Thursday.

Estelle looked down at her skirt as she and her sister waited outside the door, and removed any extra fuzz she could see after the door bell was rung. After a quick straighten the door opened to reveal the smiling face of their older sister Rebecca.
"Hey guys" she exclaimed as she greeted each of them with a big hug. "Stephanie, oh my gosh, I love your hair!" "Thank you, Imani did it." "Estelle, where did you get that skirt from?" "Same place I buy all my clothes." Estelle joked. "Eight dollars." She said smugly. "No way!" Stephanie said with a surprised look on her face as she walked them into the living room.
February 12th. Rebecca's birthday. It's never anything super special, but just special enough that every year she has a little party among friends and family at her house. Estelle sat down on the couch feeling a little bit uncomfortable around so many people she didn't know as Stephanie headed into the kitchen with Rebecca. She decided to pull out her phone to pass the time. "Are you Rebecca's sister?" Estelle heard above her. The older white woman sat next to her smiling. "Yeah, I'm Estelle" she responded while putting her hand out for the woman to shake. "Nice to meet you. Suzanne. You guys look so much alike." "Yeah, we get that all the time" Estelle lied smiling. "Estelle! Come here." Rebecca called from the kitchen. "Excuse me." She said as she got up and headed out of the living room.
"I want you to meet my boyfriend, Cedric. Cedric, this is my baby sister Estelle." Estelle smiled and extended her hand to the man. "Nice to meet you" he said with a seemingly genuine smile. "Cedric is a physical therapist down at..." Rebecca continued but Estelle was not fully listening. She examined Cedric. He was tall, with deeper than chocolate skin, but milky white teeth. One thing Estelle did not expect to feel this evening was jealous. Cedric was perfect. His eyes caught hers as Stephanie was saying something and Estelle gave a quick smile and looked down. "Estelle is about to graduate this May, and is going on to be the first one in our family to go to medical school" Rebecca gloated. "Wow, that's great. How is your family so perfect?" Cedric responded. "Our mother!" Rebecca said passionately. "She always said success is in our blood." "Was your mother as pretty as you all too?" "Oh! Be careful with this one" Stephanie joked "He's a smooth one!"
After the introductions, Estelle had some punch and avoided Cedric. She liked looking at him too much. And she also liked being around him. "What do you think about Cedric?" Rebecca asked Estelle, catching her off guard. Was it obvious she was thinking about him? "He seems nice. Very smart." "He's cute right?" Rebecca asked as if caught in a dream. "Girl, does he have a brother?" Estelle responded which brought them to laughter. Estelle could tell that her older sister really liked Cedric and she was happy for her. She suddenly became more comfortable with the idea of being around Cedric now that she could finally see him as someone who makes Rebecca happy instead of a perfect stranger. She decided to do a little sisterly interviewing and found him in the kitchen getting something to drink from the refrigerator.
She disregarded the v-neck shirt that complimented his muscle build. She had intended on asking something like so how do you like the physical therapy field? And eventually leading to what are your intentions with my sister? But before she could say anything Cedric turned around, looked her up and down, smiled, and said "You're so pretty." Estelle found that she could only say "thank you." She smiled as she searched for words. "You're a handsome guy" she responded as he looked at her. She felt both aroused and awkward. "I'm not opposed to you for my sister" she joked as she found some composure. "I'm glad. So medical school, huh?" He said smoothly. His comfort in the situation forced Estelle to feel comfortable as well. "Yeah, ever since I was young I wanted to be a Doctor. When I was young I used to drive my mom crazy because I would always operate on my Barbies" she said. Cedric chuckled. "How do you like physical therapy? Is it a demanding job?" she asked. "I always liked to work with my hands, and have this fascination with the human body." He said as his eyes moved down slowly from her face to her feet. "Cedric!" Rebecca called from the other room. Estelle's heart had jumped a little. She felt as if she had been doing something bad.
She decided to head to the bathroom to put some water on her face and step away from the crowd of people. "I just can't be around him. That's it." She said to herself as she headed to the bathroom. In the bathroom she looked at herself in the mirror and couldn't really see herself as pretty. She stood in the bathroom for a little longer, just thinking about random things, then when she felt she had been in there for long enough she decided to step out. To her surprise, Cedric had been waiting to go in. "Safe to go in?" he said with a slight smile. "Yeah" was all she could say with a little smile. Cedric stepped to the side so she could walk out. But as she walked past him she felt his hand wrap around hers. She paused, and decided to wait to see what he wanted without looking at him. He pulled her to him and she looked at his chest. He lifted her chin to reveal his handsome face, and soft lips. He leaned in for a kiss and she put her lips together to receive it. That moment, right before they connect fully, she felt his lips barely touching hers, and immediately felt electricity flowing from her lips to her entire body. She wanted to suck on his lip, and feel his tongue. Then they heard a nasally inhale, like someone rubbing on their nose. They quickly separated. The woman from earlier. Suzanne. Did she see? She walked up to them, looked at them each in the face. "Anybody using the bathroom?" she said coldly. "No, go right ahead" Estelle said shakily.
Estelle and Cedric ended up in the bedroom. "Look. I like you. That's obvious" Estelle said to him. "I like you too." Cedric said seriously. "Rebecca is my sister. And I love her" she responded. "So what do you want to do?" Cedric asked. "This has to stop." She said with false authority in her voice. He laid his hand on hers. She enjoyed it, but thought about the consequences. "Oh no, not that trick again, buddy." She said as she removed his hand quickly. "Let's go, and try and enjoy the rest of the night." As they stepped out Rebecca came down the hallway. "Estelle? Cedric?" Her face was a mix of confusion and suspicion. "Hey sis, Cedric was showing me an exercise you can do for your back. Mine still hurts me sometimes and with a couple of pillows you can straighten it out." Estelle said with her best acting face. Rebecca smiled, "Can you stop being a physical therapist for one second?" They all laughed and headed back towards the party.
Estelle didn't think of Cedric much the next night, she knew she loved her sister too much to entertain any thoughts about him. On Valentine's day she received flowers, candy, and a card at her door step. "Who's that from?" Stephanie's eyes lit up as she sat on the couch. The card read: blood separates us, and keeps us apart. Yet, you're still my valentine forever in my heart. - C. "I think it's from this guy in my class" she lied. She threw the flowers away, picked some chocolates from the box and left the rest on the table. The card, however, the card she held onto as she lay in bed dreaming of Cedric.