Best Siblings Forever (I Love You to Paris & Back)

Chapter 9-Birthday Adventures

 "Don't everybody talk at once," I say after Liam, Blake, and Elise stay quiet.

I get eye rolls from all three of them.

"Well, what it's gonna be?" I push, suddenly impatient.

"We can't agree," Elise says with a sigh. "We've debated over this half a billion times and still haven't figured it out."

"We've got the whole night!" I reply. "We can split it up: watch one now and then watch something else later."

The threesome turns to look at each other.

"All right," Blake finally says. "Since Elise is the only girl, she gets to pick first. And then we can fight over what movie's next."

Elise grins and says, "Ghost Protocol" faster than I can respond.

I head to the kitchen to retrieve the huge bowl of popcorn when Blake asks me for a favor.

"Hey Chan! Can you make me a cup of coffee? The good kind!"

I roll my eyes as I shove a coffee k-cup into the Keurig. Actually, I don't quite hate my Christmas present as much as I thought I would. Still, every time one of them mentions my Keurig, they all start snickering. I refuse to make coffee in it, but I can't help but shake my head every time I look at it with a hint of a smile. Elise, Blake, and Liam use it about every day of their lives. I am convinced that they are single-handedly keeping the coffee k-cup industry alive.

It is New Year's Eve and the four of us are celebrating by having a movie marathon. My father returned to Afghanistan a few days after Christmas, not being able to stay for very long. Even though we pulled an all-nighter when he came, we're always open to having fun around here. For us, that means having another all-nighter, even though we still might be recovering from the last one.

"Somehow I knew you were gonna say Ghost Protocol, Elise," Blake says sarcastically. Elise shoves him and they both smile at each other.

I push the play button after giving Blake his coffee. A few hours later, we're watching Hunger Games when I hear the clock strike midnight.

We hurriedly pause our movie and run down to stand at the sidewalk with our neighbors so we can watch the fireworks. They echo around the midnight sky, lighting up the dark with hundreds of colors and patterns, one after another.

It's officially a new year.

A couple days after January first, Blake moves out of our apartment because classes are starting in a week, and he has to get prepared. Plus, his dad is coming home in a few days and he tells us he really needs to clean the apartment. Liam is getting things ready too, since he's planning on going to the same college as Blake. I'm really glad because then they can hang out and Liam can have someone to show him around.

They're both starting their freshman year and I know it's a big deal for both of them. See, I know when Elise gets nervous because she gets jittery and spacey. But Liam? He's more reserved, so I can't really tell that he's nervous about anything. Of course, I know that he probably is and just isn't showing it.

Liam takes both Elise and him shopping for school supplies. I think he even buys himself a few new shirts or something. Since Elise is Miss Fashion Queen, I obviously know she helped him find some good-looking clothes.

Then after Elise helps Liam shop, I take Elise shopping again for more school clothes because she's managed to have grown another inch or so and her jeans are suddenly all too short for her.

Elise is starting her second semester of school a few days before Blake and Liam head to college and suddenly, it really begins to hit me. My little sister is almost done with high school! This is her last semester before her senior year! That thought scares me a little. She'll be graduating in a year, come August. Liam was more than right: my little sister is growing up.