Strangers No More

"What's this?"

It was another lazy summer day for Cherie. Today did seem a bit different, perhaps special, compared to the past days that she spent  daydreaming, practicing her harmonica, and doing some reading and work for a class or two that she would be taking the following highschool year.

Today, some mail had arrived for her older brother. The package was a thin but large golden-rod envelope which labeled to Zander and their address slapped on it under the logo Ultimate Portal. The magazine was valued for its interesting content and that it was packed full of information and special deals, sales, offers, and events for any hard-core gamer.

 In fact there was another package identical to his with Cherie's name on it. She never remembered signing up to recieve anything from the famous gamer's magazine at any point in her life. 

Cherie popped up in front of her brother's room. "Bro, care to explain?"

This time he was on his back on the bed with his head hanging off the side. His short black-brown hair was messy and he was snoring softly, eyes closed. It was 2:14 pm in the afternoon. 

Cherie smiled to herself. She carefully approached her brother without making as much noise as possible. With her free hand, she placed her middle finger behind her thumb, aimed for the middle of Zander's forehead, and... THWACK! 

"HEY!" Caught by surprise by the finger flick, Zander slipped onto the floor, head first. "What was that for, sis?" He used the palm of his hand to rub his head, groaning and then yawning for a little bit.

Cherie crossed her arms while still holding the packages. "That was for stealing and eating my precious cake pop! You had it coming."

Zander sat up and smacked his lips at the memory. "Oh yeah, it was great! Totally worth it."

Cherie slapped her brother's shoulder hard, but playfully. He barely winced at the impact but his hand went up to rub his shoulder anyways. 

"Ah, I wish I didn't have such a violent si...." Zander's clear hazel eyes traveled to the envelopes in Cherie's hand and lit up. "It's here already already? Woohooo!"

He reached for both of the packets but Cherie only passed him the one that was addressed to him. 

"You know, you shouldn't be using my name for your own advantage." Cherie settled herself onto the floor, crossing her legs. 

Zan blinked thoughtfully at her and shrugged. He began carefully opening the envelope.

She said this to Zander often but that never seemed to stop him. She didn't care too much since it didn't really affect her and it made her brother happy sometimes. She didn't want to admit it out loud but she was glad to help him out when he sought it. Apparently, the bonus of being able to use her name made him especially joyful today.

"What did you use it for this time?" Cherie asked as Zander spilled the papers out onto the carpet.

For such a light package, there were quite a few papers in there.

"SEVEN," he told me. "I heard that it's a virtual reality video game that was created recently with the latest tech out there. It's going to be THE revolutionary video game of this century! And the company, DREA, who created it is looking for BETA users. Of course I want to be one of the first to get to play the game. So I thought that I'd submit your name along with mine into the competition so I'd have a better chance at winning one of the places!"

Cherie sighed. That wasn't much of a surprise.

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Sorry it's short! >.< If there are any technical mistakes, feel free to let me know!