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Steven has never in his life mentioned a sister.
“Yo.”
She has vibrant, dyed pink-purple hair, heavy mascara, clothes that Connie might call “punk” if she thought she could safely identify any fashion style at all. Maybe it was emo? She looks somehow younger than Steven. She’s certainly shorter.
“Oh, get out of here, Spinel,” Steven groans.
Steven and Connie are studying at his kitchen counter, and she’s trying to prepare him for an upcoming history quiz, and it is the first time Connie has ever been over to his house, and he has never, not once in the months she’s known him, mentioned a sibling, period.
Despite the booing, Spinel doesn’t move from the doorway. Her arms fold across her chest and she raises an eyebrow.
“Hi,” Connie says, trying very hard not to be intimidated.
“You gonna introduce me or what?” Spinel’s voice is some sort of cross between hatred and boredom, and Connie is very much intimidated.
Steven waves a hand between them. “Spinel, Connie. Connie, Spinel.”
“I think we’ve met,” Connie squeaks out. Spinel doesn’t recognize her — or if she does, she sure doesn’t show it. Spinel is a grade above her, but they share an orchestra period. Maybe Connie was never cool enough to register on Spinel’s radar, because Spinel does not respond.
Steven shrugs. “Now get out of here, we’re trying to work.”
“Uh-huh.” Spinel’s voice trills upward with the corner of her mouth. “Sure you are. You just want some alone time with ya girl, don’tcha?”
Steven looks up from his notebook for the first time, eyes blazing. Maybe his cheeks, too, but Connie hardly notices as he stands. “All right, that’s it, you brat—”
Spinel’s giggles echo through the house as Steven chases her, and Connie bites back her own laughter.
You know, if he was up for it… a date might be kinda fun.
Connie coming over to Steven’s house becomes like second nature. Her parents begrudgingly grant her permission, as long as she’s home by seven and, of course, as long as it’s strictly about tutoring. That’s more than enough time, given that most of Connie’s friendships haven’t lasted long enough for her to ever be invited over.
Spinel remains in the background of every visit. Connie learns to accept her and not to pretend she isn’t there.
“Hey.” Connie’s eyes leave the worksheet to find Steven’s sister as she comes in the room. Steven himself has just stepped out to use the restroom. “So how stupid is he?”
Connie laughs. “Steven? Stupid?”
Spinel leverages her a deadpan look. “I’ve seen him eat unpopped popcorn kernels because he thought they were some new kinda chip.”
Connie snorts. That’s a pretty fantastic image.
“He’s pretty book smart.” Connie looks at the open textbooks on the counter. They’re close to being done tonight. “He gets nervous about his reading ability and sometimes skips steps in math problems, but when he focuses, he actually does very well. Why?”
“Cuz you’re over here, like, all the time.”
“...So?”
“So? Aren’t you his tutor? He’s gotta be pretty stupid if you’re here that much.”
Connie squints her eyes. Sitting on this high barstool, Spinel’s just about eye level with her. But if Connie were to stand, it wouldn’t be a contest. “We’re friends who study sometimes. I don’t think that’s a foreign concept to you, is it?”
Spinel narrows her eyes back.
Maybe it is a foreign concept?
“How often do you dye your hair?”
“Often as I need to.”
“What’s your natural color?”
“Why do you care?”
Connie smiles. “Don’t you want to be friends?”
“I—!” Spinel blushes so hard and so immediate that it’s more distinct than Steven’s blush has ever been. “I — no! I don’t need any friends!”
Connie bursts out laughing. Spinel’s blush darkens. “But — but Steven’s your friend, isn’t he?”
“He’s not my fr—”
Arms, covered in a pastel pink cloth, come from behind in part-tackle, part-hug, and then Spinel hits the ground. Connie has heard tale of this legendary method, but has never witnessed it herself: The Glomp.
Spinel screams as she goes down. Steven laughs triumphantly as he hops to his feet, dusting his hands off as if he is clearly the victor. “I am too your friend, or you would’ve killed me for doing that just now.”
Spinel gasps as she stands up straight. Her iconic pigtails seem to shoot skyward with anger, but Connie wonders if that’s a static effect from the carpet. “You — you — you…!”
And then, as all siblings do, Spinel blurts it out: “You’re just trying to be cool in front of your girlfriend!”
Steven gasps. His face turns red. Connie giggles as he chases Spinel around the living room, until Spinel darts up the stairs.
She’s burning a little bit, too.
“What the hell was that for, Spinel?!”
Spinel rolls her eyes, and it makes Steven even angrier than he probably should be. Connie is gone for the night, and he’s seriously considering throttling his older sister. “You can’t just say dumb stuff like that!”
“I can, I did, and I will again.” She sticks her tongue out. “Nerd.”
Steven groans. He presses his face into his hands, leaning back against the front door, and tries not to feel like he’s dying. Did Connie catch what Spinel said? What does she think of it? Is she just as humiliated as Steven is? Is she considering texting him and demanding to know what that was all about?
“You know.” Steven glares at her, and she holds her hands up like she wasn’t just the human embodiment of torture. “You could probably just like, ask her to hang out. You don’t gotta pretend it’s about studying.”
“Shut up,” he mutters. “What do you know?”
Connie is so brilliant. Why else would she want to hang out with him? He’s a grade lower than he should be at his age, and he knows that’s probably the least attractive thing to a girl like her. She’s probably got standards that he could never even hope to climb.
“I’m just saying,” Spinel singsongs as she waltzes around him, toward the stairs up to her room. “She seems to think you’re pretty smart. So maybe you don’t gotta pretend to be dumb.”
Steven blinks. He looks up and catches Spinel’s eyes one more time.
“Did… did she really say I’m sma—”
Spinel groans and slams the door behind her.
Okay. This is it. This is it.
They’ve wrapped up studying for the night early, as often happens these days. Tonight was for a “test” that Steven has “tomorrow,” except he doesn’t, it was an excuse to invite her over and sit close enough to catch a whiff of her perfume when she leans over to correct his math.
(Is that weird? Oh, gosh, that’s probably really weird, isn’t it?)
It doesn’t matter how weird it is. Their conversation has drifted to other things, like the latest Tale of Tingle game, and he’s trying to decide when to pop the question.
“Oh.” Connie holds up her phone, which buzzes with an incoming text. “My mom’s asking me to pick something up on my way home. I should probably get going, since we’re done and everything.”
“Huh?” Fear strikes in him. He hasn’t asked yet! “B-but it’s not even six thirty…!”
“Yeah, but we’re done, right?” Connie starts packing up her things. “So it’s not that big of a deal.”
Oh. Maybe it isn’t mutual. Maybe Spinel was just messing with me. Maybe—
“C-Connie!”
She blinks and turns quickly, surprise on her face. Oh, gee, that means he was way louder than he should’ve been. “What? Is something wrong?”
“Um…” He fidgets. “Um, so… next time we do this… do you wanna… do this out somewhere? Like. At a cafe?”
He can’t even say the word “date.” He’s embarrassing. It’s suddenly incredibly warm in here.
Connie laughs. That makes him feel worse. “Only if we can see a movie first.”
“I… what?”
Connie rolls her eyes and leans back against the counter. “Steven, I know you don’t have a test tomorrow. Jeff is in your precal class.”
“Oh.” Steven nods. His brain is struggling to catch up. “So, you… you don’t mind if we don’t… study?”
“Steven, I don’t want to study all the time!” Connie waves a dramatic hand toward the books in front of her. “Don’t get me wrong, you’re a joy to spend time with. But maybe, just maybe, if you want to hang out… we can do something else?”
His brain is catching up. A smile is stretching across his face and he says, timidly, “So, uh. You want to… see a movie?”
Connie is silent for a moment, watching him, and it makes him nervous… until suddenly, she giggles. “You’re such a dork.” She nudges his shoulder with hers, and he feels a less horrific kind of warm. “Yeah, let’s see a movie. There’s this animated one in theaters right now about an alien poisoning the Earth?”
“Ooh, sounds very socially conscious. I’m in.”
She laughs again and Steven’s heart melts. He would listen to that sound over and over again if he could.
Spinel calls from the other room. “Yes, Steven, you can use my car!”
“Shut up, Spinel!”