Being Next to You - Always there

chrysanthemum - blooming

     My little sister is acting strange lately these days.
     She's okay in the morning, but when she comes home. She grins like an idiot, and it is obvious that she is trying to hide something. But I pretend not to notice.
     I'm seven years older than her, so I need to be mature. I think I am mature enough, though, I don't have much experience of being a normal teenager. I don't even know what's the meaning of their normal.
     Still, I could say that, she's...
     The sound of our front door's lock. She came home.
     "Welcome home, Rina," I greeted when I pass by the door, wearing my dishwashing gloves on.
     She saw the gloves, and asked, "Did you ate dinner already?"
     And I said, "No. I was washing the frying pan. We'll have fillet tonight."
     "Fish? Or chicken?" She asked again.
     I answered, "Fish."
     "Okay," she said.
     "Take your school uniform off, and then we'll have dinner. I need to finish some work later."
     "Okay," she replied. Then she went upstairs, then went down to eat dinner with me. She reads a book as usual. However, it's the same book.
     "You're not finished with that yet?" I wondered.
     "Just two more chapters and I'm done." Rina sounded like I asked something urgent.
     "That's unusual. You always finish a book within a day or two. But this is the fourth day I saw that piece. Having a lot of work in school?" I asked her, just guessing. And then, surprisingly, her ears were flushing while saying that "It's nothing," with a weird smile on her face.
     "Really?" I concerned. Rina was red as an apple. She kept on saying that she's okay. However, it's a bit unsettling, so I gave her a hug and patted her back because I love her.
     The other day, she came home a bit late. Her face red again, but with a beam shown in her rosy face.
     "Welcome home," I approached my sister as always.
     "I'm home!" Her face was grinning all by itself. She seems very happy.
     "I'm cooking dinner. So go down, and wait in the table for a while, okay?"
     "Okay," she answered. Going up the stairs again, carrying that expression along with her.
     I returned to the kitchen. And while cutting some vegetables, I thought that Rina was very happy at that moment, and that's good. But I can't really figure out why her face turns red every time I see her that happy??
     I really can't figure it out. You fail as a genius, Chrysanthemum James Bookman. Yet, I don't mind not knowing. Because little by little, my little sister is blooming beautifully whenever I see that expression. It is just like her own name.
     "Irina Belle," a beautiful blue iris flower.