Mutual

2 - Delusions

"Oh, hey, Lani," she cringed a little at the nickname. Ana and their parents used to refer to Alana as Lani when she was a baby. Nowadays, it usually makes her feel like she's that little kid again, so she tells people not to call her that if they ever do. Sometimes one of her family members will slip up and call her Lani. She doesn't hate it when it comes from her sister, mom, or dad, but it does make her cringe, especially since they call her Lana most of the time. "I didn't realize you'd be home."

"My professor let us out early today," she told her sister.

Ana nodded, while Dylan silently followed her into the room.

He sat on the couch on the side furthest away from the loveseat, where Alana currently sat.

"I'll be right back," Anastasia announced before making her way into the kitchen, leaving Dylan and Alana alone together.

"So, Lani," Dylan started with a little smirk.

She rolled her eyes. "Don't call me that."

"Oh, but you look so happy when someone calls you that, Lani," he said sarcastically.

"Are you actually trying to piss me off with my sister in the next room over?"

He gave a small shrug and simply waited for Anastasia to come back.

Alana rolled her eyes once again and went on her phone to text her friend, Daisy. Lana's been keeping her up to date on interactions with Dylan. A lot of times, Alana and Anastasia would gossip with each other, but the former obviously couldn't complain about her sister's boyfriend to her sister. So, she's been telling her friend from high school, who goes to a different college. They don't see each other nearly as often as they used to, but they text all the time.

Daisy, as Alana has said, is crazy. And she reads too much fanfiction, which is why she calls whatever is going on between Alana and Dylan chemistry. She told Alana that "you two are totally gonna be like enemies to lovers—a rocky start but then you grow on each other and eventually fall for one another."

To which Alana replied with, "Daisy, one, just no. Two, he has a girlfriend. Three, said girlfriend is my sister. Four, we don't have any interest in each other. Five, you need to stop reading so many stories."

They benched the topic after that.

But now, Alana had more to unpack. She texted Daisy saying "I swear, it's like he gets off on annoying me."

Daisy replied, "Lana, you realize you're not helping what I think about you two."

Lana groaned and explained what happened while also saying that it's not like that, and it never will be.

At the same time, Ana came back into the living room. "You okay, Lana?"

"Yeah," she answered briefly. She hit send, turned off her phone, and dropped it on the empty space next to her on the loveseat. She then added completely seriously, "Daisy is being delusional again."

Anastasia just nodded like it made perfect sense. "What about this time?"

Dylan just listened with an eyebrow raised, clearly confused by the conversation.

Alana's eyes shifted to Dylan very quickly, but neither he nor Anastasia seemed to notice. "Just a guy. You know how she is."

That seemed to be enough explanation for Ana, as she didn't ask more questions.

"Who's Daisy, and why is she delusional?" Dylan seemed almost afraid or maybe just shy to ask.

Lana decided to be nice and put him out of his misery, even if she didn't think he deserved it, "she's my best friend from high school, and yes, she is actually delusional."

Anastasia gave her a look that said she would've hit her lightly on the shoulder had she been close enough. "No, she's not actually delusional. She just has...an active imagination. And I'm gonna tell her that you're telling people she's delusional."

"I hate that you guys talk. You just like to team up against me. All of my people hate me."

Dylan noticed the way Ana melted a little at being referred to as one of Alana's people. "We don't always team up against you. The two of us have been your wingwomen on more than one occasion."

"Yeah, well, it kinda feels like she's trying to be one now," Lana mumbled under her breath.

"Wait, it was about a guy for you?" She asked excitedly.

Alana's eyes went slightly wide. "Uh, no. Like I said, delusional."

"It sounds like Lani likes someone to me," Dylan pitched in to rile her up.

"You people are impossible. And stop calling me that!"

"Fine, I'll let you be for now. But if there's a boy, Lana, I would hope you would tell me."

"There is no boy, so you don't have to worry about it." Ana looked ready to chime in, so Alana continued, "There's no girl either, okay. Really, there's no need to worry."

Dylan looked like he was processing the new information, while Anastasia let out a sigh.

"You would tell me though, right?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Good." She then decided to drop the subject, "So, how about that rain check?"

Alana smiled fondly. "Sure, Ana."

Anastasia turned on the television and set up the game console. She handed a controller to her sister and her boyfriend and kept one for herself.

She sat down, while Dylan and Alana sat up straighter in their seats, readying themselves to play. Both, unbeknownst to the other, were quite competitive. Ana, of course, knew this and was curious to see how things would play out. She was definitely the mellow one between the two sisters, but she lived for chaos sometimes. And this was one of those times.