Have you seen one of those commercials where people screw up the simplest of the tasks in the most idiotic fashion ever? Yeah, that's basically Alex.

"Do you know him?" Kal asked his sister, making his way up to let us in. Kassandra saw that she was blocking the way, so she invited us.

Her glares and suspicion never left Alex alone, nor did Alex's red cheeks leave him.

She led us to the hallway, asking us to have a seat at the dining table. We were greeted by a woman in her late forties who had Kassandra's eyes and Kal's smile.

"Elikai!" I was surprised that she remembered me after all this time. She would accompany her son to all the national competitions held in different states. Mrs Callahan would always give us company so that Alex and I never feel excluded.

"It's been a long time since I last saw you, how have you been?" She left the kitchen counter to give me a hug. I could smell the spices we had added in the dinner.

"I have been great, ma'am, I just came to drop Kal." I returned the warm smile.

"Oh, come on, you know I can't leave you without feeding you. I am so sorry," she turned to greet Alex, who until now was busy tracking Kassandra's moves," I have seen you with Elikai but I forgot your name. Please excuse this old woman!"

"He is Alex." Kassandra was leaning on the wall between the living room and the kitchen, unamused. She pulled the chair and took her seat, before waiting for us to settle down.

"Excuse my daughter," Mrs Callahan spoke in a hushed tone, but I am sure Kassandra knew what her mother was saying," she can be on the edge sometimes."

"Yeah, that's a family trait," Alex muttered under his breath, smiled and then took the seat himself.

"Kal's father is not at home, he has a double shift and I'll be busy with the laundry downstairs, Kassandra, why don't you serve our guests?"

"Why do I need to do everything? Ask Kal to serve his friends-"

"He came home just now, let him rest. You were home all the time-"

"No, what about when I come home late?"

"From parties? Now, don't have this argument again."

His mom left four of us in an awkward state to eat from the empty plates.

"You sit, I'll bring the food," Kal said to his sister and rose from his place.

"No, she's right. I shouldn't have argued with her in the first place." She shook her head and went to bring the casserole from the kitchen table. She served us sautéed beef and broccoli. I thanked her for the food.

Everyone ate in silence. I tried my best not to look at Kal and wonder what would have happened if we didn't stumble upon him. Under different circumstances, I would have wished the floor to split in half and eat me up. The flustered butterflies emerged from the dread of losing him. Right now, I was glad Mac called me. I tried hard to wave the thought off my mind, how tonight, he would have scarred us with his absence. The dinner table would have been a mourning site, the smiles and cheers would have turned upside down, just like Callahan family's life. I wondered if I would have regretted not talking to him enough, not understanding under the sparkling veil of charisma, his mind was rotting in the gutter of depression.

"Where were you, Kal?" Kassandra asked.

Kal was playing with the peas and broccoli. He answered without rating his head, "I went to Juniors, then met El and Alex. I stayed with them to catch up. Then I asked them to have dinner at our place, I am sorry if I disturbed–"

"No, it's fine." She grinned at his brother, who looked up check her reaction. Assurance made him return the smile."I could use some company, Mom has me on house arrest anyway."

"How do you know Alex?" He pointed his spoon towards him, but he was looking at Kassandra the entire time. With his chin resting on his hands, he seemed hypnotised and ready to be called at for staring at her way too much.

"I saw your deviant art page, you're a good photographer." Kassandra was clearly talking about Alex. While her gaze hardly left her food, his cheeks didn't seem like falling from smiling since she opened the door.

"Well, I am not that great," He cocked his head, swirling the glass of water in his hand," but I can picture us together."

Kal choked on his glass of water and I squealed at the same time. Alex is flamboyant, no doubt about that, but flirting with Kal's sister was a far-fetched call. Rather absurd too. What can I say, Alex has shitty surprises for us in store.

"Did you buy that pickup line from the dollar tree?" Kassandra didn't skip a beat. Her comebacks helped me focus out of what had happened, so the conversation caught my attention.

"No, I picked it from your smile."

"How did you meet this punk?" she asked Kal, but was talking about Alex.

"I met him...wait, how do you know this punk?"

"Don't answer me with a question."

"And both of you don't call me a punk!" Alex butted in.

She rolled her eyes, glanced at Alex and then at Kal before answering. "We met at Leni's place and we've been...we've been talking." Her gaze didn't meet her brother's, which seemed weird considering how confident she is.

"I didn't realise all we did last month was talking." Alex air quote. I didn't know what Alex was up to but it was clearly not the time to be pissed.

"What are you suggesting, trying to create a mess?"

Alex flashed his coveted fake smile," Hi I am a mess and you're watching Disney channel."

"Yes, you're right, you are a mess. That's why hurricanes are named after people."

Kassandra couldn't take it, and to be honest, I wouldn't have put up with what Alex was insinuating. She looked down, running her hands through her hair.

It took a few moments of silence and crickets chirping for Kassandra to raise her head and speak. She took a deep breath, trying to lower the volume of her voice, "We met at Leni's party. I thought he was cool, so we talked," she glared at Alex, gesturing to him to shut his mouth," last month on the phone. A lot."

"And you couldn't resist my charm? Why forget that part?"

"You don't-"

"Why didn't you tell me about him?" Kal interrupted, but his suppressed disappointment was all over the place." I thought we were on speaking terms, guess I am not worthy..."

"Kal, for the love of god, will you stop saying you're worthless? This is why I don't tell you half of the things."

Kal scoffed, "That's why you don't tell me half of the things-"

"Rayleigh is visiting us for a fortnight." She declares. "Rueben has a football match next Saturday, and she wants to watch it."

"You don't use the Rayleigh card; she didn't tell me–"

"Because she thinks you're a freak" Kassandra shouted, which startled Alex and me, but Kal seemed to anticipate her breakdown.

She threw the paper towel on the table and collected all our empty dishes one by one. I thanked god the dishes didn't break; she did throw them like a javelin.

"Turn on the television, News Whizz will air right now." Her growl made Alex and I jump right on the sofa, but Kal remained near the kitchen area. His Body had stiffened but he still looked at his sister with the same respect that I had witnessed.

"What are you planning?" Kal enquired.

She washed the last dish and turned around, still leaning on the counter. Her lips smacked before she spoke," How about a faceoff? Kai and you, Alex and me. Loser needs to answer everything the winner asks."

"You can ask me anything right now."

"Oh, so you know you'll lose?"

Kassandra knew her brother's sore nerve very well, and she knew exactly how much she needed to press. Even if his mind is highly unstable, he can't wear off his competitiveness. He rose, agitation painting his face. His hands curled half into a fist, but he agreed to the plan. "Let's bring you down in front of your bubble butt lover boy."

"Hey, my name is-" I pinched Alex's mouth to shut him up. He always forgot what to say and when to say. I have to give him PSA real soon.

So, we were ready, the tension creeping in almost like a battlefield. Well, for the siblings at least, who prepared by exchanging death glares. Alex and I could only exchange awkward smiles.

The news reporter, who held the cue cards with questions, was ready to shoot the cannonballs.

Welcome to another episode of News Whizz, where our drill questions give you the mental floss you need, are you ready to have some fun with your friends and family.

The glances the siblings exchanged were far from friends and family. They were right there to slit throats.

The first question is, in which year was the first-ever Wimbledon championship held? You have five seconds to answer.

"1877." Alex breathed the answer out. He was great with dates and sports trivia. Kassandra looked at him as if she would smother him in her embrace, then her expressions flicker like she remembered he was a punk.

1877 is the correct answer.

Next question. Name the man who launched eBay in 1995.

"Pierre Omidyar" Kal didn't even look at the television, his eyes were fixated at Kassandra.

Correct answer. Next question is Which company owns Bugatti, Lamborghini. Audi, Porsche and Ducati?

"Volkswagen," I remembered dad bragging about how his company had bought Audi when he had joined. He claimed he was the lucky charm for his company that didn't even consider him as a permanent employee anymore.

Kal turned to look at me, his smile reminded me to smile.

Next question, Which kind of alcohol is Russia notoriously known for?

"Vodka," Alex and Kassandra said in unison, one being proud of it, the other disgusted by the coincidence.

"Of course, both of you bonded over it." Kal raised his hands, rolling his eyes at the fact that we were tied up till now.

The last question of the night, answer it carefully because there are four answers. You need to know all of them. All of us leaned closer and closer to television, while the siblings were on the ground, gapping at the screen.

"Name the elements discovered by Glenn Seaborg."

"Seaborgium!"

"Lawrencium!"

"Californium."

"Americium!"

All of us were looking at each other, confused at what had just unravelled. All of us answered each of the elements, thus leading to the ultimate tie.

Thank you for tuning in to your daily dose of Mental floss, we'll meet you tomorrow with another challenging round.

"Urgh, this cannot happen, we can't end in a tie."

"You chose this stupid way to resolve the conflict."

"Then you guys talk." Alex intervened.

"Don't you dare butt in!" she raised her finger at him.

"What's your problem? This isn't how I envisioned my first date. All you did was demean me. What did I do?"

"Wait," I had this thought, and it was the best way to get the answer from both the sides," Reuben is playing against which team?" Alex's younger brother also had a football match next Saturday, it was only possible for both the discussed matches to be the same one.

"Gilberts," she answered, "why ask?"

Perfect. "Alex and I are with the Gilberts. If they win, you'll tell Alex why you're being a dick and you," I leaned in, whispering to Kal, "will tell me why you want to die."

~~~
Word Count: 2000

Hope you enjoyed reading it!