I was hit by the smell of butter on a hot pan and rushed through the upstairs hallway, nearly slipping in my socks. I tore off the dress and slipped into an over-sized Thrasher t-shirt, feeling the pit in my stomach grow.  

"Father!" I gasped and spotted the feast for five at the top of the stairs. "How much bread did you have to sell? This could feed a table of a hundred men!"

"My lady, only all of our clothes and a single cow!" he hollered.

I skipped down the stairs, parading into the kitchen.

"And I even got these magic beans!" he shouted in triumph and I rushed over to his closed fist. Peering down at it, he opened his hand and blew me a kiss.

I laughed and pretended to catch the kiss. "I'll plant these at once!" I collapsed into my seat next to Luke's empty chair. Our witty exchanges always kept the relationship fun between my dad and I.

Smiling, my mom tossed her towel on the table and grabbed her seat across from dad. "Where's Luke?" she asked.

At the call of his name, the chair pulled back beside me and I got a sharp whiff of his new shampoo.

"What's that smell?" I gagged, sticking his spoon down my throat.

He nabbed it from my hand and combed his fingers through the tousled auburn locks. "It's the smell of perfection, Your Worship."

"More like the smell of ass, you twat waffle," I grumbled.

"Dig in, kids!" my mom announced before the sibling bicker could start.

Luke and I lunged for the stack of pancakes, slapping a handful onto our plates.

"Pass the syrup!"

"Give me the butter!"

"Luke, watch your sleeves!"

"Leia, your hair is touching your food!"

"Hand over the whip cream!"

The clang of silverware scratching against the plate and slurp of orange juice and occasional choke on the pulp filled the Sky household.

After gulping down the rest of my chocolate milk, I caught my mom staring at my face. "What? Is there a huge zit I'm unaware of that you'd like to address?"

"She just wants to talk about last night, dear," my dad piped in. He drizzled syrup over his pancakes.

"You mean Leia's third wheeling business?" Luke lifted his eyes off the plate with a Cheshire Cat grin. "Yeowch! That was my bad knee!" He jerked his head to the side, and I whistled, averting my gaze to the ceiling.

"Yes. Your sister's third wheeling business," my dad confirmed.

My mom slathered berry sauce over her pancake. "We all have sad, lame hobbies even though it makes us feel good," she said. "It's perfectly normal to want to keep those hobbies private. People just don't understand how much fun you can have with embarrassing things."

My dad nodded. "Yeah. Your mom was my sad, lame hobby and look how that turned out."

Luke choked on his strawberry. My mom bit down on her fork.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," I said and shoved a forkful of eggs in my mouth.

"Pretend to hear what?" a voice called from the hallway.

"And the almost-stepbrother returns for more Sky family madness," Luke declared. "Here once again for the family drama."

Reid dropped into the seat next to me, the familiar scent of my lavender conditioner growing at the table. "Did you use my shower?" I asked him.

"Hey, Leia. Isn't that your shirt?" Luke reached over my plate and picked at the fabric, but Reid slapped his hand. "Wow. Even he looks better in it than you."

I resisted the urge to slap the syrup bottle across his face.   

"Thanks for having me over, Mr. And Mrs. Sky." Reid used the serving fork to scoop a pancake and dropped it in his plate.

My mom waved a dismissive hand. "You're welcome into our home anytime. Stay here as long as you want."

"How's your father doing?" my dad asked and paused before sipping his orange juice. "Does he need any money? We can lend him some."

"No thanks, Mr. Sky. Marcus and my dad are pretty well off. It's kind of crazy at home since we're moving Marcus' stuff to our place, and he wants to change all the furniture and decor around. At a stressful time like this, I just didn't want to drop the bomb on them. You know how my dad is with the idea of me taking a year off..."

"Chemical engineering wasn't your thing?" My mom tore a piece off her pancake.

Reid shook his head and ate his pancake plain. "No. I tried it for a year and realized it wasn't for me. I'll get back into school next year, but in a different field. I just have the break the news to my dad..."

"You'll be in first year university like Luke and Leia!" my dad pointed out. "Maybe you could teach these two how to manage their time and organize their work."

Luke and I glared at our dad who flashed that 'I'm just messing with you' smile.

"Hey.  Hockey takes up half my life. At least I don't third wheel for strangers on my spare time." Luke pointed his knife in my direction and I smacked it down with my fork.

"Leia's an entrepreneur now," my mom declared. She wore that same smile when I rushed home to tell her about my gold star I got from class or when I won that fashion designing contest back in the sixth grade.

Reid's eyes widened and he turned with the fork in his mouth. "Wow. What kind of business?"

"Third wheeling," Luke answered.  His smile grew another inch.    

"She has a very original concept going on." My dad sipped on his juice and shot me a thumbs up.

"Third wheeling is a very stable market. Like porn," my mom casually remarked.

"Third wheeling, huh?" Reid studied my face, a twinkle in eyes hard for me to decipher. Was it amusement or fascination? I couldn't tell.

"She used to advertise in the newspaper, but now she's trying a different marketing tactic," my dad added.

Reid arched a brow, and lowered his fork and knife down. "I thought you said it was a stable market?"

"It is. She makes five hundred bucks a week!" Luke exclaimed. "Yeowch! Stop hurting my bad knee!  I need this for the game tomorrow." He spun his head towards me but this time, I glared at him dead in the eye.

"Wait—people actually hire you to third wheel for them?!" Bewilderment spread across Reid's face, eyes growing in surprise.

"Some people aren't comfortable with small talk. Or are afraid of awkward silence. Socially awkward people don't like being alone with another person and need someone else there," I murmured, not caring if he caught all of it. I shoved the biggest piece of the pancake in my mouth, hoping I could just chew it forever and never have to talk again.

"Don't be embarrassed. It's a great idea!" My mom clapped her hands together. "Just one small suggestion, honey. Narrow down your target audience. Third wheel for people your age."

"Third wheeling for forty year olds would be ridiculous," my dad said as if it were the dumbest thing he'd ever heard.

"List down your types of services. Being a chauffeur, a buffer—don't put down sexual favors." My mom sipped on her tea.

"Have them mark down their sexual orientation," Luke added. "Only if they're comfortable sharing of course." He covered his face with a glass of milk, chugging the rest of it down.

"If you're racking in cash like that, Leia, I'd take their advice." Reid flashed me a genuine smile and tapped the end of his fork on my plate.

Sometimes I wondered if a supporting family was a blessing or a curse.

"Mhm hm," I mumbled, still chewing on the pancake in my mouth. It tasted like baby food now.

He studied my silence, and spoke in a more serious tone, "If this is more of an underground business, why don't you third wheel for students? Third wheel for teenagers in schools on the other side of the city. It's like New York up here, so there's no way the students at your high school would know."

"Let word of mouth be your new marketing tactic," my dad suggested.

I nodded, having the sudden urge to spit out the pancake, but I kept chewing.

"Leia has experience with using her mouth," Luke piped in.

This time I swallowed the pancake.  "Yeah, I use it to tell you to shut the hell up," I said and tore off another piece. 

My mom leaned her head forward to catch our attention. "Leia, hun, when are you scheduled to work another date?"

Without missing a beat, "Right after breakfast. Which reminds me, I get the car today." I craned my neck to the side and glared at Luke. "So surrender the keys or forever hold your peace."

He grumbled something about it not being far and dropped the keys in my open palm. "Just don't drive it off a cliff like last time, Your Worship."

Reid choked on his pancake, and he coughed a few times. "You what?"

"It was a small hill, not a cliff," I argued.

"Tell that to the insurance guy." Luke waved his fork in my face and I smacked it with my spoon.

+++ 

Author Note: What do you think so far? Tell me your thoughts on the story! :) 

xx 3.14 // Allandra Bones