Chapter 65

Miles had traveled halfway across the map to deliver equipment to his sister, only to be slaughtered by his three brothers.

His character lay on the ground while he reconsidered his life. “I didn't think any of you could be this heartless.”

Julian and the others answered him with cold smiles.

Elise clicked her tongue and shook her head. How could her brothers treat him like that? Poor Miles!

Then, quite cheerfully, she sorted through his equipment and dressed her character in the best of it. She sighed in comfort. Having brothers was wonderful. She hardly needed to search for anything else.

Jade and Nora had their team voice chat on. Their randomly matched fourth player was a boy who sounded young; from what he could hear, he had worked out most of the situation.

He sighed to himself. He'd joined a squad match and found himself with a group of friends playing together. Actually, there were two squads of them. And one of his own teammates had delivered equipment to the other squad and gotten himself killed for it.

Still, three of them remained. The two girls didn't seem as foolish as the guy who'd just died. They might yet win.

Elise barely killed anyone as they moved across the map. Instead, team kill notifications kept appearing on her screen.

Theo wasn't using his main account. He'd casually created a level-one account, but that didn't stop him from sweeping through the map. Julian and Adrian weren't as skilled as he was, though they managed an occasional kill themselves.

The three of them kept Elise in the middle, leaving her free to coast along. Whenever she spotted an enemy, her brothers took the person out before she had much chance to ready her gun.

It took some doing to make a dangerous game feel this relaxing. Ordinarily, even crossing a road meant hunting for cover in case someone shot you.

After a while, Elise grew unwilling to hide behind them. She tried firing when she saw an opponent, but her brothers stayed close. The moment she took damage, they fired a barrage and killed whoever had hit her.

Even so, her health dropped, and she ran out of bandages.

“Do any of you have medicine?” she asked.

She glanced at the map. Her brothers were upstairs, covering her from above.

Jade and Nora, seated beside her on the plane, leaned over to look at her screen.

“I'm right next to you,” Jade said.

“You're out of bandages? I've got loads!” Nora checked Elise's position alongside Jade. Both girls climbed through the window into her room and dropped their bandages and first-aid kits in front of her.

Their remaining teammate stared.

How could those two make fun of Miles? They were bringing supplies to the other squad themselves!

Their team chat had carried the conversation clearly. His heart sank. How was he supposed to play like this? He'd run into someone the whole group doted on.

The three men in the other squad were already guarding the girl every step of the way. Now everyone on his own team except him was scrambling to give her things as well.

He was exhausted.

Nora glanced at the team list and noticed their last teammate's name had turned gray. “Huh? Why did he leave?”

“No idea. Maybe he lost his connection.” Jade looked once and turned back to her game. She had almost forgotten he was there. “It's fine. Don't worry about him.”

By the time Theo finished eliminating everyone else on the map, only the two squads remained. Using techniques Theo had taught them, Jade and Nora took out Julian and Adrian.

In the end, neither girl could beat Theo. He and Elise won the match together.

Elise had coasted through almost all of it. As the victory message appeared on her screen, she marveled at how easy winning was. This game was so much fun!

Miles looked over. “Seriously?”

After they got home, a driver took Jade and Nora back to their houses. The Whitmores went to their rooms to rest.

Miles shut himself away as soon as he reached his room. His hope of being in the same class as Elise had already been crushed, and now he had a rival as formidable as Theo. Elise even knew what Theo liked to eat, but she couldn't remember Miles's favorites.

It wasn't fair. In that last game on the plane, his brothers had bullied him from beginning to end, too. What had he done to deserve it?

He wasn't his sister's favorite member of the family anymore.

After two minutes of misery, he sat up. He couldn't just wait around. He had to think of something.

He wanted to be Elise's favorite brother, but the others were already established in their own fields. What did he have? Getting better grades and earning a little praise wouldn't be enough.

His eyes fell on the tablet beside him. Perhaps someone online had the same problem and had found an answer.

He opened a search and typed: “How do I get my little sister to stick close to me?”

Several similar searches came up. Apparently he wasn't the only one wondering.

People offered all sorts of advice. Send her money, some said. Give her cash gifts.

Miles frowned. Elise didn't care for material things like that. She wouldn't even accept expensive presents.

He went through the results, but after a long search he hadn't found anything useful. He thought for a moment and changed the wording: “How do I make my little sister like me best?”

Several more pages of results appeared. Encouraged, he opened the first answer. The person had posted a link with a message: “Want your sister to like you? Watch this and you'll understand. Heh heh heh heh.”

Miles stared at the last words. There was something decidedly creepy about them. Still, in the interest of learning, he tapped the link.

It led to a video compilation titled What Do I Do When My Brother Loves Me Too Much? The title struck him as a little strange. Before he could decide why, the clip began playing automatically.

He watched, increasingly bewildered. Why was the girl walking into the bathroom while her brother was taking a bath? Why had she stepped on a bar of soap and slipped into the tub with him?

Was that what soap was for?

Then the camera lingered on her wet shirt. Miles's face twisted. At least the brother averted his eyes, he thought with relief. The guy had some decency after all.

The scene didn't get any more normal. The girl got out, changed, and dried her hair in front of a mirror. Her shirtless brother came up behind her and put his arms around her.

What on earth was this?

When the brother lightly kissed her cheek, Miles flung the tablet away. It hit the floor and slid a considerable distance.

He stared after it as if he'd seen a ghost. What did any of that have to do with getting his sister to like him? Surely a brother who behaved like that would be struck by lightning. He'd go to hell when he died!

At last Miles understood the problem: the person online had meant an entirely different kind of liking. That wasn't what Miles had been asking about!

He looked at the tablet as though it were something out of a horror movie. There were far too many creeps online. He never wanted to browse the internet again.

Before he had recovered from the shock, his door opened. Julian stood in the doorway, looking straight at Miles's horrified face.

The tablet lay almost at Julian's feet.

He frowned. He'd heard the commotion and come to see what was going on. Spotting the tablet on the floor, he bent and picked it up.

Miles's horror intensified. Don't look at it! It'll burn your eyes!

Julian's hand slowly froze around the tablet. When he'd watched the video, he raised his head toward Miles in what seemed like slow motion. Shock, disgust, and embarrassment crowded his expression.

Miles blinked. The room fell silent.

“It's not what you think! Let me explain!” He wasn't that kind of brother!

Julian set the tablet on the desk. “Don't explain. Transfer schools.”

Miles could only stare at him.

For the next two days, Miles was miserable. He had lost his chance to be in Elise's class; now was he going to lose the right to attend the same school at all?

He pestered Julian with explanations for two whole days before Julian reluctantly believed him. Julian called someone and instructed them to stop the transfer arrangements for now, pending Miles's future behavior.

Elise had no idea what had happened between them. When she asked Julian, he looked as though he didn't know where to begin. In the end, he only stroked her hair and said it was nothing.

She tried Miles instead. Whatever he remembered made his face turn bright red. He refused to tell her, and worse, he kept avoiding her.

Had she done something without realizing it and made the two brothers unhappy with each other again?

Julian and Miles had always been distant, though the October trip had brought them closer. They still traded barbs, but at least they were no longer as cold toward each other as before. Thinking about her brothers' relationships left her worried all over again.

Her phone vibrated on the bed. She picked it up.

Mu Chuan had shared a link: Which fruits are healthiest this season?

After their conversation the other day, he'd asked to add her on the messaging app. Elise hadn't refused. Being friends with him might be nice.

They hadn't exchanged many messages. Most of the time, Mu sent her odd links like this one.

Still fretting, she opened the keyboard and typed: “How do you get two people back to the way they used to be?”

Mu was working. Ever since adding Elise, he'd spent part of every day staring at their chat. Pei Yi had shared a pile of tips on flirting, but Mu had found them too slick and put them aside. Most of the time he held his phone without knowing what to say to her.

After much thought, he had settled on sending her health articles each day. Elise hadn't answered a single one.

His phone sounded. He picked it up, saw her message, and stared for a long moment.

Elise had replied? But what did her question mean?

He considered it, then typed: “Show them you're willing to be close. A lot of the time, people are worried about saving face, and neither wants to take the first step.”

Elise had expected him to ask all sorts of questions, starting with who the two people were. Instead, he answered without asking any. She studied his message. How could she get her brothers to take that first step?

Another message arrived. “You could try a gift. If it's something you know the other person likes, they'll surely be touched.”

Elise laughed. Did Mu think she was trying to make up with someone herself?

Even so, a gift was a good idea. Inspiration struck. She could buy something for Julian and tell him that Miles had helped choose it based on his tastes. Julian would be touched to know Miles had remembered what he liked.

She sat up on the bed and typed: “Good idea! I'm going to buy a gift!”