Chapter #4Someone else by: NVR   "Emily, what are you doing?" you asked when you saw her messing with something behind the tv desk in your room. Her body shook a bit in surprise at being caught.
"Hey bro, could you lend me your stereo? I know you haven't used it in a while" she explained herself a bit sheepishly but going back to disconnect it, as if she was running out of time to do so.
"Wait, what? you just can't steal it from my room like that!" You were relieved it was just her, but still annoyed at the way she disrespected your property.
"It's not stealing, I'm in the next room.. Come on, my mom already said I won't have one for myself!" she complained and your stance softened a bit. Emily was a bit bratty and spoiled, but after Jacqueline started to target her more frequently and seeing what Naomi can get away with nowadays you couldn't deny she ended up with the short end of the stick.
As everyone who has siblings you understood the unwritten laws of privilege that come with it, the older sibling gets more responsibilities but also more trust and power when the parents are gone, the younger sibling gets the most affection and care and the middle siblings like you and her? well, they get a bit less of that, but in your case you still were treated with more leeway by your parents due to another factor, you were their only son. That meant being considered the man of the house when your father wasn't around which was a lot of the time due to his work, being given your own room quicker than Emily got hers and also more time and money to indulge in your hobbies.
In contrast, Emily got to share things first with Jacqueline and then with Naomi, and now while your mom claimed she didn't understand her, Jacqueline just called her a dork and even Naomi considered her boring you kinda understood what she was going through. It made you sympathize with her, but not forget how rude she was just coming here to "borrow" your stuff. Your room was a sacred space and you wouldn't just barge into hers in the same way, even if there was something valuable to you in that mess of a room.
"What happened to asking first?" you tried to go back and play the part of the reasonable older brother but only got a mean and unimpressed look as an answer.
"Alright, sorry" she stopped as she was about to start taking off one of the speakers "Can I borrow it then?"
"What do I win in exchange?" you couldn't resist teasing her but stopped when her look changed, you expected her to get angry but she just looked a bit downcast.
"Fine, what do you want?" she said with annoyance but giving up from the get go.. was she alright?
"Hey it was a joke.. just take it" you sighed at how awkward it went. Normally she would bicker with you for a bit but it seemed she wasn't in the mood at all. Maybe you didn't understand her after all.
"Thanks, bro" she nodded and went back to take the stereo off your desk. You decided to just give her space for now after your fumble.
"I'll go take a shower while you finish then" you told her
"Hey bro, where's the remote control for this" she asked before you left
"Oh, it's in the drawer"
"Ok, thanks again"
After the shower you went back to your room for the usual routine, putting on your clothes, making the bed and getting ready for whatever you were going to do today.. Right, you were going to continue testing the remote. You opened the drawer but your eyes went wide when you noticed it was no longer there.
"Wait what?" It didn't take you long to connect the dots "Oh crap, Emily! She took the wrong remote!" You went to her room hoping she hadn't used it yet.
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