The air between me and my sister is awkward as we keep walking. I can see her glancing at me occasionally as we walk down the street from where she parked the car. It was clear at this point to both of us that we were heading in the same direction and there isn’t much in that direction we could be heading to for a fancy dinner.

Erin speaks up from my side, causing me to look at her. “So… this girl you’re seeing,” she glances at me to make sure she has my attention, “You met her at the concert?”

I nod, turning my head to look in the direction we’re walking. “Yeah. How about you?” I can see that we’re approaching the restaurant Penny had outlined for our date.

She nods, “Met her backstage after my bands set. She was cute, so I asked her out to lunch.”

We’re getting closer to the restaurant and I turn to look at her slowly, noticing that she’s looking at the restaurant too. She turns slightly to look at me, surprise coloring her eyes. I can see her studying my face as I lose myself in thought, attempting to puzzle out what this means.  A chill runs down my spine as I recall what she just said. Backstage?

I look up at her slowly, my eyes widening in surprise and shock. She picks up on my expression and freezes, we both turn to look at the restaurant.

Erin clears her throat first, causing me to turn and watch her carefully. “Um, Cal, just by the by, but I don’t think I caught your girlfriend's name?”

My mouth goes dry as my confusion is cleared in an instant. I gulp gently before responding numbly, “P-penny.”

She nods solemnly, our eyes locked in a tense and confused mental battle. “Thought so,” she replies so quietly that I could hardly catch it. It doesn’t help how fast my heart is beating right now, my brain feels very messy at the moment.

My blood immediately chills as a voice calls out from in front of us, “Oh, wow, you two already found each other.” The chuckle that follows is light, airy, and is barely enough to snap me out of my stupor. Slowly I turn to look at Penny, confusion still written across every inch of my face.

Her smile widens as she looks the two of us over before dropping slowly into an expression of concern as she looks from me to Erin and then back to me. “Um, sorry, did something happen? You two look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

I shake my head gently in an attempt to clear away all of my rushing thoughts. I take a couple of deep breaths to center myself, but Erin speaks before I can. “Sorry, we were, um… surprised. We were kind of surprised to see each other here.” Erin is rubbing the back of her neck gently, stealing glances at me. I flash her a smile to reassure her that I’m okay.

Penny looks between us, her concern melting into a wide grin. “Oh? You two know each other?” I can see the almost predatory glint in her eyes as my face heats up. I look down hastily, glancing gently at Erin in the hopes that she’ll explain for me.

Sputtering slightly, Erin holds her hands out hastily, “woah, woah, woah. No, Cal’s my brother.” I nod quickly in agreement, watching the fire in Penny’s eyes turn to shock and then confusion. Her eyes dart between us quickly as if trying to piece together a puzzle.

Holding up a hand to point between us, Penny looks Erin in the eye. “You two are siblings?” Penny and I both nod. “Erin, isn’t your last name Rivers?” Erin nods, shifting slightly. “Cal, didn’t you say your last name was Graves?”

I look away slightly. “We’re, um, half siblings? I think that’s the term. Same dad, different mom.” I look over as I say it, seeing Erin’s eyes shift away from me. I sigh, frowning slightly as I rub her arm. “Anyways, um, yeah, we’re siblings. I don’t think either of us realized who the other was dating.”

“Oh.” Penny looks a little embarrassed, shuffling lightly. “I, um… don’t really know what to do about this. I don’t want to make either of you uncomfortable or anything.” Penny trails off, looking away from the both of us.

I watch Erin reach out to comfort her, and then she stops herself midway while turning to me. I shuffle, my eyes meeting her own while flicking to penny. I shake my head, nodding towards Penny. I’d back off from Penny if Erin wants to be there for her. I like Penny, but I can tell that Erin likes her too, and I think that Erin is way more worth Penny’s time than I am.

Erin shakes her head, gesturing towards penny. I can see her mouthing out “go for it”. I turn to look at Penny and see that she’s turned back and is watching us, conflict on her face. Her eyes lock with mine for only a moment before looking at Erin, unsure what to do. I look over at my sister, thinking the situation through. I realize that it’s selfish for us to even assume that we can pick who Penny wants to be with. She already made her choice after all.

Confidently, I take a step to the side and grab Erin’s hand. Erin looks down at me in a mixture of confusion and surprise. I glance up at her nervously, hoping desperately that I’m doing the right thing. I pull Erin forward slightly, turning back to Penny with what little confidence I can muster. “Um, we’re here for our date, Penny.”

Erin and Penny are both looking at me in shock. Erin is still looking down at me thoughtfully, I turn to watch her in my periphery. She glances between me and Penny for a couple of moments before she makes her own decision. She squeezes my hand gently before letting it go and lightly mussing my hair playfully. I scowl as some of the longer strands fall in front of my face. “It’s a little weird, but if my lil bro’s willing to give it a shot, I guess I might as well.”

I try to fix my hair, shooting Erin a small glare at her for messing up my hair. It had taken a while to get it looking sort of nice. Penny speaks up, looking sort of perplexed. “You two aren’t… weirded out by this at all?”

I look away, still trying to smooth out the ends of my hair and messing with it lightly as I think. I speak up, drawing their attention to me. “Um, Polyamory is already sort of new to me, so I’m not sure how I should feel about it, but… I mean, we both like you. Wasn’t the point of this whole arrangement because you don’t want to compromise on your feelings? It just feels kind of messed up to make you make that kind of decision.” I shrug, kicking the floor lightly.

Erin pipes up, “yeah, he’s right. If it gets weird for the two of us, we’ll talk it out and let you know.” Penny nods thoughtfully before smiling.

Penny holds out her hands, one to each of us. “Well… Then, I do still have our reservation, if we want to head inside?” Erin grabs her right arm, looping her own around it immediately. More hesitantly I take her other hand, holding it awkwardly in my own. With a smile, Penny leads the way, both me and Erin trailing off of her.

We enter the restaurant and I’m immediately intimidated by the other patrons. The employees from the host table look us over briefly as Penny checks us in before looking through a book of reservations. After a brief nod and a gathering of some fancy looking menus, our host turns to us. “Right this way, ladies.” I feel my stomach flutter a little in embarrassment at the mistake, but I don’t say anything. I am wearing makeup, so it does make sense that he’d make that mistake. It’s still kind of embarrassing...

The host directs us straight towards a circular table with a pristine white table cloth. Erin plops down in the seat closest to us as soon as we get there. Penny pulls a chair out and gestures for me to sit down with a smug grin. I blush, sitting down in the seat, my cheeks growing hotter as she sits in her own seat. Menus are placed in front of each of us, then the host leaves us to pore them over.

The moment the waiter leaves, Erin starts talking quietly, “Penny, you look really fucking great.” I look up at Penny’s outfit, nodding in agreement. She’s wearing a midnight blue dress with silver trim and accents and a grey jacket that goes with it nicely, it’s an absolutely stunning outfit. Looking between her and Erin, I definitely feel underdressed for this date.

“Thanks Er, you do too. Love the dress.” Penny turns to look at me, “And you look really cute too Cal. I really like your makeup.”

I shrink, looking up at her cautiously. She sounds like she’s being genuine. “Oh, um, thanks… Erin did it for me. I like it too.” Penny nods, eyeing me up and down. I shuffle uncomfortably, wishing silently that I had my hoodie. I can feel her eyes trailing up and down me carefully, so I pull up my menu to look at it and keep my mind off of her watching eyes.

“You did a good job, Er. Like always.” I peek away from my menu and see Erin flashing Penny a smile.

Erin looks at me out of the corner of her eye, still talking to Penny. “I think the look suits lil Callie.” I look at her with horror and she sticks her tongue out at me.

“Eriiiiiin,” I whine quietly. Penny is quick on the uptake though and notices the nickname that she used.

She glances at me briefly before asking Erin directly, “Callie?”

I pick the menu up vertically to hide my face and the rosy blush quickly spreading across my cheeks. I can hear Erin answer her from behind my menu, “A nickname that Cal went by when we were younger. I close my eyes, hiding farther behind my menu. “He stopped when he realized it was girly.”

Penny pulls my menu down so she can meet my eyes. I look away, finding my eyes meeting Erin’s. She actually looks taken aback when she sees my flushed expression. “Huh. Do you dislike the name Callie then?” Penny asks me directly.

“I mean… it’s girly, isn’t it?” I mumble.

“Does that matter? So is makeup, and I think you look really cute.” Penny says, her voice even. I turn to look back at her and her eyes meet my own. She keeps her gaze steady and her expression neutral.

“Yeah, but…” I glance to Erin for assistance and find her glancing between the two of us in intense interest. Her expression is surprisingly unreadable, but she seems to be content just listening.

Penny cuts me off before I can think of what to say, “Let me put it this way, what do you think about the name Callie in general? One to Five.”

I shrug, unsure where she’s going with this. “I dunno… three? Maybe four? It’s a cute name I guess.”

“And what about Calvin?” she asks.

I think about it, a small frown appearing on my face. It feels like a trick, to admit that I never really liked my name. It’s my name after all, I’m stuck with it. I just have to learn to live with it like everyone else who hates their name.

“Hello folks, sorry about the wait.” I jump in my chair, cowering slightly as I realize that the waiter is here. I stare down at my menu, glad to have been interrupted before I could answer that question. “Can I get you started off with something to drink?”

I look up at Penny and Erin, taking in their reactions. Penny looks a little exasperated at the interruption, while Erin looks puzzled and annoyed at the interruption. Nonetheless, Penny smiles towards the waiter. She pulls the smaller drink menu towards herself, looking it over. “Can you bring us a bottle of this Merlot? As well as some of this Bruschetta as an appetizer?” She says, glancing at the menu only briefly.

The waiter writes it down in his notepad, nodding as he looks it over. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll just need all of your ID’s please?” Penny and Erin produce theirs quickly. I scramble to give him mine too, cringing a little as he looks it over. I don’t dare look him in the eye, noticing him giving me a side-eye as he looks it over. Eventually, he seems satisfied with the ID. He holds it out to me, “Here you go, ma’am.” I look up at him, puzzled. Didn’t he see the gender marker on my ID? Why would he still call me ma’am?

I take my ID back, putting it in my wallet and then into my pants. “Um, thanks.”

He bows gently, “we’ll have your wine sent out shortly.” With that, he departs. I watch him retreat, still puzzled by that interaction.

“Callie?” Penny calls out.

 I look over to her distractedly, still focused on the waiter, “hmm?”

“It’s alright if I call you that then?” she asks. I pause, playing back what she said in my head. I feel my ears go hot and I look down at my lap.

“If you want, I guess. I don’t mind whatever you want to call me.” I shuffle awkwardly, strange fuzzy feelings rising through my body. I shake my head, trying to clear it from whatever brain fog is attempting to set in. I look around, my brain trying to produce something I could change the topic to. After a moment of looking around, something comes to mind. “Um, Penny?” I turn to look at her, finding her and Erin whispering to each other aggressively. They stop once they notice that I’m looking, Penny gesturing for me to continue. “This is a really nice place… can I ask what you do for work?”

Penny leans forward smiling, “I’m a journalist for the local paper. One of the head Journalists, actually.” Erin whistles, leaning back in her chair.

“Fancy.” She says.

Penny smirks in response, turning to her quickly to quip, “Says the Rockstar.”

Erin clicks her tongue before adding, “touche.”

Penny’s eyes shift back over to me, looking me over. “What about you, Callie? What do you do?” Her tone is curious and kind as she asks it, but I still shift uncomfortably at the question.

“Oh, um… it’s kind of boring. I work at a bookstore part time.” I kick my feet under my chair nonchalantly. It’s not cool or interesting like being a journalist or a rockstar, they’re just books.

Penny chuckles lightly before responding. “Somewhat fitting, actually. That sounds like a really cozy job. Do you enjoy it?”

I think about the question, tapping my foot lightly as I think. “It’s alright, yeah. I’ve always liked books.”Erin scoffs at my response, taking a sip of her water. “What?” I ask, looking at her defensively.

She rolls her eyes, “Likes books. Callie, all you do is read. Aside from my shows, I have to bribe you to get you to do anything other than read.” My face heats up quickly in indignation.

“I just enjoy reading…” I say, stuffing my hands into my lap. Penny chuckles lightly at our antics and Erin joins. After a couple of moments, I can only smile at them and chuckle along. The waiter returns after a couple of moments, carrying the wine bottle that Penny ordered with him.

“Your wine, ladies.” He drops the wine off in front of Penny, along with three glasses. He dips away after only a moment to go tend to his other tables.

Penny opens the bottle with a pop, carefully filling the three glasses with wine. The wine is a rich red color, and she hands each of us a glass. The smell is fragrant and acidic. I’ve never had wine, so I can’t even decide on whether that’s a good or bad thing. Penny raises her glass in front of her, “a toast, to Erin’s band for bringing us together. And also for being really fucking good.” She giggles before taking a swig of wine. Erin cheers mirthfully, chuckling to herself as she takes a huge gulp.

I smile, taking a swig out of my own glass. Oh, wow, not used to that flavor. I scrunch my face up and gently place the glass of wine down on the table. Erin rolls her eyes while looking at me. She leans over and grabs my glass. “If you’re not going to finish it, I will.”

“I’m uh… still not used to how alcohol tastes.” Erin downs the rest of my glass as I explain myself, Penny just rubs my shoulder reassuringly before pouring herself another glass. I lean back and just allow myself to enjoy the spectacle. As I watch the two of them enjoying themselves, I realize that there are worse people to be on a double date with than my sister. I reach forward to pour myself another smaller glass of wine. No time to get used to the taste than the present.

Wistful-Shiver

Not sure how to feel about this chapter. I think it gets kinda droney in the end, so, let me know if it's awful. I opted not to show the whole date, I feel like we got enough from the snippet. Hope it was good enough for you all.