Monolith World

*What a relaxing atmosphere. Nothing beats this.*

One of the reasons that breakfast was one of my favorite parts of the day is simply this reason. Most of the time, by 07:00 sharp, my parents have already left the house to go to work, leaving me alone. However, today and the next few days would be special occasions, since my sister would be home from out of town to celebrate the holiday season. Frankly, I have mixed feelings about her visit. Although I do enjoy her company, it sometimes feels like she"s trying to show off her mental ability to me for literally no reason. Just yesterday is a prime example of this.

*Oh, "Let"s play chess, Jon! I want to see how much you"ve improved your skills!" Right. Do you want to see how much I"ve improved, or do you just want to beat me into the ground again?*

I knew that there was a zero percent chance of her letting me win. Despite that thought, I still accepted the challenge. Deep down, I really did believe that I"d improved at least a little bit. Even though some of the games and my recent track record in the chess club didn"t really reflect that.

Yet that belief was crushed pretty quickly when I had to face her again. And the response I received?

*"You really have improved, Jon! Maybe next time you"ll even be able to beat me!" Yeah, right. Next time? What an arbitrary measurement of time.*

Next time. Whenever that was. Next time could be a few years from today. It could even be a few decades. But it could even be this morning. After all, it"s still technically the "next time" I"m meeting her.

Knowing this, I apprehensively closed the door and began my melancholy walk to the kitchen.

My bedroom was located at the end of a long and narrow hallway that eventually made its way towards the living room. I looked around the hallway for another moment. There were a few doors here and there, but the majority of the hallway was just a long wall. If it weren"t for some of the works of art on the walls, it would have been a pretty boring whitewashed hallway. For better or for worse, my parents had made sure to renovate this hallway even if it was only just a little bit. Maybe it was an act of goodwill towards me, making sure I wouldn"t be bored as I made the trek twice a day. Maybe it was a different reason entirely, like good feng shui, or something. Regardless, these art pieces never failed to grasp my attention if even for a few moments every day.

The first one I would see after leaving my room was on the left side of the hallway - a family photo from a while ago with the parents absent. There was my eldest sister, Jeanna, standing boldly behind a chair while giving a confident smile and a signature peace sign. Even though it"s been quite a number of years since that picture, her confidence doesn"t seem to have wavered in the slightest. Of course, sitting on that chair was a toddler version of yours truly. Nothing to see there. Just another child clueless about the ways of the world, that"s all. Not that I really had any more of a clue now, anyway. Finally, there were my two twin siblings, Jonah and Jeanne. They were, of course, very compet.i.tive with each other. Not a surprise given what type of family we were, especially with Jeanna as a role model. And they absolutely did not want anything to do with each other in this picture. They were turned slightly away from each other, but their eyes were nearly glaring. A severe contrast from Jeanna"s dazzling smile, the twins obviously let contempt show on their faces. But maybe because they refused to smile for the camera, it was possible to remember their traits better, making this memory charming, even.

The second picture I"d see was located on the right side of the hallway. It was a picture of my parents during their wedding. My father looked as sharp as always, and my mother looked like she was having the time of her life, even though she was merely smiling for the camera. The little engraving on this framed piece at the bottom read, "Jie and Ember Xu". Straight to the point, like always. But that was fine. What other details really mattered anyway? Apparently their anniversary date isn"t even important enough to be talked about, because I"ve never even heard them mention it. And honestly, I don"t really care enough to ask them, either. Not to mention that this was the picture that least interested me.

The third photo was once again located on the left side of the hallway. This time, it was only my eldest sister Jeanna present in the frame. There was another figure behind her, but this picture seemed to be taken at even an earlier date than the family picture, because she seemed to be really young here, maybe just three or four years old. And the most eerie thing was that her expression didn"t have a hint of its current charm. Her face was so uninterested that her eyes seemed to be almost glazed over. I always had a slight aversion to this one, since I"d really hate to see that side of her if it ever did come up again. But what really freaked me out was the people behind her. Since Jeanna was the subject of the shot, the two people, supposedly one male and one female, were too tall to have their faces revealed. And their clothes were the only thing that could let me tell them apart. None of their skin was showing; the male wore what seemed to be a black leather glove, and the woman was wearing one of those white gloves that was seen straight out of the 1950"s. Their figures were even slightly out of focus. To this day, I still have no idea who those people are, and Jeanna doesn"t seem to remember, either, claiming it was too long ago, and she was too young.

The final image was the one that never failed to fascinate me, and was by far my favorite. Unlike the others, this one was an oil painting, not a photograph. If one looked at the scenery in the foreground and background, it would be nearly impossible to tell whether or not it was a photograph. The short blades of gra.s.s wavered elegantly on the windy hillside, with a few evergreen trees on each of the sides. The sky displayed its many evening shades across the canvas, ranging from warm oranges in the expanse to cool purples in the clouds. t wasn"t until you saw the subject that you could clearly tell it was a work of fiction.

I must have stared at the painting for too long again, because my sister slightly raised her voice at me.

"Jon? You still over there? Hurry up and come eat! You"ve been standing over there for like five minutes!"

*Oh... it"s 07:15. Looks like she"s right on the money. As expected of her."

Surprised at how much time had pa.s.sed during such a useless activity, I rushed out of the hallway, took a right turn into the living room, and took a sharp left back into the kitchen.

Not before knocking the oil painting right off its hook.

It tumbled towards the ground and landed on the carpeted floor with a quiet *thud*.

*Oops. I"ll get that later, or I really will be late to school. It"s just a painting, anyway, and no one ever goes over there.*

With great haste, I sat myself down at the breakfast table and expressed my thanks, so I could finally start eating. Jeanna was kind of a stickler when it came to manners, and I didn"t want to embarra.s.s myself on the first day of her visit.

But I didn"t realize how hungry I was, and started scarfing down the omelette with complete disregard for said manners.

In complete seriousness, though, eggs are legitimately one of my favorite foods. They"re so versatile; they can be used in practically any dish due to the variety of ways they can be prepared. Honestly it sometimes doesn"t even have to be prepared. A raw or undercooked egg in a burger or on rice is seriously an underrated culinary move. In addition, they act as a glue by binding the essentials of baked or fried goods together. They"re also very cheap, but that"s not really something I need to worry about as a high schooler. Adult problems require adult solutions. Fortunately, I still have a ways to go before I cross the threshold into adulthood!

"Hey Jon, did you forget I was a stickler for manners? I really do hate to see you eating so fast. Aww, what if you were to choke on some water and die? What would I tell everyone then? Jon drowned in less than a cup of water!"

"Ehhhk!"

*Dammit, Jeanna, I"m not even drinking water right now!*

Her ability to provoke me was seriously uncanny. To me, who had quite a strange sense of humor and a unique disposition, provocation was nearly impossible. But that was among normal people. She is seriously anything but normal.

Probably sensing my internal monologue, she game me a sweet smile that was not smug in the slightest. Not at all.

"And by the way", she continued, "you"re almost seventeen. Nearly at the threshold of adulthood. What do you even plan on doing in the future?"

I nearly spit out my drink at that line. My drink of orange juice, that is. Not water.

"Well you know, I could just become a millionaire through playing poker, you know? I"ve good some good friends who are amazing at these psychological battles, you know? They"ll set me on the fast track to success real quick! Hahaha!"

Wrought with nerves, this is the best answer I could muster. What a terrible response.

Jeanna closed her eyes and sighed.

"You know, Jon, it really is okay if you don"t know what your future will hold. The statement about the threshold of adulthood was just to get a reaction out of you. You"re so easy to read. How can you play poker like that?"

She emitted a small laugh, covering her mouth with one hand. If I weren"t on the short end of the stick, it could even be called adorable.

Maybe it was that laugh that catalyzed my temper.

"You know you"re seriously the only one who can read me that easily! I"m not usually that easily provoked! I swear!"

"You never know! The worlds are a pretty big place! There could always be someone better!"

*Stop! Stop giving me that cheerful expression! You"re a just a monster who wants to crush me underneath!*

"Then what about you? There are even people better than you? You expect me to believe that?"

"Maybe~"

"Shut up! All this time, what are you even trying to accomplish? Challenging me to games at random and crushing me! Is that your idea of fun? You"re just trying to prove that you"re the best! It"s not fun for me! It"s really not fun for me! I hate it! Honestly, why don"t you go search for opponents of your own caliber? That"s what should be fun for a normal person, but you"re anything but normal! I"m already better than most people at this kind of stuff, so I should be feeling proud of myself, but no! There"s always this shadow over me that I can"t escape, and it"s yours! I can"t even act normally around you... it"s too much! Seriously, what are you doing?"

And there it was. Something I shouldn"t have said. But it was too late. Even if you say "oh, I take it back", strong words can never be completely forgotten. And this wasn"t something I could just take back, anyway. These were my raw, unfiltered emotions. With a catharsis over with, I was finally thinking straight again. Which is when I realized what I had said.

Jeanna was in mild shock for a moment, then she also seemed to realize what I said. I could see her eyes starting to water slightly, which definitely hit me hard as well. An immovable wall, someone with the fort.i.tude of a boulder, my confident older sister, was about to cry.

*Dammit, don"t cry now...*

I didn"t know who this thought was directed towards, but that didn"t matter right now.

"I see. So that really is how you saw it."

"You... knew?"

A violent swirl of emotions began to stir up again within me, but this time I had the rationality to keep them down.

*Come on, you nearly made her (and yourself) cry. At least hear her out.*

"Of course. Didn"t I say you were easy to read? I just didn"t want to believe it, but looks like it"s really true."

Tears were more visible in her eyes now. Seeing such a strange sight made me unwilling to make another rash move. But I had to know.

"So then why..!"

"But you accepted, didn"t you?"

"What?"

"You accepted all of the challenges I issued. Most of them without hesitation."

This was true. Which meant that she only challenged me when I was certain to accept. Although I was apprehensive about most of them, that didn"t stop me from pressing forward.

"You see, Jon, I wanted to see you get better. To push past your own limits. And time and time again, you really have."

"..."

"I know you don"t believe me, but you really have gotten close to beating me on several occasions. Sometimes your improvements were so rapid that it was scary!"

She laughed again, and this time I couldn"t help but calm down a little. How could I not in front of that face? But I still had to know something. Something about her monstrous behavior.

"Then... why did you never go easy on me?"

"Because I can"t."

"Huh? Why not? If you go easy on me, then I"ll at least feel like I can win next time! I wouldn"t have been in despair all this time if you let me win a few!"

"I know, and that"s a pretty logical view. But I really can"t, and that"s my one weakness."

*Jeanna has a weakness?*

This information was almost like music to my ears. Even though I already was paying attention, this sentence from her made me sharpen my focus to a point.

"After seeing your reactions so far, you muy really be thinking that it"s impossible for me to have a weakness, right? But I do. My criminally insane determination to win and inability to take a loss."

*That"s her weakness?*

Her response was sincere, yet it was the funniest thing I"d ever heard. So naturally, I started laughing. I laughed and laughed until I was crying again.

She tilted her head slightly and wore a mildly surprised expression, but I knew that deep inside, she was bewildered beyond belief.

"That"s... your weakness?!"

I finally was able to get a sentence in between my pathetic wheezing. Her expression hadn"t changed. Her head was still tilted slightly, as if she really didn"t have a clue as to what I was thinking.

*That"s right, you can"t tell what I"m thinking right now, can you?*

"That"s... such a strong weakness!"

She closed her slightly agape mouth, cleared her throat, and stared at the cooling coffee cup in front of her. Then, she gave a small, content smile.

"You"re right. It"s a pretty good weakness, isn"t it? I didn"t think you were going to say that."

*Yes!*

"Can I take that as a win in this game then?"

Jeanna gave another small laugh, and said, "Sure, why not?"

My first victory. Even if it was small and meaningless, it was still the first. I felt more liberated right now than I ever had in the past. The shadow of the insurmountable wall I lived under really was just another human being. I can"t believe it took me this long to see that.

"It really is scary, though, how quickly you improved. How did you do it, Jon?"

"Huh?"

"How did you improve so quickly? As your elder sister, it makes me happy to see lil" Jon grow up so strong~"

"Like I said earlier, I have a friend who"s quite good at this kind of thing."

*Now that I think about it, his personality may not be so different from my sister"s. But he"s just worse at everything, so I guess couldn"t really feel pressure from him...*

I explained the details about my best friend to her, and how his philosophy may be similar to hers, and how me may have gotten me to improve so quickly that even she was impressed.

"Hmm, I see. You know, maybe you shouldn"t hang around him too much."

"Wait what? Why not?"

"Well, I guess if he"s helping my lil" Jon improve himself, then it"s not such a bad idea, I guess. Never mind what I just said, okay?"

"Jeez, it"s not like I"m your daughter about to get her first boyfriend. He"s my best friend, and he"s a pretty cool guy. You should get to know him someday..."

It was then that I generated the genius plan that may have had extremely unintended consequences.

"Oh, I know. Why don"t you come to the chess club after school today? You should teach that c.o.c.ky b.a.s.t.a.r.d a thing or two. Heh heh..."

"Oh..? Is he really so important that I need to take him out? Or is it a challenge? As you know, I can"t back down from a challenge."

"Why don"t we say it"s a challenge, then. I challenge you to beat him as many times as possible in a row."

"Challenge accepted. Using my weakness to your advantage, now, are you? You really do learn fast. Now, now, hurry on to school, or you"ll definitely be late!"

*Already?*

I checked the clock on the wall to the right of where I was seated, which read 07:28. Thirty-two minutes before the start of school. Panicking, I quickly stuffed the rest of my breakfast down my throat. The eggs, toast, and fruit blended into a strange smoothie in my mouth, but now wasn"t really the time to think about that stuff.

"Don"t worry, I"ll excuse your manners this time, think of it as a reward for your first win!"

*What a lame reward for such an exciting accomplishment... and stop smiling at me like that again!*

With breakfast done, dishes in the dishwasher, and backpack on my back, it was finally time to leave the house for school.

07:30. Thirty minutes before school. Leaving right now would let me be exactly on time for cla.s.s. It was perfect. However...

"By the way, what did you drop on your rush to the dining room?"

I froze on the spot.

*How does she know about that? It was pretty quiet, and I"d already forgotten about it!*

"Um, nothing important! Just one of the pictures in the hallway near my room... don"t worry about it, sis, I"ll get it after I come home."

"Okay, then! Have fun at school! Don"t fail any of your tests today!"

Now, if I had a drink in my mouth, I definitely would have spit it out. Of course, this reaction made Jeanna laugh at me again.

"Seriously, go! You"re guaranteed to be late, now."

I checked my phone"s clock. 07:31 and 27 seconds. If I hurried, maybe I could make it on time.

When I arrived to my first cla.s.s, it was 08:03. I was three minutes late, and had a disadvantage against my peers on the first test.