Shut Up and Surprise Me

01. Are You Ready?

The moving van is packed with furniture and hundreds of boxes. Four folding garden chairs scatter on the ground, next to the van, ready to join the rest. But I will never be ready.

The day Sophie and I are going to be separated by distance has arrived, and no matter how hard I try to be as cool as a cucumber, I end up being an emotional wreck. My sister has found a promising job, but it requires her to move away, a five-hour drive from home. My heart sank to my stomach when she broke the news last month, but knowing she was just trying to move on with life, it wasn't my place to complain about her decision.

Through the study room window, I watch my mom argue with the guy from the moving company, probably about something trivial. I sigh at the view before continuing packing up the last family photo collection. Since Sophie's new place is smaller, she asked me to keep the collection for her.

A pair of strong arms wrap around my shoulders, followed by a warm body pressing to my back. The familiar scents invade my nostrils. "You're okay?" Ashton asks.

And that's it. His warm cuddle and deep voice are enough to break my last layer of composure. The burning sensation stings my eyes, and my sight becomes blurry. "You know you shouldn't ask me that because it'd make me cry. I don't want Sophie to see me like this. I'm such a kid."

"Hey," he mumbles and gently turns me around. "She's your sister. I don't think she minds seeing you cry. I can't relate since I never had that kind of relationship with my siblings, but I can tell that she's the closest person in your life."

I wipe my tears with my sleeve, but then Ashton offers his handkerchief. "I guess so."

"I know so. If I can be honest, I get jealous of her sometimes."

"You what?" I glance up at his smirking face. "You barely get jealous of my male friends, but you're jealous of my sister? You're so weird."

Ashton laughs at my remarks. "When you're sad, she's always the first person you run to. I wish it was me, you know."

"Ashton–"

"Well, for my selfish reason, I can see the positive side of Sophie's moving away." His smirk grows wider. "Now you're stuck with me. Nowhere to run."

I detach myself from his grip and cross my arms over my chest, squinting my eyes at him. "Should I be scared?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe you should."

I open my mouth to throw a good comeback at him, but Mom appears from behind the door. "Hurry up, you two. The van needs to get moving soon."

How did she get here so fast? She was arguing with the guy a minute ago!

"We're almost done!" I say, quickly throwing the rest of the pictures into the box.

When we join the rest in the driveway, Chloe and Diana are already settling in the backseat of Sophie's SUV, sticking their heads out of the window to watch the van backdoor being locked. I offered to drive with Sophie since she's been dead tired in the past weeks. Mom wants to go too, but because of Dad's health condition, she needs to plan it some other time.

Unlike me, my mother is far from emotional. Even in our last minutes, she's still busy reminding Sophie what to do and what not to do. Everything has to follow certain rules so that she won't have problems in the new place. Mom is like a walking guidelines book.

"Call me once you arrive," Ashton says, pulling me to him and kissing me briskly. If he didn't have a golf appointment with his high-and-almighty business connection, he would have been the one sitting behind the steering wheel. At least, he will send his driver to collect me and Chloe tomorrow afternoon.