing nothing to help! Really, I feel bad."

This led to a small argument over whether or not Mia was in the wrong, which ended in laughter. Mia truly smiled with Jaye for the first time, which made her even happier.

"So," Mia said, "do you want to go out and sightsee or something?"

"Mmm, not today." Jaye looked out the window to the smoky blue outside, fidgeting absently. "To be honest, I'm kinda scared to go out. I've never been to a big city before... Let's just watch TV or something, okay? I just wanna be with you for a while."

"That works." Mia grinned. That was in fact the best answer she could've given. "How about some tea?"

"I love tea! Oh, what's your favourite brand?" She bounded up from the couch over to the breakfast nook.

"Oh, just Tetley." She got out the kettle and the box of teabags. "Sorry. We can't really afford much else."

"Oh. Well, that's okay, maybe I'll get some soon. Nothing wrong with..." she twisted her head, reading the Tetley box, "orange pekoe. Hmm, what about some biscuits with?"

"Umm..." Mia glanced into the open cupboard. "We have oreos?"

Jaye giggled. "Perfect! Let me just get one thing." She scuttled off into Mia's room, which made her uncomfortable, but she decided to trust her and brought the tea and cookies over to the coffee table. Jaye re-emerged with Mia's blanket gathered up in her arms.

"Yay, sisters!" She spread the blanket over both of them and flicked on the TV.

**

For hours they sat and chatted, dipping oreos in their tea and refilling their cups with more milk. Mia made sure to only have a few more than Jaye, but either way the whole box disappeared into their stomachs (and a bit in the bottom of their now almost completely tealess tea). They talked about their favorite shows (they both loved game of thrones but hated the scary parts), then learned about each other; Jaye told Mia about her knitting and cross-stitch and how she played baseball just to stay active, and Mia opened up about how she made little games to keep her programming skills sharp and drew and read... leaving out how a vast majority of her time lately was spent on the couch, browsing the internet or napping or eating. It was fun! Mia never particularly wanted a sister, but if this was what it was like then she was excited about it.

After the cookies were gone, and the sun began to set over the city, Mia started getting drowsy. She rarely went a day without a nap anymore, and it seemed like about that time. She sighed, shifted herself forward to lean back, and suddenly noticed that Jaye was pressed right up against her. Oh god, she thought, cheeks reddening, her butt was so fat that Jaye was getting sucked in! "Ugh," she said, "sorry," and scooched away to give her some space.

"Oh," Jaye looked over and forced a laugh, looking flushed. "Don't worry, it's okay."

"Okay... Well," Mia put her feet up on the coffee table and wrapped her blanket around her legs. "nap time."

"Ooh, that sounds good." Jaye mimiced her chubby cousin, getting comfy under the blanket. "I can't believe we ate all those cookies!"

Mia made a noise and smiled, already half-asleep. She certainly could believe it, considering all the times she'd done it solo. She yawned and closed her eyes, feeling cozy to the core under the blanket with her new sister.

When she woke up, Mia noticed Jaye's head snug up against her neck. Ugh, my butt is a black hole, she thought. I have to lose some weight. But Jaye was turned toward her a bit, almost cuddling with her, so maybe she was just chilly. It was pretty cold now that the sun was down, especially with fall almost over.

She felt Jaye suck in a deep breath, her middle expanding into her side, and she stirred.

"Oh," she said. "Oh, oh my god." She scrambled away from Mia. "Oh my god, Mia, I'm so sorry." She turned red as a beet, laughing nervously, and Mia joined in with a giggle.

"It's alright, you were just cold."

She ran a hand through her hair unsteaily. "Yeah... I guess."

"Don't worry about it. Here, I'll get these dishes out of here." Mia pushed herself off the couch and took the cups, then stuffed the oreo box into the trash on her way to the sink.

"Good timing, though," she said, spotting the stove clock. "A few more minutes later and Dad would have walked in on us snuggling."

"Yeah," she huffed, still looking thoroughly embarrassed. "Ugh, shoot me. I'm so sorry."

"Oh, stop." Mia smiled. "Hungry?"

"I could eat... I mean, I just had a third of a box of oreos, but..."

"Well I just had two thirds of one and I'm still ready for dinner." That was hardly something to brag about, she nagged herself. "Pizza?"

"There's always room for pizza."

**

The next day, Mia didn't need invited out into the living room. In fact, she only just stopped herself from walking out for a glass of water in a well-outgrown shirt resigned to pajama duty and nothing else - god, she couldn't even imagine. Letting Jaye see her pre-shower was bad enough.

Unfortunately, her two well-fitting shirts were both dirty. Today was tight shirt day. She pulled one on and paired it with some sweats, then trudged out of her room.

"Morning," Jaye called lightly. Her hair was mussed up from sleeping too, which Mia appreciated - maybe she was only two Emma Watsons prettier than her right now.

"Morning," Mia returned, rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

"...Sis," she added with a smile. The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea of having a sister.

"Aww!" Jaye crossed her hands on her chest, the same way she did at the greyhound station, but this time Mia found it sweet and not sickening.

Mia poured a glass of water out of the sink, then stuck the kettle under the tap. "So, what are we gonna do today?" she asked, leaning on the tiny island and sipping her water.

"Hmm." Jaye fiddled with her phone idly as she thought. "I made a mental checklist on the bus. What about going to the top of the Empire State building?

Yuck, Mia thought. She avoided going to Manhattan if she could help it, and besides...

"That's sixty dollars a person."

"Oh, jeez. I guess up here is a high as we're getting then..." Jaye looked mournfully out the window and across the water. "Times square?"

"Well..." Yuck. Yuck, yuck, yuck. "It's worth going once, I guess. Just to see it."

"Well what do you think we should do?"

Eat? She couldn't say that, but it was really all she could think of...

"Well... It's... Pumpkin spice season?"

Jaye gasped. "Omigod! We could wear leggings and just go full white chick all over town, how cool would that be?"

"Oh, I'm so in!" Mia clicked the kettle on and toasted pop tarts while Jaye showered, then took her turn in the bathroom while Jaye ate.

After her shower, Mia speedwalked across the hall to her room as fast as she could without jiggling out of her towel. "Shut up!" she shouted playfully to Jaye's giggling.

Sitting in front of her mirror, she blow-dried her hair and put on a bit of lip gloss. She picked out her favourite thick, stripey yoga pants with the fleecy lining, then double-checked both of her nice shirts for wearability... unfortunately, she'd worn both for two days and been too lazy to do any laundry. They were both starting to get gross. She sighed and looked in the mirror as she pulled on her old favorite shirt: a dark green longsleeve with a band logo on it. Her belly was well defined in it, showing the dreaded navel dent, but all her shirts did that now. At least it hid her flabby arms.

She tried a scarf on with. She smiled, thinking it would pull eyes away from her belly, and the color even went nice with her shirt! "I'm ready!" she announced, coming out of her room.