Jon stared at the strip of cloth that had been offered to him. Something strange had just happened, but he wasn't sure what. Something in the back of his mind told him that if he accepted the scarf that Zoe had offered him, he would be accepting something far deeper as well.
But she'd been right: he did feel a bit chilly. So even though the scarf didn't quite match his red hoodie, Jon found himself tying it loosely around his neck as he got up to leave for school.
But there was something nagging at him. Something didn't feel right. Like the wind was blowing, but his sails weren't catching their momentum,
"Cute scarf!" Karyn exclaimed as Jon made his approach.
Jon wasn't sure how he felt about Karyn's use of the word 'cute,' but he accepted the compliment nonetheless. "Zoe gave it to me this morning." Jon paused. "Is it normal for younger sisters to give gifts to their big brothers?"
Karyn shrugged.
"Have you ever given Max a gift?" Jon invoked the name of Karyn's older brother. "I mean, when it's not his birthday or something."
"I don't think so. I mean, once in a while he'll give me a hand-me-down or something, but I can't exactly give him a hand-me-down. When you're the oldest you can't really get hand-me-downs" Karyn thought for a moment, then pulled lightly at the neckline of her loose green pullover. "Come to think of it, this sweater used to be his, and now it's something I just wear every day."
That strange feeling came back to Jon once again. Karyn was wearing a hand-me-down sweater because she was the little sister. And Jon was wearing a hand-me-down scarf because...
The thought wouldn't finish itself. The two were almost at school, anyway.
