Random, funny, cute, annoying, energetic, independent, absolutely insane. That, in eight words, is my twin sister Nikki. She's only got couple minutes on me but she is 5 foot 9 and counting. We've always been pretty close as she was a little shy and, while she had friends, didn't really like to get out as much as they did. I was "average Joe" of slightly above average intelligence and far below average flirting ability. It wasn't really my looks or personality or anything as I had a decent appearance and essentially no fat and was generally described as "a cool guy," I just sucked at flirting. I'd never had a girlfriend and Nikki and I were frequently the butt of each others' jokes. She was merciless in making fun of my absurd pickup lines. We spent most of our time with each other as our parents were out of town 6 days a week. We'd copied each other's homework countless times and tipped each other off on tests with great frequency. We were essentially each others' high school support structure. We even slept in the same room and though it was painfully obvious by my taste in decoration whose side of the room was who's, the den was spotless. The only way into our room was through the den and the den only had one door that was out of the way as far as floor plans go. So we were usually pretty alone and could do whatever we wanted. We watched TV, argued about stuff, ate meals, did homework, talked, surfed the Net, and just about everything else in there. When we went somewhere, we usually went together. In short, we were best friends as well as siblings and did pretty much everything together. Well, not everything. At least, not until a cold day in December of our senior year in high school.
It was raining cats and dogs as my sister Nikki and I got off the bus. We ran the quarter mile to our house and came home soaked. I opened the door and stepped in. We went upstairs to our little wing of the house where it was much warmer. I decided to take a warm shower and headed to the bathroom attached to our bedroom. When I came down, Nikki sat in front of the gas fireplace in our upstairs den, knees tucked into her chest, staring at the flames.
"Cold?" I asked.
"Yeah." she said.
"You should change, no wonder you're cold." She was wearing a t-shirt and slacks.
"Be right back."
She got up and went to our room that we shared. I went downstairs and opened the fridge. After grabbing a box of Oreos and some pop I made hot cocoa and took it up, setting it on the floor. Our den was kind of small but very cozy, with a large fur rug in front of the fireplace. I sat down on this and warmed myself by the fire, chomping on the Oreos slowly. Nikki got back, wearing a black hooded sweater with the high school tennis team logo and blue gym pants with white stripes down the sides.
"Hey, sis."
Her face lit up as she saw the snacks.
"Oooh, for me?" she asked.
"Yup."
She gleefully sat down next to me and grabbed a cookie. I checked the clock. It was only 3:00 and extremely chilly in our house. The den was about the only warm spot with the fire going. We sat there for a few minutes, taking sips of our cocoa and chewing on Oreos. I got a good look at her in profile as she stared into the fire, eating slowly. She had fine, long brown hair that was always shiny and went to her mid-back. It was almost draped around her head, as if trying to make a beeline for the ground. The effect was to frame her cute face with brown hair. She had green eyes, a somewhat pointy nose, and a thin mouth that could create a gorgeous smile. She had very smooth and soft skin, the process of which she would never tell me but always laughed when she asked. She was tall, thin, and fit. She played for the senior varsity tennis team and was extremely good. Despite being so cute she had never had a boyfriend. Guys tried, to be sure, but our school was full of stupid horny dudes trying to get their rocks off and she hated it. She once told me that "I'm not gonna spread my legs for every guy who wants some." Typical Nikki bluntness.
She turned her head towards me and stared at me.
"I sure wish I wasn't your sister."
"Huh?" I asked. I knew her well enough to know she didn't mean badly but that was a funky comment.
"You'd be such a kick ass boyfriend. More girls oughta like you."
I laughed. "Well thanks, I didn't know it."
She just smiled. It made her look really cute.
"I'm still cold." she said.
"Me too." I replied. It was damn cold and the fireplace couldn't completely take the edge off it.
She nodded and cocked her head, staring into space. Then she had an idea and stood, picking up some of the dozens of pillows that were always lying around in our room. She made a big pile of them at the foot of one of the couches near the fireplace. I decided to be an ass and dived into them as she was moving all the snacks and drinks.
"Only room for one," I said, leaning back.
She responded by sitting on the floor between my legs and using my chest as a headrest.
"Damn you, sis," I said.
"I win!"
I merely grumbled. I was trapped by her, as she wouldn't let me up. She grabbed my arms and folded them around her, then put a couple more pillows on top of herself.
"Much better," she said.
"Aside from the fact that I can't move," I observed.
She ignored me and started whistling. I sat back and started to doze. After about ten minutes of her infernal whistling keeping me awake I fell asleep. It must have been a few hours because when I woke she was watching the seven o'clock news. She turned it off when she realized I was awake.
"About time, dude..." she scolded.
"What's up?"
"I'm sooo bored right now..." she said.
"Me too."
"Wanna play cards?" she asked.
"Sure. What game?" I asked. She shrugged. "Let's play poker."
I broke out the deck and gave it to her. The only shuffler in the family (I couldn't shuffle to save my life), she quickly had the cards randomized. She picked up her cup of cocoa for a quick sip and realized it was empty. With a grumble she pushed at my arm.
"No more drink?" she said in fake annoyance.
"It's so cold out there though."
She laughed, got up to let me out and pushed me toward the door. "Go make something, loser."
I went shivering to the fridge and looked inside. The idea of cocktails hit me. Just a small one, nothing to get us passed out or anything. I took two glasses and made the drinks, then brought up the hot cocoa mix and more Oreos just in case. When I got back up she was lying in my old spot in the pillow pile, combing her hair. She looked up as I got in. I was still shivering.
"Wimp," she said. I just poked her in the arm. She blew air in my face.
"Cocktails, huh? You must really be cold... wimp."
I grumbled.
"Well thank you," she said, taking a sip. "They really are quite good."
I took a drink out of mine.
"Play for money?"
"Pennies, sure."
We went to our combined piggy bank and shook out 150 pennies we had as crap change for everything ranging from Crunch bars to new tires. They were split evenly 75.
"Okay since you're a total wimp and can't do crap I'll make the rules."
I merely grumbled again and sipped at my cocktail.
"Minimum bet is 5 cents. You raise in 1 cent increments."
"Okay." I said, sitting cross-legged across from her. She shifted to a kneeling position sitting on her feet to see the cards better.
She dealt out the first hand. I had a crap hand and managed a pair of threes after discarding.
"I bet five."
