The Warmth of a Coming-of-Age Ceremony

Aurora Vance stared at the only bowl and chopsticks on the table, her gaze as deep as a pool of still water that couldn't be stirred. For nineteen years, she had pulled her younger brother Felix Stanton out of the mire, snuffed out every spark of his early romances, forced him into the same university, forced him to move into the apartment she rented. She thought she was simply used to his dependence—until tonight, when she realized she wanted to lock down the rest of this person's life completely. And Felix Stanton, utterly unsuspecting, pushed open the door and saw only the unnatural, raw redness rimming his sister's eyes.