Heart to Hart ✔️

7. Melting Harts

"Alec where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you!" Chloe, Alec's sister, stood over his towel, her arms crossed over her chest. She looked like an angry but still cute little pixie with her cropped auburn hair and scattering of freckles over her nose and cheeks. He was in trouble.

"Hey Chloe," I stifled a giggle and yanked the towel from under her feet, passing it to a dripping wet Alec.

"Well, you obviously didn't look hard enough. I was right there, swimming." He waved his arm out to the lake, not caring about the area he was pointing out.

Chloe was Alec's younger sister. She was seventeen, like my sister, and they both had similar classes at the same college. Unlike her brother and myself, Chloe and Rosie were not friends. In fact, they despised each other. There were rumours a few years ago about Daniel liking Chloe, which instantly made Rosie take a disliking to her. It wasn't always that way. When they were little, they were forced to spend time together each time Alec and I did.

"Hey Nat," Chloe gave me a brief squeeze while shooting daggers at her brother.

"Seriously, you just dumped Lily on her friend's family and ran off. They had to leave and then she was stuck with me. She's eight! So not cool!"

"Where the hell is she now?" Alec growled at her.

"Ben has her. You have to take her home. We don't want her around our friends. It's embarrassing."

"Get over yourself, Clo! As you said, she's eight."

I swatted Alec on the back of the head. "What's wrong with you? I can't believe Lily was here the whole time, and you left her with other people. Your mum will kill you."

"Ouch, psycho! No need to get handsy," he whined, rubbing the back of his head. "She's fine. I made sure I knew the friends first. They have Lily round all the time. And now she's with her own brother. He's fifteen and more than capable of taking care of her. Clo, go grab them and we can leave."

"We don't want to leave. We'll get a lift home with some friends, I've checked. If you let us stay, I won't tell on you to mum," Chloe negotiated.

"Very grown up. Tattling on your brother. Just go grab her and make sure you're home by eight tonight or mum will kill me."

Chloe stuck her tongue out at her brother and ran off to find her siblings.

A mere five minutes went by before Chloe was dragging a reluctant Lily back to us.

"I don't want to go home," Lily whined.

Her shoulder-length chestnut coloured hair was a matted mess, no doubt from a mixture of lake water and sunscreen. The scattering of freckles on her face was hidden behind dirty dried sand. Lily looked wild and unkempt, just as an eight-year-old at the lake should.

As they approached, I could tell Lily was ready to put on a show and Alec was going to fall for it hook, line, and sinker. Her big round green eyes zeroed in on her brother and her bottom lip stuck out in a pout.

"Pwease Alec, don't make me go. I want to stay with Ben. Chloe's just mean. It's not fair," she pleaded.

"You've been out in the sun long enough. Mum said you need to go home."

Lily huffed and stomped her foot. "I. DON'T.WANT.TO.GO!"

"Lily, that's enough. We're going home."

On cue, her eyes filled with tears. "Pwease Alec," she sobbed.

"Oh Lily, don't cry. I'll get you an ice-cream?"

Sucker.

"Okay." All of a sudden the tears were gone and she had forgotten how upset she was.
"I want Nat to come too."