Valentine's Day

five

the six of us sat around the dinner table with some chicken pot pie on our plates and a bowl of caesar salad sitting on the table. 

"luna has a boyfriend," soleil said, as luna choked on her food. 

"what?" noah asked. 

"since when," cyrus said. 

"who do i need to kill," chase said. i stopped chewing my food to look at him questioningly. "whaaat? my baby sister has a boyfriend. i thought that older brothers are supposed to protect their younger siblings, meaning spouses as well." 

luna coughed. "excuse me, may i talk now?" she said, once she recovered. "first of all, i do not have a boyfriend. second of all, if you protect us from dating people, why are you letting soleil date georgia?" 

"did you not see him interrogate her for a solid 40 minutes?" soleil asked. "it was ridiculous." 

"but georgia passed the test. and i think girls are more trustworthy anyways," chase said. 

soleil snorted. "yeah, say that to my ex." 

"moving on, who's this guy luna?" cyrus asked. 

she groaned. "no one! soleil just likes saying stuff," she said. 

"he's the only guy you really talk to, other than kenji. come on, admit that you like him," soleil said. 

"again, who?" cyrus asked. 

"kelly benson," luna said, putting her head in her hands. 

"kelly? isn't that the kid from psychology class?" cyrus asked. "that's who you like?" 

"yes, and yes. but i highly doubt he likes me back." 

i choked on the water i was drinking. once i recovered, i spoke up. "luna, he has never looked at somebody the way he looks at you, and trust me, i've known him since elementary school," i said. 

"didn't he steal your lunch in fourth grade?" noah asked. 

"and hit you in the head with a basketball in third grade?" chase said. 

"yes, but that after i broke his water bottle in first grade, and is also besides the point. i've forgiven him for both those instances. he likes you back luna, there is no doubt about it," i said. 

"he does look over at you a lot in chemistry class," soleil said to her sister. 

"and in psychology too. man, that kid likes you, and our entire class knew it," cyrus said. "you probably won't have to worry about him liking you back, because he does." 

"oh," luna said, looking stunned. 

"and lav has a boyfriend too," soleil said. 

now, i choked on my dinner, and it was cyrus and noah's turn to ask questions. 

"who." "when." "time to go interrogate a kid." "i swear i'm going to-" 

"don't even bother finishing that statement," i coughed. "because there is no boyfriend." 

"you liar. have you not seen the way you and wilder were acting around each other?" luna said. 

"whoa, back up, who's wilder," cyrus asked. i can tell he's going into protective older brother mode. 

"calm down. he's new and one of kenji's friends. we have guitar together and that's it," i said, digging my fork back into my food. "no need to get all up in my business about it." 

"you like him." 

"i do not. now this conversation is over." 

the rest of dinner was spent mostly silent, with a few small conversations here and there.