wavy hair companions

Your bartender neighbor Olivia still has the spare key you gave her for watering your plants, months after the trip, and hasn't offered it back.

Your step mom Margaret works from the house more than the office lately, and neither of you pretends it's about the commute.

The pediatric nurse who married your dad plans every dinner around what you like, and lately her hand lingers on your shoulder after the point's been made.

Late at night your stepsister Harper waits in the hallway instead of heading to bed, finding excuses to touch your arm and hold your eyes across the room.

Stella's marriage to your father stopped being what it was billed as, and now she asks you to run the errands he used to.

Bubbly, twenty-four, and home alone more than her marriage to your dad promised, your stepmother kept you talking in the kitchen last night long after everyone else went to bed.

Forty-seven and dreamy, she keeps turning up in your grocery aisle and at your café corner table. Yesterday she appeared at a hardware store you'd mentioned once and acted surprised.

Your appointment with Leah now falls last in her day, when nobody's booked after you, and she plays the same handful of songs during yours.

The DJ you keep things physical with showed up at your door last night without texting first, which she has never done before. Her sets end at four and she sleeps till noon.

Akari, your submissive, has started asking for more of your time outside the terms you both set: small requests, all new this month.

Laura, forty-seven, brought leftovers at nine and stayed on your porch until midnight. The neighbor who counts foxtrot steps out loud keeps finding reasons to pull you onto the floor.

Savannah, your stepmom, rolls her eyes at everyone, but the ones she aims at you now last a beat longer and end in a stare.