The Trouble With Love

o1; the trouble with breakfast

Kara watched as Mikayla smiled shyly at him, before gesturing for him to pass her the maple syrup. Their hands touched briefly and Mikayla jerked back, a small blush spreading across her face. The tension between them was unbearable—and annoying.

The dark-haired young woman scowled at her brother, stabbing her pancakes with unnecessary force. It was supposed to have been only her and Mikayla, a small party for two. Not a party for two plus Kara as a third wheel. In fact, rather than two best friends and Jordan hanging out, it felt more like Kara was the third wheel, the kid sister who decided to tag along even though she had no business there.

The young woman cleared her throat, setting her fork down. Sunlight bounced off the metal, a bright white almost blinding her. A small adjustment in its placement resolved the problem but it seemed that no small adjustment in volume would snap those two out of their lovey-dovey world.

"Guys," called Kara, "are you done eating?"

A quick scan of their plates already told her the answer but she figured that it wouldn't hurt to try. She was proven wrong when her brother threw her side glance, something akin to amusement swimming in the hazel orbs that they both shared. Though, Kara was sure that their eyes were the extent of their similarities, especially since Jordan loved picking fights whereas Kara did not.

"Are you jealous, Kara?" he teased, clearly only to spite her. The dark-haired young woman wasn't surprised to know that her brother knew of her crush on Mikayla—though, it certainly did complicate matters. It was a given that what Jordan knew, Mikayla knew. Did Mikayla know about her crush too? "We wouldn't want her to feel left out, now would we?"

Next to him, Mikayla gave her sorry smile. For which reason she was apologizing for, Kara didn't know until Mikayla playfully punched Jordan's arm.

"Shut up," the honey blonde scolded, her expression more playful than strict. "You know how sensitive she is."

Oh, oh. A light bulb went up in Kara's head. That's what she was apologizing for. The incessant flirting. And people wonder why I think they're a couple.

Kara stared down at her mug of coffee, fingers clenching around the handle as she tried her hardest to ignore the flirting couple beside her. She brought the mug up to her lips, loudly sipping on her coffee. It didn't help, of course, but it did soothe the need for her to strangle someone, more specifically, her brother.

Don't get her wrong; there were times when Kara was happy to have an older brother, someone who she could talk to about things that weren't all books or romance. Now wasn't one of those times, especially with him overtaking Kara and Mikayla's girls day out.

Her friend paused from her flirting, shooting Kara another apologetic look as if she could practically read her mind. She wouldn't be surprised if Mikayla was a psychic; she certainly spent the most time observing people, after reading books, of course. Add that to the psychology course she was taking—yep, definitely a psychic.

"Hey, why don't we take a walk," Mikayla suggested, eyeing the scenery from the window. Clouds hung over the sky, a few streaks of sunlight leaking through. It seemed like a nice day for a walk but Kara would be lying if she said she was looking forward to it. After all, it would probably just be Mikayla and Jordan flirting.

Her stomach wouldn't be able to deal with it. Being a supportive friend was one thing but being the third wheel to your crush's date was just being plain destructive.