✅ My Sister's Problem

136. The Journey Home

This bonus chapter is dedicated to Ross. Thank you for supporting me for so long! And I hope you enjoy this chapter, as well as the remaining chapters 'Origin Story' and 'Date Night?'.

After school, I wasn't surprised to see Hugo and some guy I didn't really know tossing a ball around on one of the courts. Any excuse to practise. I wondered if I should join him; but I already had my skates on for the journey home, and I didn't want to intrude.

"Typical," Harper said with a chuckle. Her last class had been in the room next to ours today; so me, Harper, and Maggie were all skating together for the journey home today. "Always got to fit a game in."

"Be with you in a minute," he called back. "No need to wait for me."

"He's coming too?" I asked Harper.

"Said this morning he's going to start jogging back from school. Something about lung capacity. Keeping up with girls on skates might help him. Let's see how fast we have to go before he's out of breath, should be worth a laugh."

I grinned. I couldn't tell just how much of that was Hugo's idea, and how much was Harper's. But it did sound like a fun activity, and I couldn't see a reason not to try it. Before I'd really thought about it Hugo was with us, swinging a bag onto his shoulder.

"Hey, Sally," he said with a grin. "Up for pushing my fitness to the limit? We can take the scenic route if you prefer, see if I can keep up with you."

"You couldn't if I went flat out," I said confidently; wondering if Hugo would see that as a challenge to work up to. Was it even possible for a runner to keep up with inline race speeds? It would be interesting to find out. But not today. "But, well, these two couldn't either. Casual speeds, let's see how fit you are."

I led the way, thinking I would take in as many parks as possible to keep us away from roads. It wouldn't be too much of a detour, and would pass closer to Maggie's neighbourhood so she could break away as we passed. But we were barely out of sight of the school when Lindy joined us, on her bike this time. I wondered where she'd stashed it; Mum had driven us to school this morning so that we weren't late. But it was good to see my little sister again, even if her presence around others made me a little nervous. Was this another plan to embarrass me, or was this a sign that she actually wanted to be a friend now?

"Hey," she said. "You all going home together?"

"We're taking a detour," Hugo answered for me, breathing just a little heavier than usual from the effort of keeping up with our wheels. "Figured somebody to jog with... helps me stay motivated. You want to steal Sally from us? I hope Willow won't mind if she's a bit late back, but..."

"That's fine," she said. "I'll take the direct route, the cycle path down Dawn Road. Let Mum know you can be a bit late. Just something I was going to say to Sally."

"Something important?" I asked. "I'm always here if you need to..."

"No. I just wanted to tell you... Look, you had at least two chances to really embarrass me today. And Mum already said she wouldn't punish you, because it's justified after everything I did over summer. And you didn't. No hesitation, you didn't even think about it. That made me realise. There's something I need to tell you, about where all those pranks came from. But it's easier if I show you. Can you...I'll talk to you this evening, after all the sociable family stuff, right? It's even more embarrassing to admit, but I think you deserve the truth. So don't let me duck out on it, okay?"

And with that she was gone, racing off to a different gate of the park we were in. I was sure she was able to get home on her own, and it made me feel a little happier, knowing that she had managed okay with starting at a new school.