Maybe it was Love//Short Story

1

Dinah squinted at the small screen and still didn't see it. "What in the name of hell are showing me?!" She barked at little Kylie, who was holding the iPhone to Dinah's face pointing at a microscopic speck on the screen.

"I-it-it was a little sticker that I earned from Frogger." Kylie said, her lip trembling greatly.

Her green eyes went big and tears brimmed around them. "Oh Ky, I am so sorry for yelling at you. I see the sticker, I see it. It's such a pretty sticker too." Dinah cooed trying to make sure she doesn't have some water works in the house because her mom would not be happy about that, especially on a Monday morning. Kylie took her hand to wipe her eyes as the tears flowed silently down her cheeks. The back of her hands wet as she continuously tried to dry them.

"Please don't cry." Dinah pleaded softly. Kylie frowned a stuck out her bottom lip, but luckily the tears had stopped. She turned around and went back to playing her game as she left Dinah's room.

Dinah ran her fingers through her hair and sighed. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and got up from her bed. She shuffled to the bathroom that she shared with Kylie, her mom Harper, her brother Eric, and lastly the occasional drunk bastard, that Dinah had nicknamed Mr. Wasted, who came over to bother her mom about money. Always repeating the same speech he did every time Dinah's mom locked him out
- Oh Harper, family is family. And you CANNOT turn down family!!"
Last time that happened, Dinah's mom had shut the door in his face and he camped out in his car parked across the street from their house. He had come in the morning to try to get in the house again and Harper had turned the sprinklers on him. He slipped and slided on the grass and was wet and covered in mud, which he had to track into his nice leather seated car-

Dinah turned on the shower and stepped in. Water ran down her back and soaked her hair. She let the stream unclench her muscles. "Hey Dinah. Can you hurry up please?" called her brother Eric. Dinah was almost completely positive that she had the only brother who says 'please' when talking to his younger siblings.

"Sure." Dinah said back. The shower wasn't as long as she would've liked but it had to do for now. She stepped out and grabbed her towel. Her shower slippers were sitting outside of the shower for her. All clean and dry. Eric must've done that for me, She thought nonchalantly. It didn't surprise her as much as it used to.

When their father left five years ago, Eric started to get angry and he would leave the house and get drunk and come back at around 2am. Or he wouldn't come back at all and just crash at a friends house. After a year of therapy Eric took a major 180.

He started cooking for mom in the mornings, he would tutor Dinah in all subjects and pull her grades up. He helped care for Kylie when she was going through speech therapy and had a terrible lithpe. He started to act like a father to them and really help his mom get back on track.
Now Eric is eighteen and he is getting ready to go to college. He still helps as much as he can and says he will call every day and come back on all holidays. He says he is scared that the family will fall apart without him. His mom usually laughs but, no one reminds him that the house almost fell apart with him. They all just pretend it never happened. Apparently they're good at that.

*****

Dinah had gotten dressed about twenty minutes ago in a pair of black flip-flops, white denim shorts and a black tank top. She was chilling on the couch when Eric walked through the door laughing loudly to something that was said.

"Hey Dinah Bear. What's up?" Eric said coming to the couch and plopping next to her. "Nothing much." Dinah had replied. A girl with two blonde french braids was standing next to the armrest of the couch. She was staring at Dinah. Her big green eyes wide. Obviously Dianh tried not to stare back. At first it was easy, Eric was striking up a nice conversation about a baseball game and Dinah had to maintain eye contact, but after it a while it got hard.

Dinah could feel the girls eyes burning a hole in the side of her head. Not moving an inch or even looking at Eric. The weird part was that it didn't feel bad to Dinah, like it usually does when strangers stare at her. Usually it's awkward and uncomfortable, but with this stranger it didn't feel bad or anything negative. Just curiosity.

"Anyway I was thinking of heading to a Minor League game at the park with Bri." Eric said. The name Bri caught Dinah's full attention. Eric must've noticed the confusion on Dinah's face because he gestured towards the staring girl who was now politely smiling at Dinah. "Dinah this is Bri, Bri this is my little sister Dinah." Dinah flashed the girl, who is now properly known as Bri, a small smile. Bri gave another warm smile at Dinah-which is different from what Eric's friends usually give her-Since she's younger than him, Eric's friends give her a little kid smile, but Bri smiles at her like they are on the same level.

"So yeah kid. I gotta go." Eric said ruffling Dinah's hair. He tugged lightly on Bri's arm and they walked out the door. Bri looked over her shoulder one last time to close the door behind her and a mischievous twinkle in her eye brightened as she winked at Dinah.