45: An Older Sister’s Love

45: An Older Sister’s Love

Nyssa ended up staying awake. Curled up on the couch nearest to the front door, she scrolled her phone. Every few minutes, she’d glance up and out the window. Each time, though, she only saw an empty driveway.

I wonder when they’ll arrive...

Staring at her phone, her eyes glazed over as her shoulders sat tensed. Her phone replayed the same video over and over as she ran her hands through her hair. The babbling of a cooking video demonstrating a ‘hack’ to maximize dumpling wrapping efficiency droned on in her ears.

Five minutes later, the sound of the doorbell brought her back to reality as her eyes widened. Checking the time, she couldn’t help but feel her stomach toss itself like stir fry. Nnêw n0vel chapters are published at novelhall.com

I don’t know why I’m nervous all of a sudden, it's just Roxanne and Angelica... I know them! Maybe because it's been a while for Roxanne? Maybe because... I haven't seen angelica in this context for a while? Why does it feel like a teacher-student meeting?

She steeled her guts and clenched her fist. A pair of wings appeared out of her back for a brief second, launching her out of the chair before she jogged over to the door. Pulling it open with a creak, warmth enveloped her before she could react.

“I missed you, Nyssa! Your older sister is back,” Roxanne’s warm voice filled her ear, melting away all her worries with a few sweet words. She pulled back after a second, her eyes widening as Nyssa’s eyes teared up. “What’s wrong? Everything alright? Did I hug you too hard? I’m-”

“N-No, it’s fine,” Nyssa wiped a tear while a smile spread across her lips. She pulled Roxanne back in for a hug. “I uhm... I didn’t realize how much I missed you. It’s... it’s been a while Roxanne. Sorry I was just... nervous earlier and then like... like, I don’t know I just didn’t expect a sudden rush of emotions, I’m fine now.”

“Well, I hope you know I’m happy to see you too,” Roxanne smiled as a hint of wistfulness entered her gaze. “I’ve heard a little bit about your time at school from Angelica, but I want to hear more from you, so why don’t we go in and talk more?”

“S-Sure,” Nyssa stammered, scratching the side of her face as she motioned for the two women to enter first. “Sorry for blocking the door, and hello Angelica, nice to see you.”

“Hmm, they really want to come play with you,” Roxanne massaged her forehead as intermittent flashes of green flooded out from her eyes. “Would it be alright if we went to the training area sometime? I’ll let them out and you can catch up with them a little.”

“Sure. We can go later after dinner, dad’s using the training room right now, as usual...” Nyssa nodded as she sat down. Shifting side to side to make herself comfortable she fell quiet as no other conversation topics came to mind. “H... h... hey, yeah... hey, nice to see you two again, hope you two are doing well...”

Brain buffering at its finest. System had defaulted to outputting its most basic responses.

Why did you say that, Nyssa? Why? You can surely do better than “h... h... hey”! What are you? A horse? That’s not even in your top ten forms in terms of time spent! You’re no more a horse than you are a cactus!

“Well,” Angelica picked up the conversation after noticing Roxanne just sitting there admiring her younger sister. “I apologize for bringing up school-related stuff, but I’m thinking of bringing you all on a field trip.”

“Oh! When? We won’t miss Roxanne’s event at school, right?” Nyssa perked up, putting the mental scolding on hold as life returned to her eyes. “I’d really prefer to not miss Roxanne’s event.”

“Yeah, don’t worry, I don’t want to miss it too,” Angelica laced her fingers with Roxanne’s. “Roxanne’s actually taking a couple weeks off. To rest, to prep for her event, and to just spend a little more time with us. So we’ll come by more often during the weekends, okay?”

With Nyssa replying with a “sounds great,” Angelica, with her other free hand, tapped the counter as she recalled the plans she had made earlier. “I think I'll just take all the current Class Zero students with us. We’ll go do some investigation. It’ll be like a class bonding retreat, low-stress, high-fun.”

“... high-fun sounds like not a lot of naptime,” Nyssa murmured, her eyebrows stitching themselves up in worry. “But... uhm... yeah, I’ll be going for sure, don’t worry.”

“Yeah, look forward to it!” Roxanne cheered, giving Nyssa a thumbs-up. “I helped Angelica plan some stuff last night. Trust me, it’ll be a great time! We also included a break in the middle of the afternoon for most days. So, don’t worry, you’ll get to take your naps. As for right now though, do you want to tell us a little bit about your time at school and your new friends?”

Nyssa’s eyes brightened even further as a sheepish smile brushed across her lips. “I’d be happy to... So, to start, we have Ryker, the current kind of... class leader...”