"Katie! I'm home." Alex usually didn't like to announce herself at home, but she was feeling really good about her new look and outlook, and she was hoping her big sister would be around.
"Hey Alex, back from your friend's already?" Her older sister gliding effortlessly into view at the top of the stairwell in a nightrobe, looking like royalty that was accepting a visitor into her manor.
"Yeah, he just wanted to show me some new books that he bought for our game later. Nothing much." Alex tossed her hair back and stood sideways, trying to show off the ever slight improvements, mental and physical, she was proud of now having.
"I should have guessed. Doing fun nerd stuff with your cute little nerd friends. Still, I feel like you could use a little more sun being in basements all the time." She used a respectful tone but Alex still felt the sting directed at her.
"You don't notice anything different about me?"
"Not that I can tell. Same basement-dweller vibe with your clothes and pale skin. You're lucky your hair and face don't suffer for it, though. You're never gonna land a boyfriend if you end up losing those."
That struck a heavy blow to Alex. Did her sister think she was really that hopeless before or was she just picking on her like she always did? For a moment she imagined having the gun and hitting her sister with the max setting, picturing her already Bimbo Ray-worthy figure ballooning out absurdly. Her intelligence being knocked down a point or fifty, and a smile on her face all the while. Might help to balance out all the blessings she was born with. A satisfying thought if Alex didn't still worry about it being a permanent curse for her sister. No one deserves that just for having perfect stats (that she rubs in everybody's face).
She gave Katie a once over, figuring what it would take from the gun to get her own figure to match hers. One or two levels higher...maybe even three? She couldn't afford that, and brushed the idea out of her head. Alex was thankful her newfound positivity seemed to bounce right back for her. Maybe tomorrow she could suggest she and John go to the park for their meetup.
She bid an obligatory goodnight to her sister and headed up to bed, seeming to have no trouble drifting right off to sleep.