Irresistible

ONE

I sit cross-legged on my neatly made bed, the soft comforter under me as I let the FaceTime call ring.

Finally, my brother's face appears on the screen, his familiar smile instantly warming my heart despite the blurry image.

"Hey, Lils!" he greets, his voice crackling slightly due to the connection.

"Hi Jace!" I grin, noticing how he has started to grow some scrawny facial hair since the last time we spoke. It's probably tough to maintain the clean-shaven look where he's stationed in the military. "I'm liking the beard you got going on there," I teased.

"Oh, this?" Jace says, stroking the sparse growth on his chin playfully. "This shit is going to be so long in a few months. I might not need the fake beard to be Santa Claus this Christmas." His joke instantly brings back memories of him dressed as Santa a few years ago, making me giggle.

I miss those times when Jace still lived at home, he made family gatherings fun.

Since I moved out and Jace enlisted, I only see our parents on holidays.

It's awkward and serious, with barely anything to talk about besides school. They barely have time for us, always consumed by their careers.

Our mom, a cardio thoracic surgeon, basically lives at the hospital. Meanwhile Dad, is the same way. He's a lawyer so he's either in court or sheltered away in his home office for hours on end.

They've been like this ever since I was a child, leaving us with nannies every second of the day.

But growing up, Jace made sure to make home life less sad.

"How's it going over there?" I ask curiously.

Jace shrugs, "Same old, same old. Not many crazy stories I can tell you this time," he replies.

I frown, knowing how much Jace thrives on adrenaline. Being stationed in such a quiet area must be tough for him. "You know I'm here if you need to vent or anything," I offer.

"Thanks, Lils. You know me too well," Jace says, a small smile playing on his lips.

We fall into conversation easily, swapping stories and sharing updates. I tell him about my summer adventures, how I went to Florida with my roommate Elijah to see his parents, and how nervous I am for my last year of college starting tomorrow.

Columbia University is tough, and I'm taking some challenging courses this year so it's pretty nerve wracking.

As our conversation comes to an end, I feel a pang of sadness because I don't know when I'll be able to call my brother again. "Well, I guess I should let you go," I say reluctantly, already dreading the end of our call.

Jace's smile is a bittersweet reassurance, "Yeah, duty calls. But hey, I'll call you again soon, okay? And good luck with your first day tomorrow, champ. You're gonna crush it this year," he says.

"Thanks, Jace. Talk to you soon," I respond, ignoring the ache in my chest as I end the call.

Sighing, I crawl into bed, knowing I should get some rest to prepare for my early morning tomorrow.

Who in the hell made it legal for classes to start at 7:30am?

I close my eyes after setting my alarm and allow myself to sleep.

-

In the morning, the relentless buzz of my alarm jolts me awake, and I groan, swiping at my phone to silence it.

Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I drag myself out of bed and shuffle to my closet, squinting against the morning light filtering through the window.

After a moment of rummaging through my clothes, I settle on a simple yet comfortable outfit: a pair of loose, low-waisted blue jeans and a black long-sleeved skims shirt that is a bit cropped.