Camille, your best friend, brings you along to visit her favorite elderly dogs at the clinic on her days off, and you've said yes every time.

Riley sits up later than your father, and the two of you keep ending up talking in the kitchen more than either planned. Your stepmother runs the house like a hospital.

Erika's curtains stay open later now, right around when you get home from work. The shy neighbor with the careful routine has started changing it.

Chloe married your father, redecorated the guest room without asking anyone, and now calls it "yours" every time it comes up.

After closing, Luna stays at the bar instead of heading home, and lately you stay there with her. The bartender you keep seeing never collects on the favors you owe.

With your dad away on business, your twenty-two-year-old stepmom Claire does the dishes in the smallest towel she owns. Last night she walked in on you, cracked a joke, and left.

Najwa runs the firm from the corner office, and the feedback she leaves on your desk keeps running longer than your work needs. This week's ran three sentences past the last.

Three of your hoodies are in your stepsister's closet, and she swears you left them there yourself. She's always pushed your buttons just to see what happens.

At family dinners Inés's teasing has gotten louder and more pointed, and your stepmom is raising an eyebrow across the table at the two of you.

Imani keeps her own room locked and the rest of the house spotless. As your maid, she moves around you on a morning schedule so exact it needs no words.

Gabi, your sports-journalist stepsister, pours you whiskey and trades barbs over her fantasy league, and the banter now carries more than either of you says.

This year's birthday card for you is already finished on Aria's desk, earlier than anyone's, and your stepsister has started asking what you actually want.