"Alexander!" she called in a sweet voice.
Stormy raced over to him, and he enveloped her in his arms.
"It's great to see you!" she squealed.
"It's great to see you, too!" It was obvious how much he had missed his sister as he continued to hug her.
They eventually let go. Stormy giggled. "We have full reign without parents! We are going to have the time of our lives!" I hung back until she noticed me.
Alexander swooped in with gentlemanly introductions. "This is Raven. Raven, this is my sister, Athena," he said. "But her friends call her Stormy."
"It is a pleasure to meet you." She extended her hand. Stormy was precious.
"I'm so excited you're here!" I gushed, just like I hoped I wouldn't.
I wanted to run up and hug Stormy - the sister I'd always wanted. Only I knew when I was her age - and even now - how awkward it was when an older person acted all gooey on me when we had barely even been introduced. It always felt fake, though in this case it would have been genuine. Instead of squeezing her to bits, I kept my distance.
She smiled a polite smile, exposing white plastic braces adorned with purple and black rubber bands, with small vampire fangs peeking out below them.
But then her smile soured. "Oh no! I forgot Phantom!"
We turned to the car, and Jameson held in his stick-pin arms a ghost-white cat with pink eyes.
"Jameson! Thank you!" Stormy rushed over and held her cat.
"You are quite welcome, Miss Athena."
"She's cute," I whispered to Alexander. "Just like you."
"You'll love it here, Phantom," she cooed to her cat. "Just like I will."
Alexander noticed Jameson grabbing Stormy's suitcase and backpack from the trunk.
"I can get that, Jameson," Alexander offered.
"Thank you, but no need," the Creepy Man said. "You greet your sister."
"Let's go inside," Alexander said. "I'm sure you're hungry."
"Awesome! I can't wait for a smoothie with cherries and a purple sword!" Stormy exclaimed.
"Of course, Miss Athena," the Creepy Man said with a toothy smile.
Stormy raced into the Mansion. "Here I am!" she declared to the empty foyer.
Alexander beamed again.
"This is so awesome," she continued to Alexander. "I'm going to have so much fun here with you!" He tousled her hair like only a big brother could.
"I do remember - it's all the same," she said, smoothing out her hair. "This isn't fair!" she exclaimed. "You get full reign of this place without Mother and Father looking over your shoulder."
Jameson placed her bags by the staircase. "Dinner won't be long. Then I'll unpack your things, Miss Athena, as you settle in." He creeped slowly toward the kitchen.
"Which room is mine?" she asked.
"You'll have to guess," Alexander said. "But I think you'll know it when you see it. Raven helped me decorate."
"She did?" Her eyes squinted, and her voice couldn't hide her skepticism. I knew there was a chance she'd resent me decorating parts of the Mansion, and here it was before me. She pushed a smile out as hard as she could. "That was very kind of you," she said, overly polite.