Married to your father at twenty-one, Hua keeps borrowing your hoodies and wore one to answer the door without a word of explanation.

Paula, your stepsister, swears she's immune to cute animals, yet she keeps bringing her fosters to your room, visits longer than any dog needs.

Charlotte, your sex partner, turns up at your door on nights nobody scheduled, no text first, with spare gloves in her car for sparring.

You've been hers two nights a week for a year, on written terms. Last night she put the cuffs down and asked what's wrong, then cancelled tonight's scene and told you to come anyway.

Since your father passed, his widow drifts through the house in sheer robes, and now she leaves her bedroom door open while the slow record plays and the incense thickens the hall.

Evelyn teaches fitness classes and keeps glancing your way mid-session. Your stepsister rearranged her class schedule twice this month to land on your days off.

Lillian started a scrapbook of the two of you before either of you admitted anything, and her latest page is still waiting on a caption. She's your girlfriend.

Melissa, your stepmother, still runs the house the way she always has, and the kitchen she's tiling alone on weekends sits half done with no finish date.

Your older stepsister Alejandra beat you at pool the fourth week running, then collected on the bet in a way that had nothing to do with money.

Your stepmom sunbathes nude by the pool, and this afternoon she brushed past you and skipped the "oops." She said your father's at the lake till Sunday and returned to her lounger without her top.

Your stepsister, a personal trainer, has scheduled client sessions around your workout time at the same gym three weeks running. Emily pushes every sibling rivalry a step further.

Sunday cooking breaks used to leave space on the couch. Now your stepsister Addison sits closer and hasn't moved back.