Guarding My Faith

eight

I sit on the couch with my phone, glancing at the time and towards the door every few minutes. That's when I suddenly hear a set of keys turn the lock of the front door. I stare at the door eagerly until it finally opens, revealing a very tired Sara.

I run towards her, taking her book bag from her and placing it near the couch. "Where were you?" I ask her.

She doesn't respond but takes off her boots and coat, hanging it on the coat hanger.

It's been more than five hours since you played with the VR set with Adam. More than twelve hours since Sara left the house.

She takes a deep breath and grunts as she sprawls across the couch, rolling her head to the side to stare at me. "Babysitting," she responds. Her voice cracks a little which startles me. Is she going to lose her voice? She must have been screaming a lot at the kids.

I run into the kitchen to grab her a glass of water. When I return to the living room, Yasmin has joined her on the couch. They're playing a game of 'I Spy,' something me and Kevin used to play when we were little with nothing to do.

"I spy with my little eye someone that reminds me of... a monkey!" Yasmin says cheekily. She tries her best not to look towards me but fails. I smile but roll my eyes as I make my way over to the couch, handing Sara the glass of water.

"Is it... Alexis?" Sara asks Yasmin.

Yasmin nods in shock. "How did you know!" she says in adorable surprise.

Sara smiles and shakes her head. "Maybe because you always call her a monkey. But you know, it's not right to call someone by the name of an animal, Yaz," she tells her. Yasmin's lip quivers, so I sit next to her and wrap my arms around her, rocking her in my arms as if she's a baby.

"It's okay. Everyone makes mistakes," I say.

"Especially Alexis," a new voice says, sounding a lot like Adam.

We all turn to look at him. He's walking down the stairs and towards us with a laptop in his hands and a pair of glasses perched on the tip of his nose.

"Since when did you have glasses?" I ask him suddenly.

"They're reading glasses, not far-sighted glasses because I can see far just fine," he says, defending himself.

Yasmin runs to him and reaches for his glasses. "I want to try them! I want to try them!"

Sara raises an eyebrow at Yasmin. "You can't. You might break them," she scolds her little sister.

"I'm not gonna break them!" she argues back.

"Alright, alright, drop it," Adam says, stepping in front of the both of them. He swiftly takes off his glasses and bends down to Yasmin's level. He places a lock of her brown hair behind her ear and slowly moves the glasses so it fits her frame. "Hey! You look cute, Yazzy."

"Thanks... Adam," Yasmin says, unsure of herself. She was about to say 'Head' wasn't she?

Adam playfully messes up her hair and grabs his glasses back, placing it on the bookshelf, off to the side. He then turns to Sara and looks her up and down in suspicion as she continues to drink her water.

"What?" she orders.

They both stare at each other, not one deciding to back down.

Adam stays quiet but takes Yasmin to his room so she can play some games on his laptop, before returning back to the living room. I sit on a chair near Sara and fiddle with the edges of my black scarf.