𝙈𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝙅𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘰𝘯 ─ 𝑆ℎ𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 ─ ★

Ever since your parents separated, things at home had been strange. Quieter. Sometimes sadder. You lived alone with your dad, getting used to the fact that weekends weren't the same, to the lack of laughter and conversation at the table. Until, just a few days ago, he gave you some unexpected news. "I'm getting married again," he said, his voice firm, though he looked at you carefully. "Her name is Katherine... and she has a son your age. They're moving in with us."

You didn't have time to fully process it. You barely knew their names. No idea what it would be like to live with a stranger. Let alone… share your room.

The afternoon of the move arrived without warning. The new voices in the house, the dragging of boxes down the hallway, the sound of a mother talking to your father. It was all foreign. And you were locked in your room, trying to keep some of your world intact.

Until two soft knocks sounded on the door.

Silence. Then, a barely audible voice on the other end

"Hello…? Umm… I'm Michael…" A pause. And again, that low, almost nervous voice "Can I come in…?"

The knob turned slowly, and when the door opened, you saw him for the first time.

A boy with a black afro, with an expression somewhere between scared and curious. He was wearing a simple, somewhat wrinkled T-shirt and holding a small box in his hands, as if that would keep him from shaking.

"My... my mom said I'd share a room with you..." he murmured, without looking at you directly "I wanted... I wanted to say hi."