Chapter Text
I pull my car into the driveway, and at first, when I don't see Mom or Dad's car, I worry that no one is home. However, I see a faint glow of light from the kitchen, so Knox is probably home. Hopefully he can help me find that plant from the farmers market Mom promised to give me, as decoration for my dorm. That's why I'm here, actually, despite it being so late at night.
Fumbling for my keys in the dim light, I manage to open the door and hear giggling in the kitchen. My younger brother probably has a friend over. I make my presence known and call up the stairs,
"Knox, it's me, Kara!"
"Kara?" he calls back.
"Who else?" I holler, kicking off my shoes and trudging up the stairs. I look over the kitchen counter to see Knox, in his gray sweatshirt, covered in baking flour, and a redheaded girl standing beside him, equally coated in flour. She gives me a quick wave, and giggles as our dog, Fritz, struts over to sniff my legs.
"Kara, meet my friend, Phoebe," Knox says.
The girl, Phoebe, smiles awkwardly yet politely, and murmurs, "Sorry for the mess."
"I don't mind." I say, "As long as whatever you're making turns out okay."
Phoebe laughs. "It's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too."
We shake hands and Knox tells me how they are making brownies for Maeve. Apparently Phoebe is also friends with Maeve, and apparently, Maeve is sick, so they decided to bake her something and give it to her tomorrow morning. They are willing to share some with me, luckily. Knox's friend seems nice, she's very polite, and seems to know the perfect amount of chocolate chips to add to brownies. (those brownies are going to be SO good) I take note of her appearance. Her bronze hair is long and healthy, and she has a light dusting of freckles across her cheeks. She smiles warmly at Knox. The two of them seem to get along well. We continue talking, and I get so lost in conversation that I almost forget what I came for.
" Oh yeah, Knox, I'm here for that jade plant from Mom. Do you know where that is?"
"She put it in your old room just down the hall. I'll let her know you came." He replies.
"Thanks, I'll get it before I leave, remind me."
Knox goes to the cupboard to grab a brownie pan, and I wonder how long I need to stay here if I want a brownie. Phoebe is about to put the batter coated spoon into the sink when Knox swipes the spoon away.
"You won't even let me lick it first?" he teases.
I laugh, recalling how as kids, whenever we baked, my brother's only job would be to lick the spoon. It makes me feel nostalgic, how much he has grown. He looks especially mature with his hair grown out, it's fluffy, and falls atop his head. However, his maturity disappears when I see chocolate smudges all around his face. Phoebe laughs and wipes them away with her thumb. It's suspiciously coupley, and suddenly I begin to see something I hadn't seen before.
Knox sets the oven timer to 40 minutes and I realize if I want a brownie, I need to get comfortable here.
"I'm going to the living room to watch some Netflix."
"Okay Kara, see you soon!" Knox replies as Phoebe begins to clean the counter.
I make my way to the couch with Fritz on my heels and choose to watch a random episode of some rom-com. It's 30 minutes long, so it'll last me until the oven goes off and I can finally enjoy chocolate heaven. But for now, I'm wrapped in blankets.
My attention drifts away from the show I'm watching, and I begin to think about that mysterious friend of Knox's. I think this is probably worth telling the sibling group chat we have, specifically the one without our dear brother, as we usually use that one to blab about his love life. I'm not sure if I should, however, everyone would flip out.
…..So, I definitely need to share this with my sisters. But it'd be best to get more information before I jump to conclusions. I head back to the kitchen, and make a mental note that the redhead is now wearing a familiar gray zip-up.
"You two want help cleaning up in here?" I ask.
Knox replies, "Kara, you didn't make the mess, you don't need to clean it up at all!"
"I know," I say. "But I need something to pass the time before I can try a brownie."
The two finally agree on letting me help them, so I'm scrubbing some sort of eggy substance off a spatula. When I look over, I see Phoebe's phone buzz and light up, displaying her wallpaper. It's a photo collage, and I spot a photo of her and Maeve together at Glenn's diner, photos of flowers, and some other people I don't recognize. However, what stands out to me is a picture of her giving Knox a kiss on the cheek. Knew it, I think to myself. Now I can share this information with my sisters. Phoebe looks over after hearing her phone buzz, and checks her notifications.
"That's my mom. I have to go, but I'll meet you here tomorrow to deliver the brownies to Maeve." She begins to run down the stairs and waves goodbye. "It was nice meeting you, Kara."
"Nice to meet you too, Phoebe!"
"See you tomorrow Phoebe!!"
Anyways, I turn back to washing the dishes when the oven blares. Finally. Knox places the pan onto the cooling rack as I finish polishing up. Eagerly, I walk over to the pan brownies, and realize, they have to cool first. How long will that take? I guess in the meantime, I could share my knowledge in the sister group chat. I pull out my phone and open ChatApp.
Kara: guys guess what
Kara: i think knox has a new gf
Kirsten has joined the chat
Kirsten is typing…
Kirsten: WAHT???
Kirsten: ITS MAEVE RIGJT???
Kara: no its this other girl
Kirsten: WHO
Kara: she's really nice and she's friends with maeve
Kara: her name is phoebe
Kirsten: I NEED TO MEET HER ASAP
Kirsten: IM LITERALLY GOINF TO DRIVE TO BAYVIEW RN
Kelsey has joined the chat
Kelsey: hey what's up?
Kelsey has left the chat
Kirsten is typing…
Kirsten is going ballistic in the chat, of course. I continue reading her texts about how excited she is and that she might drive into town next weekend. She's typing so frantically that I don't know how to tell her that Knox isn't aware of the newest chat topic. Or so I thought.
"What are you doing on there?" he asks. I look up from my phone, to meet his questioning gaze.
"Uh, texting the sibling group chat?" I'm technically not lying, in my defense.
"I'm aware."
"What do you mean?"
"You're texting on the group chat that I'm in." Knox holds up his phone to reveal the long chain of texts on ChatApp.
"Oh god, I'm so sorry." I feel awful for what I did, and also really stupid for texting the wrong chat.
"It's fine, but you owe me for what I have to get into now." He laughs while saying this, so hopefully he's not mad? It's true though, he's going to have to deal with… Kirsten. Yikes.
"Well, she seems special," I add, because I truly believe it. "Such a sweet girl"
"She's amazing." Knox's face lights up at the very words, and I can tell he means it.
"Well, that's my queue to leave, I've done enough." I reply, rummaging for a container to take my beloved brownies home.
"Don't forget your plant." Knox says
"Thanks for reminding me!" I call back.
I left the house that night with a tupperware of brownies, a jade plant, and a lifetime of debt to my younger brother.