• I snapped the silver buttons that trailed up the dark blue blazer. I smoothed out the navy skirt and stepped back to get a fuller reflection in the mirror.
    “It looks nice,” said my father stepping in, “but isn’t there supposed to be a tie?” I glanced around.
    “Hey! Hai, check it out I’m ninja!” laughed Cody jumping in the door way, a silky red tie wrapped around his head.
    “Cody!” I shrieked. “You’re such a dork! Give that tie back!” I ripped the satin piece of fabric from his forehead.
    “I am a dork? Well you are the one who reads those lame vampire romance novels,” Cody said crossing his arms across his chest, cocking one eyebrow. “Now I think that makes you the dork.”
    “I think they’re sweet,” I whispered sheepishly.
    “What’s so sweet about someone who could kill you at any moment?”
    “It’s sweet because of the struggles they must face just to spend a moment of time together,” I glanced down, embarrassed by my answer. I broke the silence by tying the tie and tucking in beneath the collar of my white shirt.
    “That’s pathetic of you, Hai,” Cody muttered.
    “Okay Cody, I think you’ve traumatized your sister enough for one day,” my father said intruding in. He adjusted the tie around my neck. “You’re uniform fits well,” he alleged, changing the subject.
    “Uniform?” Cody questioned, his brown eyes covered by a thin layer of confusion.
    “Hai is going to boarding school. I don’t think that she should stay here anymore. I feel that too many memories of your mother aren’t good for her well being.”
    I glanced away; I didn’t want to see the expression on my brother’s face.
    “Boarding school,” he whispered the word quietly. Melancholy was thick in his voice. He was afraid to be alone. With David going to college and my father working twice as hard; he would be completely alone.