Half-Sister // Trollhunters

/15/

I entered the Lake residence and noticed that Barbara was nowhere to be seen. I sighed in relief before heading toward the stairs. I had just returned home after spending five hours with Argh. It was pretty fun.

We talked and I showed him some of my drawings. He seemed to really like them, which is odd because I never considered Argh to be the type of troll to like gore, him being a pacifist and all. Then again, the characters I draw are usually not being violent, for the most part. I just gotta make a mental note not to show Argh my more disturbing drawings of characters ripping each other part. I don't think he'd like those ones very much at all...

"Where have you been all day?" I jumped in surprise at the voice. I looked up to see Barabara standing at the top of the stairs. I half expected her to look angry but she looked rather calm. "Jim, Claire, and Toby stopped by earlier but you weren't with them."

"Oh, right, yeah..." I nervously rubbed the back of my neck. "I was... with a friend."

"This friend isn't a boy, is it?" Barbara smirked.

"W-What?" My eyes widened. The smirk she was giving me kinda gave away her actual question. "He's just a friend." I tensed under her gaze.

She laughed. "Don't worry about it. Having a boyfriend isn't a bad thing."

"He's not my--" I stopped myself. "Wait... you're not... mad?" My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Why would I be?" She asked, raising her own eyebrow in confusion.

"Well, it's just..." I shuffled my feet on the steps. "Dad never let me date guys. He was always strict about that. While my mom... well... she would introduce me to a lot of older guys that I had no interest in."

Barbara suddenly appeared right in front of me. I flinched away slightly when she put her hand on my shoulder. She gave me direct eye contact. "Things will be different from now on. This is your life, not theirs. You choose who you want to be." She smiled.

A small smile made its way onto my face. "Thanks... mom." Her eyes widened in surprise, probably because this was the first time I called her mom in front of her. Then she suddenly pulled me into a crushing hug. "I... c-can't... breath..." I muttered.

She pulled away and I noticed tears of joy in her eyes. "Now, you should go clean up. You smell like old socks." She chuckled.

"S-Sorry." I chuckled as well before moving around her and heading to my room.

After I put my backpack down on my bed I headed to the bathroom and took a quick shower. Barbara was right, I smelt bad. It must be because Troll Market is filled with odd things like smelly socks.

After my shower, I changed into some jeans and a t-shirt. That's when I got a text from Jim. He told me about our 'guidance counselor' Mr. Blinky and told me they were going to be out for a couple more hours. I smiled and sent him a smiley face.

When Jim got home it was already pretty late. He didn't have to come up with some stupid lie this time because Barbara was already asleep by the time he returned. He had gone straight to his room and didn't say a word as he walked right past me. I assumed something happened and decided not to bother him about it.

I changed into some PJ bottoms then climbed into bed for the night. I fell right to sleep.

Morning came quickly. The sun was rising above the mountains and the birds were chirping loudly. I quickly got changed and headed downstairs with my backpack. Jim was already up making breakfast. "Hey, bro, you alright?" I asked as I entered the kitchen.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Alright." I didn't want to push him for answers. After he got everyone their breakfast, we headed outside and started riding to school. Claire and Toby met us on the way.

Everyone was unusually silent and I wondered why. I didn't want to bring it up now but I'd definitely talk to Claire about it later.