✅ My Sister's Problem

5. Gifts

I didn't think about being a baby, or about being treated like one. Any time I noticed my thoughts drifting in that direction, I pushed them back onto normal things. I even tried to imagine myself spending time with a boyfriend, proving that I was an adult. It was all too easy; the only parts I couldn't imagine were the words that might get me into that situation. Not that I wanted him to be my boyfriend. Not seriously. He was just the first person who came to mind, fit and smart. I wouldn't get caught staring at him, even if we were in the same French class. He was just a friend who happened to look good with his shirt off.

I was ecstatic when I saw the league score sheet at the end of the week. We were matched up against Lychester Common next, and I was sure there would be no contest there. One good match and we could be one step from the top of the league; the best we had ever done.

I did my homework well enough to avoid trouble, chatted with my friends, and worked out. When it was quiet, I found a few minutes to pull out the basketball hidden under my bed and took a few shots at the hoop in the neighbours' back garden. There wasn't as much space as the one at the front, but there was less chance of being seen by anyone who might laugh at my lack of skill. I managed to get it in once, but even that was more down to luck. Soon, I told myself, I would get the hang of controlling a larger ball. At least well enough that I could keep it out of the flower beds. But for now I had to practise in secret.

One day after school I was sitting in a little café with Nadine. Her parents wouldn't be home yet, and she didn't like sitting in an empty house, so Mum didn't mind me keeping her company for twenty minutes. I might have invited her round to our house, but by the time we got back there it would be time for her to be heading home.

"I saw Jim," she said. If I hadn't known before, I was sure now that something was wrong. I didn't quite trust Maggie and Harper's assessment of the situation, but it was clear all wasn't sunshine and rainbows in Internet dating land.

"What's wrong?"

"He's just... he thinks I'm a little kid. The pictures we shared before, I never sent my face. Don't want it out there online if stuff doesn't work out, you know? Without a face pic it could be anybody, it made me braver. Then when he saw me for real..."

"Jerk. Want to talk about it?"

"No, it's... it's not him. He was nice about it, says I'm an interesting girl and he still wants to be friends. We got things we can talk about, I laughed at his jokes, we had a great time. You know? And I like him, every minute he's there, I feel like I'm alive. It's amazing."

I wanted to say "trust your instincts" or something; but she should know that already. Nadine was older than me, even if she had a baby face, and she was certainly more mature. She didn't need platitudes. She just wanted somebody who could listen, and could understand.

"I just don't know," she continued. "I told myself that once we get to know each other something might click. Like it would just be natural, I don't know. But I'm probably kidding myself there. But he's sad, you know? He's lonely now. He had a kid, a few years younger than us, and something bad happened. Not easy to talk about, but..."

"Does that mean he's got a wife too?" I couldn't help asking.

"No. They broke up soon after, and his friends thought he was gloomy. So he joins this dating site, right? Thinks it's time for a new girlfriend, new friends, start over. Probably not a good reason, but no dumber than me. And then we meet, and I'm more like a substitute for the daughter, not the wife. He treats me like a kid. And like, he's really nice about it. Treating me, being fun, and all that stuff. But he'll never see me as..."

"As the heroine in one of your romance books?"

"Yeah. But books are unrealistic anyway, right? I enjoy being with him, and I can see him coming out of his shell. Who cares what anybody else says I should want?"