Why Don't We date already? | oneshots

brother and sister

"You're so bad at this," I rolled my eyes at my older brother, who was resting the bat on his shoulder.

    "It's not me," he complained. "You're just bad at pitching."

    "I'd like to see you try, Giant," I grinned.

    "It's so hard to pitch to you though, you short little stack of pancakes," he laughed, coming over and ruffling my short hair. I hit him the stomach.

    "Don't you start."

    "You started it," he retorted. I rolled my eyes and tossed the softball up.

    "You ready, dear brother Jonah?" I smirked. He just rolled his eyes and prepared his bat, ready to swing. I threw him a scruveball, something I've been working on all summer. It was basically a mix of a screwball and a curveball. Jonah missed it by a mile.

    "YES!" I shouted triumphantly. "My scruveball is complete!"

    "What?" Jonah asked, completely dumbfounded.

    "Nothing you should worry yourself with, brother dear," I replied, patting his cheek. "First one home gets all the ice cream!"

    "TATUM!" I heard Jonah shout after me. Laughing, I ran back home, Jonah's footsteps far behind me.

*****

    "I hate you," I groaned when I saw Jonah sprawled across the couch, a tub of ice cream in his arms and a spoon in his hand.

    "I like my shortcuts," he shrugged. I huffed and sat in front of his stomach, pushing him into the couch as I threw my arms onto the cushions. He just rolled his eyes and continued to eat the ice cream. "You don't even like cookies and cream."

    "That's the only tub of ice cream we have in the house."

    "Well, too bad baby sis," he grinned, setting the ice cream on a nearby coffee table. He tugged me towards him as he picked up the remote. "Harry Potter marathon?"

    I snuggled into him comfortably. "You don't even have to ask."

*****

    I was going to be a sophomore and Jonah was going to be a senior. We were starting high school in a couple days. Usually, our school hosts a before-school-year dance for the freshmen to get used to the upperclassmen. All it did was solidify the class divisions, with the exception of couples and cliques.

    Jonah and I trudged to the gym, where the party had already started. I already knew the scene within: the seniors drinking snuck-in alcohol and the juniors and sophomores standing their with their phones in their hands, already recording their friends or just plain scrolling through other people's feed. The freshmen would be in their friend groups from middle school, wondering what the hell they were doing there. On the off chance that one would be taken under the wings of upperclassmen, the freshman would either end up with a bloated ego or bruised pride.

    I spotted Jonah eyeing another senior girl who stood a good hundred yards away from us across the quad. I shoved him lightly in the back. "If you want to talk to Vaelri, you'd better do so now. She won't be single for long."

    "What- I- I wasn't- what?" he stammered.

    I sighed and crossed my arms, standing in front of him. "Vaelri Jensen. Straight, shoulder length brown hair with highlights. Brown eyes. Tan. Captain of the softball team that I currently play on. Sound familiar?"

    Jonah's mouth moved in response as he kept staring at said girl. I shoved him in the chest, causing him to glare at me. "What?"

    "You're so hopeless," I grumbled. "Just go up to her and talk."

    "How do I do that?"

    "ARE YOU DUMB?!?" I nearly screeched. "You're known for being able to get any girl. And now you're asking me for help to get you the most eligible girl for you? Are you an idiot?"

    He just stood there. "Oh wait, let me rephrase that: you're an idiot for her."

    "She doesn't like me, though," he frowned slightly. "She always seems to be taken or-or just doesn't--I don't know. I'm not really the guy for her, I guess."

    I rolled my eyes. "If you keep saying that, you aren't."

*****

    Jonah didn't come back until later that night, so I just drove his car home. He could walk himself home.

    I knew he was probably with Vaelri; she was dancing with him during the dance. She would let her friends talk endlessly in the changing rooms about the boys they liked, but every time she was prodded about the guys she liked, she would always half-glance at me and say, "I don't like anyone." She was straight (I saw her hooking up with her previous boyfriend during homecoming, but broke up with him a few days later when he apparently moaned someone else's name), so she didn't want to hook up with me.

    People have told me and my brother we looked a lot like each other, so I guess I reminded her of him. Not that I was complaining. I love my brother. They're perfect together.

    And proof of that?

    When Jonah got home, he was humming songs under his breath, a dumb smile on his face. As he passed my room, he slowly tiptoed in. He kissed my forehead, saying, "I owe you, Tatum."

    If that isn't evidence enough of a budding relationship, I don't know what is.

    Also, I CALL DIBS ON THE #JOELRI SHIP!