Siblings Secret

"Give me your phone!" she yelled.

He pulled it out and handed it to her. She held it up with the lock screen showing and gave him a disapproving look. Quickly he unlocked it and she swiped a few times, typed and then handed it back before walking off. He watched her go. At the end of the row, she turned back to him, smiled a somewhat goofy grin and waved. He chuckled as he returned the wave and watched her disappear down the stairs before looking at his phone to see she had opened his text message app and sent a message to a number that was not in his contacts.

"Kayla was here" was all it said.

He smiled and stuck the phone back in his pocket.

*

The next afternoon, Michael was studying in his room when his phone chimed.

Kayla: can't write a girl back?

He grinned reading this. After returning to his room the night before, he had added her number to his contacts. He was excited to see she had contacted him but felt he had to play it cool; he didn't want to seem overeager. He placed his phone back down without even unlocking it. Seeing her text the next time he picked up his phone would remind him to write her back, just not immediately. However, there was no way it was going to slip his mind to respond since he couldn't stop thinking about her to even get any real studying done.

After about 15 minutes of just staring at his book, Michael picked up his phone, unlocked it and began to respond.

Michael: to be fair, this is the first message I've gotten from you so, you are the one that took so long to write back....

Instantly there was the indicator that she was typing.

Kayla: who wrote the first message?

The message are accompanied by and angry face emoji.

Michael laughed. She had a point.

Michael: ok fair lol. my apologies

Kayla: what r u up to today?

Michael: just studying

Kayla: want to grab some coffee later?

Michael smiled as he read the message. Hell yeah, he'd like some coffee, as long as he got to see her.

Michael: sounds great. When and where?

She gave him the address of a coffee shop and asked him if he could be there about 3:30. Of course he agreed and giddily returned to his studying. Later, when he arrived at the address, he went inside and found Kayla sitting at a small table near the back.

"Hey!" she said as Michael approached. She stood and hugged him which made the young man's heart flutter with excitement.

"So...you come here often?" Michael asked in a sarcastic tone that indicated he was trying a very bad pickup line.

"No. First time. Not really my crowd." she said with a grin.

She sat back down and Michael took the chair opposite her. Quickly, a sandy blonde walked up to them.

"Want your regular, Kayla?" she asked.

"Hey, Hannah. Yes, please." Kayla responded with chagrin.

"And you?" the employee asked.

"Oh, I just want a coffee. Cream and sugar." Michael answered.

Hannah walked away to prepare their drinks, leaving the pair alone.

"Ok. Never been here before? How does Hannah know your name, Kayla?" Michael asked with obvious sarcasm. "This isn't going anywhere. Not five minutes and you've already lied to me."

She nodded slowly. "Busted."

The both smiled at the goofy joke.

"Yeah, a lot of us come here to study. The patio out back is nice too."

"I can see it would be better than sitting in my dorm room all day."

"Oh yeah. Dorm living sucks." she said laughing.

"So you studying today?" he asked.

"I did earlier and I have a paper to work on tonight. Seems all I do is write papers now."

"How many classes do you have left?" he asked.

"Too many. At least through summer after next."

"Ouch." Michael said feeling like it was so far off. "But you're two years closer than me."

"True." she said.

Hannah returned with their drinks and they spent over an hour talking, sipping and getting to know each other. Kayla could not believe how charismatic Michael was. What little Viktoria had told her made him seem like a complete nerd and he actually seemed to be anything but. Michael was enthralled with the beautiful girl and couldn't believe his good luck at getting the chance to hang out with her. By the time they parted, both were very much interested in the other.

When they left, Michael walked Kayla out to her car, feeling nervous for the first time. "So, can I see you again...sometime?" he asked.

She scrunched her face and looked like she was considering his question seriously.

"Yeah. I think that would be ok." she said with a disgusted look. Then she giggled.

The giggle and her goofy, exaggerated smirks were very endearing and Michael was immediately excited that he'd get to see her again. His heart leapt as she laughed and he smiled broadly.

"Awesome." he said, sounding like an excited boy rather than a confident young man, making her laugh harder, more genuinely this time.

They parted ways and headed back to their respective housing. It wasn't five minutes after sitting back down at his desk that his phone buzzed.

Kayla: I had a great time today. Thanks for hanging out.

Michael: I'm down for it anytime. Let's do it again soon.

Kayla sent a response in the form of three heart emoji.

*

Over the following week, the pair spent time together nearly every day and made plans to be together again at the game on Saturday. Michael arrived early to the stadium and was in the same area as the previous week, long before the upperclassmen arrived. But when he looked up and saw Kayla smiling and waving, he could not miss Viktoria's glowering expression behind her.

When Kayla reached him, she kissed Michael on the cheek, hugged him and remained close, standing with her arm touching his. Even in his elated state from being beside Kayla, he could almost feel the anger radiating from his sister on the other side of her; he smiled to himself at this. He had always had the ability to make Vik mad, but this was probably the angriest he'd ever seen her. He secretly gloated to himself at having gotten her so riled up.

They took a seat and Kayla began talking his head off about the happenings in the sorority house that day and about a big party over at one of the frat houses later that night. She invited him to join her and Michael noticed Vik overheard. Visibly, she was trying to remain calm but he knew she was stewing over there and probably nearly ready to have an embolism.

The energy grew in the stadium as the cheerleaders and band formed a corridor for the team to run through. The whole place exploded as the band played the fight song and the team exited the corridor to take the field. Like the rest of the student section, Michael and Kayla jumped with excitement. From the kickoff, the team dominated and the fans were euphoric in the atmosphere of most certain victory.

Just before halftime Vik pulled on Kayla's hand. "Come on, I have to go to the bathroom."

Kayla leaned to Michael, "We're going to the bathroom. Want anything from the concession stand?"

"Hey, I'll go too. I need to use the bathroom as well."

The truth was he didn't really need to go, but he was concerned that his sister would talk Kayla into not coming back. The three made their way out of the section and up the stairs, Kayla following her friend while holding Michael's hand, dragging him along in tow. When they reached the top, Michael made his way into the men's room after watching the girls disappear into the ladies room. Since he was already here, he used the facilities and washed his hands before returning to the corridor to wait on the girls.

But when he walked out, Viktoria was waiting on him, glowering.

"What the fuck are you doing?!?" she hissed at him, pulling him to the side by the arm like a child.

"What are you talking about, Vik?"

"Kayla. You and Kayla! You have to stop seeing her, Mikey."

"Why?" he asked, pissed at her invocation of his childhood nickname.

"Because she's my friend, not yours! And regardless of you being in college, you're still a turd and not good enough for her."

"Fuck you, Vickie." Michael said with more venom than Viktoria had ever heard in her brother's voice. The childhood nickname stung her more than she could have imagined and her only reaction was to gawk at the man in front of her, now suddenly more stranger than little brother.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" Kayla said walking up to them.

"We're leaving, Kayla." Viktoria said, taking her hand.

"But the game isn't over." Kayla protested.

"Well, I'm staying." Michael said, taking Kayla's other hand.

"I want to stay, Viktoria."

Viktoria glowered at her brother.

"Well, I don't feel good, and I'm leaving. I'll see you tonight."

She walked away so fast that it surprised Kayla who looked to Michael for an explanation. "What was that about?"

"She doesn't like us." he said, emphasizing the "us".

"You and me? Why?" she asked, a perplexed look on her face.

"She doesn't like me." he answered, and then smiled. "But it brings up a great question, Kayla. What are we? Are we an 'us', or are we 'you and me'?"

She smiled, stood up on her toes and kissed him on the lips. "I think we are us"

Michael smiled, took his girlfriend's hand and lead the way back to their seats.

*

That night, the new couple decided not to attend the frat party, instead opting to spend the evening in Michael's dorm room because his roommate, Tyler, was gone for the weekend. Michael was very self conscious about the room as the only furniture besides the two beds and desks was an old mustard yellow couch Tyler had brought from his family's basement.

"Sorry, it's such a mess." he apologized, even though he had spent nearly an hour straightening up the small room. He even had some incense burning since candles were forbidden.

"That's ok. It's way cleaner than ours was my freshman year. Vik isn't much for cleaning if you didn't know."

Michael laughed because it was true. "No, she's never been. Do you call her Vik to her face?"

Kayla looked at him aghast, "Heck no! I'm not stupid."

"Okay. I was wondering if you had privileges I didn't."

"Nobody has privileges with Viktoria. Most of the girls in the house are scared of her, although they tell her to her face that she's the prettiest girl in the sorority, and who knows, she may be."

Michael stepped close to her and pulled her closer. "I disagree." he said and kissed her softly on the lips.

She closed her eyes and returned his kiss, opening her mouth to let their tongues touch. Both of their bodies reacted instantly to the eroticism of the kiss with their hearts beginning to race and Michael felt a stir in his shorts. Self consciously, he adjusted how he was touching her to avoid rubbing his erection against her stomach.

After a minute Kayla broke the kiss and smiled up at her new boyfriend. Michael returned the gaze thinking she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. Melanee, and the promise he'd made to pick up their relationship after college had been on his mind and he felt a sense of guilt for so quickly jumping into another relationship. But looking at Kayla right then, that all seemed to matter less.

"So, how about a movie?" she asked.

"Sure." Michael said, offering her a seat on the couch as he grabbed a remote from one of the desks, then added, "I really don't know why you're friends with her."

"Oh, I don't know. She's really not that bad."

"I do know because I grew up with her. She's a bitch."

"Michael! She can be difficult but I would never say that about her."

"Then why do you call her Vik to me but you won't to her face."

She giggled. "I suppose you're right. But I think she's just a bit overbearing at times."

"Let me ask you this: has she had any boyfriends for very long?"

Kayla smiled. "No. She doesn't keep them long."

"Then she hasn't changed since she left home. I don't think a guy can put up with her...overbearing ways."

"Maybe so. But I'm tired of talking about your sister. Sit with me and let's watch something."

She patted the couch beside her and Michael joined her, turning on the small television wedged into one of the desks.

"What are you in the mood for?"

"Something scary. Halloween is coming and I want to get in the mood."

"You like Halloween?" he asked, a little surprised.

"Yes! It's my favorite holiday."

Michael laughed. "I've never considered it a holiday."

"Well, as a kid I thought of it as a real holiday and it's just always been my favorite time of year."

"What's your favorite horror movie?" he asked.

"Nightmare on Elm Street. What's yours?"

"The original Halloween."

She laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"Michael likes Michael Myers. Who would have thought?"

"Funny. Never thought of that."

She squeezed his arm, leaned close as Michael clicked the remote a few times navigating the menu to find what he was looking for and clicked play. The opening credits of Nightmare on Elm Street began to play and Kayla burst out laughing seeing the cheesy 80's horror movie opening.

"Are you okay watching this?" she asked.

"As long as I'm watching it with you."

She smiled again, putting her hands on his cheeks and pulled him in for another kiss before scooting closer and putting her head on his shoulder. Michael wrapped his arm over his girlfriend's shoulders and placed his hand on her opposite arm as the movie began.

*

Several weeks passed with the new couple hanging out daily, texting and talking on the phone seemingly all the time. They also made sure to attend every home game together. The physical aspect of their relationship progressed slowly. They had discussed what they wanted from the relationship and Kayla told him that she would like sex to be a part of it, but was hesitant to jump into things too fast. Micheal, ever the gentleman, didn't push things with his girlfriend and she found herself wanting him even more because of it. In some ways Kayla almost grew tired of Michael's chivalry, but his respect for her wishes made her fall for him more intensely. He truly was a gentleman and quite a catch. So much so that she feared losing him.

Sex or not, they made out a lot, kissing, and over the clothes groping, Michael always treading carefully over her breasts. She was perfectly fine with him squeezing and fondling her ass, but he kept away from her more intimate areas. All of this foreplay for weeks was driving her crazy. It was ironic, but his kindness and gentlemanly ways made her want to just throw caution to the wind and tell her boyfriend to take her, ravage her, consummate the deal. Her body was yearning for him.

*

Michael woke early on Halloween day, the day of the biggest rivalry game of the season and the day of the big party. The couple hadn't hadn't seen each other in several days due to classes and Kayla's commitment to help get the house ready. He nearly jumped out of bed before gathering his clothes together for the wash. He had discovered that early Saturday morning was the best time to wash clothes, so he wasted no time heading to the laundromat in the dorm building. A short jog later and he was in the student union gym getting into a workout.

He thought about Kayla as he quickly moved from free weights to machine and back. How had he gotten so lucky? She was stunning and could have had her pick of any guy she wanted, yet she chose him, a dorky freshman. But that wasn't exactly true, was it? Michael Kincaid had put a lot of effort into not being the 'dorky' guy, but he still felt inadequate most of the time. Besides, he knew it wasn't easy for Kayla to keep seeing him given the amount of shit Viktoria was giving him. Michael knew Kayla was probably getting just as much negative feedback (or more) because she was roommates with that bratty, vain, bitch sister of his.

After moving his clothes to the dryer, he showered and dressed for the game. It didn't take long to fold-up and hang his clothes, so he spent the rest of the morning watching the college pregame shows on his tablet before he and Tyler headed out to meet everyone. They arrived early to the quad, knowing it would be crazy because of the game on top of it being Halloween. The atmosphere was particularly electrified with many people dressed in some form of costume or themed outfits just for the game.

Michael found the usual place and waited for his girlfriend to show up. Before long, Kayla and Viktoria came walking up. Following them was Cameron, Vik's latest victim in her quest for the perfect boy toy. The girls were wearing similar tight white midriff tank tops and cheerleader style skirts. His heart stopped upon seeing Kayla and once again he thought about how lucky he was that she had taken an interest in him. She was absolutely stunning in her outfit and had he been able to stop to look around them, he would have seen that the girls left a wake of stares, gawkers and more than a few cellphones recording or taking pics behind them. Cameron followed along behind like an obedient puppy and Michael thought again, what a complete dolt the guy was.

"Hey!!!" Kayla screamed as she ran up and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around her, his hands on the bare flesh exposed between her top and skirt.

"Oh my god! You look amazing." he said loud enough for her to hear over the noisy din of the party atmosphere that surrounded them.

"Of course she does." Viktoria said, snarkily.

Kayla laughed not appearing to pick up on Viktoria's tone. She smiled up at him and kissed his lips. Michael's heart thudded, she never failed to excite him when they kissed. Closer now, he saw both girls were wearing glittery makeup with bright eye shadow and bright red lipstick. For the first time, Michael thought to himself that the girls were very similar physically. This tidbit was only brought out by the fact that they were dressed identically and wearing the same makeup.

Kayla raised up on her toes and kissed her boyfriend's cheek. She giggled when she pulled away.

"What?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing." she said, clearly not saying what she was thinking.

"She's laughing because you have her lips on your cheek, stupid." Viktoria said harshly.

Michael realized that Kayla's lipstick must have left a kiss mark on his face. He started to wipe it away but she stopped him.

"Nooo!" she protested, grabbing his hand, still laughing. "Leave it. I marked my territory. I want you to leave it there. Let all these bitches know that you're taken."

Michael's eyes widened at his girlfriend's words. She was not one to ever use strong language and often admonished him if he used a word she felt was harsh. She giggled more intently which caused Michael to smile at her delight and exuberance. He thought it was actually kinda sexy. Especially if she felt like she was marking him as her own.

"Oh, don't make me gag." Viktoria groaned, walking off alone.

Cameron ran after her, leaving Michael and Kayla laughing at his sister before following her as well. They walked along, holding hands, talking and laughing, catching up to and surpassing the other two. Kayla had a bounce in her step and occasionally bumped Michael with her hip, knocking him off balance. The pair would laugh and kiss, never breaking stride. Viktoria was several feet behind them with Cameron following closely.

"This lovey dovey shit is really starting to piss me off!" Viktoria thought to herself. It angered her that Kayla was lowering her standards to date a freshman, not to mention that it was her own dorky little brother even. He wasn't good enough for Kayla. "How could she not see this?"

"So, you've never told me. What's your costume?" Kayla asked as they walked along the sidewalk towards the stadium.

Michael laughed. He'd hoped to surprise her with his costume considering that he was the villain from her favorite Halloween film.