XVIII. August 26th, 1986

Mira's POV:

I opened the door and storm out of the house.

"What happened?" Steven asked.

I look back to see Mom leaning beside the door. She tilts the glass between her lips. "Nothing."

"Guess I can scratch off the heartwarming goodbye?"

I got inside the car and closed the door.

If she wasn't my mom, I have a lot to say to her.

"So—" I tap against the armrest. "When were you planning to tell me that you're moving out?"

He chuckles, "I'm 29. I don't think I need my little sister's permission to move out."

"You don't need her permission. But, a little heads up would've been nice."

"I was planning to tell you before you start med school," he said.

"You sure it wouldn't be awkward?" I asked. "You know, suddenly bringing in your little sister."

"I'd rather you live awkwardly with us than couch hopping." He smiled and looked at me, "And it won't be awkward unless you make it awkward."

"True," I responded. "So, who's the roomie?"

"You'll meet him in an hour or so."

Steven and I are staying at a place fifty minutes by car and an hour and a half by train from my school. If I'm going to be on campus, I'll spend all day there, and if not, I'll stay at home and study or figure out where I'll work part-time to at least pay them for my portion.

Steven's new workplace is thirty or forty minutes away, depending on traffic.

If I had not fallen out with our parents, I could've gone to school smoothly. But I'll bite the bullet and commute if it gets them off my back.

"Is he a friend from work?" I ask.

His face scrunches, "Kind of."

When we finally got there, Steven shook my shoulder to wake me up. I hope I don't fall asleep on the train and miss my stop. I wipe off the drool and follow him out of the car.

"Why are we at a restaurant?" I closed the door behind me.

Steven scratches his head, "I'm meeting a friend here," he said. "Hungry?"

I am kind of hungry.

I followed Steven inside the restaurant. Once we got inside, his eyes searched the room, and he waved. I pinned in the direction he waved.

Isn't that the Dean?

When Steven moved, I did too.

"Dr.Cunningham."

"Dr.Liu."

They shake hands.

Suddenly, they laughed.

"How yah doing Carter?"

Carter?

The Dean's first name is Carter?

"I'm good. How about yourself?"

"Doing well." Steven steps aside, "You remember my little sister."

"Yes." He smiled, "Mira."

"H-Hello."

What is happening?

Dean Cunningham gestured for us to sit down, and we did. Quietly, I looked at the menu while they chit-chatted about the weather or something.

After we all ordered, the waiter came with a bottle of alcohol.

"I hope you two don't mind. I ordered for us," Dean Cunningham says.

When the waiter got to my glass, I said: "None for me."

I glance at Steven, who clears his throat, "Carter. What we talked about-"

He grabbed the glass, "Don't worry about it."

"So, Dean Cunningham-"

"Please, call me Carter," he says.

"Carter-" I feel uncomfortable calling him that, "Um, about my tuition."

He stops the glass halfway to his lips, "Oh, we're talking about school?"

I stare at him blankly for a few seconds, "We are, aren't we?" I look at Steven, "That's why we're here?"

"We are," Steven says. He grabbed his glass and down the alcohol.

Carter's eyes pinch together, "No need to concern yourself about tuition. We'll figure out something."

I smiled, "Thank you."

I may grow up in comfort, but I do know it's a nasty world, and pride won't feed me.

The rest of the dinner went well. I mostly listened to Carter and Steven talk about sports and other similar interests.

I guess Carter and Steven are good friends because they are interested in the same things.

"So, how did you two meet?" I asked in the middle of dinner. I ate a piece of steak.

They exchange looks.

Carter put down the utensils and wiped his lips with the napkin. He smiled amusingly, "We met at the park, actually."

"Oh? The park?" I looked at Steven, who was a bit too quiet.

"Yeah. We ran the same trail, so we got to know each other."

"That's cool. So, you didn't know he was the Dean?" I asked Steven.

Steven swallowed the food in his mouth, "He was my professor."

I look back at Carter, "I got the promotion not too long ago," he said. "When Steven was in medical school, I was still teaching."

"Congratulations," I said. "Must be fate." I went back to my meal.

When we finished dinner, Carter kindly paid for the meal, and it was time to meet in the room.

I stood by the car door as Carter and Steven talked to each other in front of the restaurant. Finally, Steven walked to the car, and off we went.

"You're kind of awkward," I said, "and weirdly quiet right now. What's wrong?"

"Um-" he pinched his lips, "Well, you know how I said I was living with a roommate."

"Yeah."

"And the roommate doesn't mind because he has extra room."

"Yeah."

"There's something I didn't tell you."

I noticed how we curved into a gated community. My eyes flicked to the back of our car. "Isn't that Carter's car?"

The gate opens, and Steven drives through it. "Yeah."

He parked the car in front of a giant house. Carter parked beside us on the driveway.

"Steven."

"Yes?"

"Is Carter Cunningham, the dean, the roommate?"

"Yes."

Silence.

I rolled down the window.

"Carter?"

He leans inward, "Yes?"

"Are you the roommate?"

Carter looked at Steven and grinned, "If that's what he calls me. Yes."

Silence.

I roll up the window.

"Steven?"

"Yes?"

"Is there something you'd like to tell me?"

I never considered myself an observable person, but sometimes, I'm right. Everyone is right sometimes.

Right now, every cell in my body is screaming that something is going on between Carter and Steven.

Carter knocked against the glass door on Steven's side. He rolled it down. "I'll meet you guys inside."

"Alright."

Carter leans closer but stops. He patted Steven's shoulder robotically, then left.

Steven rolled up the window.

"Steven!"

He looked at me with wide eyes, "What?"

"He was your professor!"

Silence.

"Seriously? That's what you're thinking about?"

"Dual relationship is a no-no."

"He's not my professor anymore."

"He is the Dean." That explains why he told me not to be concerned about tuition.

"He promised me that he would not give you any special treatment because of me."

My face crunched. "Why?" I said in a whiney voice. "You mean I have to actually try?"

Steven laughs, "You idiot."

I punch him playfully, "I'm happy for you."

He glances over, "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, I never knew you were into the older type, considering the people you dated, but when you find the right one, you find the right one, right?"

He nods, "Yeah. He sure is...something."

I grinned, "So, tell me, how did you two really meet?"

Steven exhaled, "You heard it earlier. We met at the park."

"Come on. Tell me the deets. I know you're dying to tell someone." I place two hands in the air, "Wait. Who else knows?" Just so I know who to be careful around.

"Let's see." Steven puffed his cheeks and huffed a breath through his nostrils, "You."

"Me?"

"Yeah."

"And?"

"That's it."

I gasped, "Are you serious? Just me?" I feel so special.

"Yup."

I squeal, "I love being the first person to know about things."

Steven laughs, "You really are an idiot."

"I'm the idiot you have to live with for the next four years."

After we finished our talk, I concluded I was the most special person in Steven's life since I was the only person who knew his secret - excluding Carter, but he didn't count - and I was his blood sister, which meant I was automatically more important than a lover.

Carter showed me around the house and then to my bedroom. He asked me if there were anything I'd like to change, but I told him everything was perfect. It's not a lie; he has amazing taste.

During nighttime, before bed, I interrupted their romantic wine time and asked them for the whole story.

I love love stories.

Carter and Steven met at the park the summer before Steven started medical school. They saw each other a few times, and Steven was the first to move in.

He nodded at Carter when they ran past each other.

Then, the next morning, Carter nodded first.

Since neither of them squealed, I squealed for them.

The nod turned into single-word greetings, then two words, and then, after a month, a greeting and a question.

My brother's love story progresses really slow.

Three months later, Carter sprained his ankle, so he stopped and rested at the place where they usually greet each other.

Please, Carter, I know what game you're playing.

Steven noticed and stopped.

They started talking, then they hung out. Afterward, when school started, Steven found out Carter was the professor for one of his classes.

After Steven graduated from medical school, they officially dated.

My eyes squinted.

Something feels off.

"You two aren't telling me the full story," I said.

"No, that's it." Steven looked at Carter, "Right."

"Whatever he says."

"But, what he said is a lie." I sip on my water, "I know because he's my brother."

Steven leans towards Carter: "And she's a crazy love story fanatic who loves to exaggerate others' love stories."

"But this time, I'm not," I said. "I bet you two hooked up before you graduate."

They stared at me.

"I'm right, aren't I?" I smiled, "It's always like that. Every book."

"See?" Steven said. He twirled a finger at his head. "Delusional."

"Don't tell him I'm delusional," I said.

"You should stop," Carter says.

"Thank you," I responded.

"I mean, I am in charge of whether or not she'll be practicing medicine on people in the future, and I can't have a delusional person do it."

My face scrunches.

"What's wrong?" Steven places down his glass.

I hold my stomach, "My stomach hurts."

"Let's sit down somewhere comfortable," Steven, I assume, already told Carter. They support me on the couch.

Out of the blue, a painful sensation hit my brain. I held my head in my hands and curled inward.

"Mira?" Steven holds my arm, "Mira. What's-"

Suddenly, his voice faded back, and I found myself in an office.

"Mira?"

I turned around to see Lucianus behind a desk. He put down the pen and stood up, asking, "What are you doing here?"

"I don't know what's going-"

The headache returns.

I squat down and hold my head, hoping it would minimize the pain.

"Mira. What's wr-"

When I opened my eyes, I was back beside Steven and Carter, who stared at me with wide, concerned eyes.

"What...happened?" I asked. There was an uncomfortable sensation on my chest. I grabbed it and rubbed it in circles to ease the pain.

"What happened?" Steven exhaled a shaky, sharp breath. The sweats drip down his temples.

"Mira," Carter says. "You stopped breathing."

"Huh?" They helped me sit up.

"You stopped breathing for almost five minutes," Steven says.

According to Carter and Steven, I started hyperventilating, passed out, and stopped breathing. They performed CPR on me for the past five minutes until I woke up.

Of course, living with a soon-to-be-official doctor, he wouldn't let what happened go. That night, I went to the nearest hospital to do a list of tests, but they didn't find anything wrong with me.

The emergency doctor concluded it was stressed, but Steven called bullshit.

He didn't use that term, but he requested a re-evaluation, preferably at a different hospital. The second opinion was the same as the first; they couldn't find anything wrong.

Since school was starting soon, Steven had no choice but to drop what happened and keep an eye out for me.

The day before my first class, while we were eating dinner, Carter said: "If you'd like, you can take the spare car."

I paused the broccoli on the fork midair, "Pardon?"

"The spare car in the garage," he says. "I don't really use it."

I looked at Steven, who said: "She doesn't need it."

"You're right," he says. "Would you like me to take you to school instead?"

Coming to school with the Dean? What will I tell the other students when they notice the bump in my stomach one day?

It's not the Dean's child. It's a child from a one-night stand.

Steven ate a cucumber, "She doesn't need you to take her to school either."

"Then, how will you get to school?" Carter asked.

"The train," I replied.

"She needs to grow up," Steven says. "And learn how the world works." He puts another piece of cucumber in his mouth and smiles at me.

Indirectly, he's telling me that is my punishment for getting knocked up.

To be honest, that punishment isn't so bad considering how I was about to couch hop.

"What if she passed out again?" Carter asked.

Something tells me I should sit out of this conversation.

Steven's smile fell flat at Carter's question. Carter didn't remove his eyes from Steven as he grabbed a piece of tomato and ate it.

When Steven didn't respond, Carter looked at me and smiled, "I'll take you to school, and on days I work late, let's have you drive back."

Steven glared at Carter.

"How about during days you drive home alone. You will call your brother before and after you leave school."

Carter looked at Steven and raised his eyebrows.

"What if he doesn't pick up?" I asked.

"Leave a voicemail?"

We looked at Steven.

They locked into a stare-down. It feels like they're in a secret conversation.

Steven exhaled and looked away.

Carter smiled, "I go to school a bit early to get ready. Would that be okay with you?"

I nodded, "Yeah."

On the first day of school, I was anxious. In my fitted clothes, I ran my fingers down my waist before I grabbed my bag. Steven went to work earlier, so for the first time, it was just Carter and me.

"Can you pass me the salt?" Carter asked.

I grabbed the salt and gave it to him.

"Thank you."

It's not that I feel uncomfortable around Carter without Steven around; it simply feels a bit threatening to be with the Dean without my big brother.

Carter smiles, "You know, here, I'm your roommate, not Dean."

Technically, he's the house owner, not roommate.

"Yes." I scoop a spoonful of eggs into my mouth.

"I'm hoping this isn't odd for you," he says.

"What is-" I tried my best not to spit out food.

"Me being your Dean and brother's lover."

Well, since you put it that way-

"No," I said. "It's not weird. I just need some time to get used to this. Honestly, I haven't met any of my brother's lovers since he was in eleventh grade, so it's been a while."

My brother's last known lover was this girl in his grade. They broke up a few months before his high school graduation, and after that, no one ever met any of his other lovers.

Carter smiles.

Now, I know why.

My brother has been hiding in the closet for nearly a decade.

"Steven looks really happy with you, so no complaint from my end."

"Truly?"

I nodded.

He smiles, "Thank you."

I gave him a thumb-up.

"To be honest," he says. "I was a bit...terrified."

"About what?"

"Your response towards our relationship."

I tilted my head.

"Many people don't accept others' sexual preferences."

It didn't take much thinking to understand why Steven hid his preferences from his family.

I shrugged, "Guess I'm a different type of breed."

Carter smiles, "Between you and me, Steven will never admit it, but he cares for you a lot. He always brags about you to everyone."

I rest an arm on the table, "Tell me more."

After breakfast, Carter and I rode to school together. Neglecting the weird start in the morning, Carter and I get along quite well. It may be because he wants my favor - something he already has - which is why he is extra nice to me.

I mean, so far, I'm the only family member of Steven who approves of their relationship.

I'm the only person who knows and approves - as far as I know.

When we got to school, getting out of Carter's car didn't feel odd. Most students looked like they had already checked out of school, and it hadn't started.

It's terrible to think this, but it feels good to have someone important show you around the school.

After Carter showed me my first lecture hall, he went off to work. The lecture hall was wider than I imagined. I sat down in the third row - close enough where you can see everything but far enough where you won't feel too awkward.

Soon, the professor walked in, and the lectures took an immediate run.

He told us all the lectures would be posted online, so, like a few other students, I spent my time staring at the board. With all my power, I fought the urge not to swirl into la la land.

By the time the professor finished, I realized I had retained nearly none of the information. Now, I am off to the library to cry.

After my first class, I called Steven from the payphone and told him I was still alive, then quickly ended the call before they could charge me.

Medical school was just as I expected - boring.

The people are just as I expected - boring.

With the apple in my mouth, I stared outside the wide window in one of the buildings. In times like these, I wondered what Asena and Gwen were doing. The last letter I received from them was about how Asena's stepmother and step-sister showed up.

If I didn't feel like my life was threatened in Bulteria, I would love to stay for the drama.

I rested my face on my palm and stared out the window. The weather hasn't been so bad lately; it's still warm. I placed a hand on my stomach and exhaled softly. Right now, the pregnancy isn't a problem, but it may be a dilemma during the upcoming semester.

If my math is correct, the baby should come in May.

It'll be a May baby.

How poetic - a new life during a season known for the time of birth.

"Excuse me."

I look away from the scenery just to meet...grey eyes.