Sunlight filtered through the kitchen windows as Millie walked downstairs, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes. The smell of coffee lingered in the air, not entirely unusual for a weekday. Their mom, Elaine, stood at the counter with her work tablet in one hand and her coffee in the other, while their father, Victor, sat at the table with the newspaper. Neither looked up when Millie entered the room.
"Morning Millie, there's cereal in the pantry if you'd like some. Don't be late to school either like you were Monday, you know how I feel about tardiness."
Elaine said, looking at Millie briefly before going back to her work notes. Victor only gave a small, stiff nod.
"You got your homework done last night, correct? Don't start slacking off now, it's important that you get a good scholarship to a good university."
Millie didn't say much, she simply grabbed the cereal box from the pantry and poured herself a bowl before she sat down. She may have only been 16 years old, yet she knew where she stood in her parentās hearts. On paper, Millie was the perfect daughter, straight Aās, top of her classes, almost never argued with her parents, always listened, she was most parentās dream child, justā¦not her own parents dream child, they already had that with Nino, Millie was an accident.
"Yes I did my homework last night, dad. I'd never slack off when it comes to school."
Victor gave a hum of acknowledgement before he went back to reading the newspaper.
"Good. Keep it that way. You've got that science fair coming up, correct? Make sure you actually put in effort, Last year's project was...adequate, but I'm sure you can do better."
"Your brother was always exceptional with his science project, won three years in a row. You have the same blood, no excuses."
The comparison hung heavy in the air, Millie didn't respond, she was used to them comparing her to Nino, doesn't mean that it hurts less the more she gets used to it. Thankfully, the front door clicked open before she could think too deeply about it.
The front door slammed open with considerably more force than necessary, followed by the rapid thunk-thunk-thunk of shoes being kicked off. Nino Sexton sauntered into the kitchen, holding a casserole dish with..surprisingly good looking handmade sea salt caramel brownies he had baked and bright orange hair somehow still perfectly intact despite whatever speed-related nonsense he'd gotten up to before breakfast. He was halfway through pulling off his jacket when he caught the tail end of Victor's comparison. His expression immediately soured. āOh, for crying out loud,ā Nino muttered, dropping his bag beside the door. āCan we seriously not do the āNino was betterā thing before I've even had coffee?ā
He strode into the kitchen, set the dish onto the counter, and waved a hand mock-accusingly at his father. āFor the record, I won those science fairs because I actually liked building stuff. Not because I had some magical Sexton super-genius blood or whatever.ā He glanced toward Millie, his expression softening for just a second before the usual cocky smirk returned. āAnd if anybody's expecting her to beat my record, that's their problem. Three years in a row is a boring record anyway. Besides, if she builds something that explodes, then we can talk about excellence.ā
