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“Can I talk to you?” Delia asks him as soon as he opens the front door.
“Hello to you, too,” Ephram says. “Thanks for the polite greeting, you may now take up an hour of my time at maximum.”
Delia glances behind Ephram, where Bright is sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast. She’s got a nervous sort of energy around her, and it’s clear that whatever she wants to talk about is important.
“Private conversation. Got it. Come on,” he says, and leads her to his room.
Bright shoots her a not-so-subtle thumbs up as they pass, and Ephram’s not really sure what that’s about.
“Are you okay?” Ephram asks the second his bedroom door is closed. “Did Dad do something stupid? Is—”
“Ephram,” Delia says, cutting him off with a single word.
“Sorry,” he says. “Just—say what’s on your mind.”
Delia takes a deep breath.
“I’m gay,” she says, and wow, okay, that’s definitely not what Ephram was expecting.
He’s not quite sure what to say. He’s already proven himself shitty at knowing what to say in this kind of situation unless he gets a second chance, but Delia deserves a perfect first try.
“Please say something,” she says.
“Sorry,” says Ephram. “I was just — I was just thinking—”
He looks back at his sister. There are tears in her eyes, and Ephram feels guilt bloom in his chest.
“Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with you, okay?” he assures her, sitting down next to her on the bed. “I love you, Delia, and you liking girls could never ever change that for me. You know that, don’t you?”
Delia wipes her eyes. “I know,” she says with a watery half-smile. “It’s just scary.”
“I’m proud of you,” he says. “Have—have you told anyone else? Dad or Nina?”
“Um, I told Bright,” she says, and that catches Ephram off guard.
“Bright?” He asks. “My roommate Bright? Bright Abbott?”
“Do you know another Bright?” Delia asks, rolling her eyes. “I—I came by last week to talk to you, but you weren’t home. Bright said he’d be, like, my substitute big brother if I needed him to be, so I told him.”
Ephram just looks at her.
“He was cool about it,” she says. “Then we watched Scooby Doo and he gave me a ride home because you were staying the night at Amy’s.”
“So that’s what his thumbs-up thing was about?” Ephram asks.
Delia laughs. “You know he’s not subtle,” she says, and Ephram gives a smile.
“Y’know, I always thought you had a crush on him,” he says, and Delia goes pink.
“I did, too,” she admits. “But honestly, if I really had a crush on anyone, it was Amy.”
“Oh my God.”
“Not anymore!” she exclaims. “Oh my God, you’re so possessive!”
“Delia!”
She giggles. “I’m gonna go look through your fridge for food,” she tells him, before standing up and heading out the door.
“Thanks for asking first!” he calls after her sarcastically, and then follows her into the kitchen.
“Bright, can I have a root beer?” Delia asks.
“Anything for you, Delia,” Bright calls back. “Did you—” He cuts himself off when Ephram enters the room.
“Yeah, I told him,” Delia says, fighting a smile.
“Cool! Hey, Ephram, do you think Velma’s a lesbian?”
“Excuse me?” Ephram asks.
“Velma. From Scooby-Doo,” Bright says, as if it’s obvious.
“The cartoon character,” Ephram says, not so much a question as an excuse to judge Bright.
Delia rolls her eyes. “Yes, Ephram. Keep up.”
“I have never once watched an episode of Scooby Doo,” says Ephram flatly.
“Holy shit! Dude!” Bright says, fumbling for the remote control. “We gotta watch it!”
“Don’t swear in front of my sister, and no, we don’t,” says Ephram.
“Oh my God, Ephram. I’m fifteen,” says Delia, plopping down on the couch beside Bright. “And we’re watching Scooby Doo.”
Ephram rolls his eyes, but he can’t argue with that. He sits down next to Delia and lets Bright watch his Saturday morning cartoons.