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Thursday, May 20

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     Reese was surprised to find Olivia already downstairs eating cereal when he woke up, with their dad absent from his usual spot on the couch. He paused for a moment, then checked the time on his phone. "Is my phone off or something? Did I wake up late?" He went to look at the microwave and oven, but they displayed the same time as his phone, 8:04. "Where's dad, and why are you down here before me?"

     Olivia rolled her eyes, "It's not daylight savings or anything, the time's right. We pretty much wake up at the same time, I guess I just happened to beat you by a few minutes today. As for dad, he probably just had a morning meeting or something and had to be there a little early."

     Reese nodded; what she said made sense. There was just a small, nagging part of him that told him he had missed first period, so he was glad to find out that wasn't the case. "I'm assuming you already made coffee for yourself then," he mused, grabbing a bowl from the cabinets so he could join her at the table.

     "Uh... well, no... Like I said, I just got down here before you did, but I figured you'd still make me a cup since you've done that for the past couple days." She's already done with her cereal though, he noticed, since she got up to put the bowl in the sink. So she must've gotten up more than just a few minutes like she said. The nagging part of his brain wondered why, but the rational part told him there obviously wasn't anything suspicious about waking up a little earlier. She stood in front of him now, her pretty face, clear from any makeup, smiling down at him as he looked back up at her. "You don't have to make me any, you never did, so I wouldn't be mad," she explained gently, and he gulped. "But obviously I'd still be appreciative if you did." It's like reverse puppy dog eyes. Instead of wide eyes looking up at me all heartfelt or whatever, she's peering down at me, but with the same effect. I mean, I know I don't have to. But I want to make her happy. It only takes a few minutes. "...Can you..." she started, lifting her bowl up a little bit and indicating the sink behind him. He was blocking her path.

     "Oh, yeah, sorry." He stepped aside so she could clean up her bowl. "Yeah, I don't mind, I can make you a cup." He went to grab the beans and start the brewing process, while she thanked him cheerfully and went to lay out on the couch while she waited. Normally she just goes back up to her room after finishing breakfast. She doesn't seem like she needs the caffeine, but she's still waiting on me anyways. It bothered Reese. Just a bit. Because this minor difference from the pattern of the last few days made it feel like a chore to Reese now. It wasn't a spontaneous nice thing he was doing for his family, it was just something he was doing for Olivia, and not because she needed it like she needed to fold her clothes yesterday. She just wanted coffee. And so he was making her some instead of her doing anything about it. He brushed these thoughts aside though. Maybe I'm just in a stubborn mood today, he reasoned. There's nothing wrong with a pattern of generosity. Truly nice people probably aren't nice for any sort of reward, they're just nice because it's good for people to be nice. Do I want to pretend to be nice, or actually be nice? The espresso machine quit its whirring as the cup finished up, and Reese brushed aside his thoughts, not really knowing the answer to his own question, as he served Olivia her cup anyways and went back to eat his breakfast.

*    *    *    *    *    *

Reese was in the living room, playing a game on his phone, when Olivia came home later than afternoon. She had just spent several hours shopping and getting some smoothies with one of her old high school friends, in what she had hoped would be a fun way to catch up with someone she hadn't seen in a while. Releasing a big sigh, she kicked off her shoes after coming home and collapsed next to Reese on the couch. "Amaya has changed a lot since I last saw her," she volunteered, despite Reese not showing any indication that he'd be interested in what her afternoon excursions consisted of. "I think it's because she's dating someone in the army now. Army wives are like, you know, a whole thing. Like she's not a wife yet but like she's still in a relationship with this guy who isn't home most of the time." She paused for a few seconds, then added, "I could never do a long distance relationship. I just don't get how so many people do. I need to be physical with people, you know?" She looked at Reese for this, which he noticed out of the corner of his eye. Despite not caring about her social life or her friends' social lives, he wasn't just gonna ignore her.

     "I guess," was all he offered up. He really didn't know what else to say. Typical disappointing male behavior.

     Olivia just looked at her brother for a few seconds, then rolled her eyes. "Great contribution to our conversation, Reese. You're a lot of fun to talk to."

     "Well my usual rate is $20 an hour," he said, smirking, "and then I'll talk to you about whatever you want and be super engaged."

     Olivia scoffed and brought her legs up on the couch to playfully shove her socked feet against her brother's side. "Wow, no family discount?"

     "Actually, that is the family discount, a lot of therapists charge $100 an hour, so you're getting like 80% off," he retorted, and she shoved him again in light frustration. Her feet ended up in his lap and she pulled out her phone after feeling it vibrate in her back pocket, done with the sibling banter for now. Reese took notice of the fact that she was resting her feet on his lap now. The ottoman was nearby, being used by his dad's armchair, but evidently Olivia didn't see it. Or didn't care. Her feet weren't bothering him or anything; she had on clean white socks, so they didn't smell bad. But her feet were still a bit of a looming presence due to Reese's shrunken stature. Even if I was as big as her, it's still like, a thing of personal space, he thought, a bit put off by the notion that she'd just lay out her feet on him without even asking. Why can't she just get the ottoman. It's right there. He glanced at her, but she was just lost in her phone. Maybe she didn't even realize it, and her body just naturally found a place to rest. Am I that small that she didn't even notice me? He decided to stop brooding abouth the issue and just do something about it if it was really a bother. "Hey," he said, standing up and letting her feet fall off in the process, "can you use the ottoman? Your feet were kinda like, trapping me in and stuff," he chuckled lightly. He went over and pushed it to the couch for her, then reclaimed his spot on the couch.

     "Oh yeah, sorry. I didn't even realize," she replied, and switched her feet's position to lying comfortably on the foot rest. "I could've gotten it, but thanks." 

     Of course she could have. Why did I? He smiled back at her, "No problem." Then went back to his phone, glad that she had at least agreed to give him space.

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