Julia suspects something.

I can't help but get a little nervous. There's no way she knows, right?

"I know you're doing something to Mom and Michelle."

Uh oh. I think I might be in trouble. Okay, what should I do? Obviously, I need to stay calm. Just because she thinks she knows something, doesn't mean she actually knows anything... you know? Anyway, my best move right now is probably just to play dumb until I get more information.

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

"Don't play dumb with me, Matt. You know exactly what you did," she retorts.

How does she keep doing that? It's like she's a few steps ahead of me right now. But still, I'm not stupid enough to admit anything myself. She's trying to get me to rat myself out, probably because she's still not exactly sure what's going on.

"Julia, stop playing around. I didn't do anything," I say as I take another sip of water.

My sister's face turns red when she hears that. And not the embarrassed or aroused red that I've been seeing a lot lately. This is the red of someone who's mad. It seems like I just struck a nerve.

"Do you think this is a game?! Fine! Let's start with Mom..." Julia's voice begins to get louder. "If there's one thing we both know about Mom, it's that she's a workaholic. So tell me, why has she suddenly started leaving for work later in the morning? And Michelle told me she even left work and came home early the day I wasn't here. Know anything about that?"

"How does that have anything to do with me?" I ask, as though I found some hole in her argument. Turns out, I did not.

"Well, it seems pretty convenient to me that at the same time that all that starts, Mom also seems to be paying more attention to you than anyone else. Every time we eat dinner, she always stares at you and asks how you're doing or if you need anything else. She's been giving you hugs every chance she get, all while ignoring me and Michelle. And don't even get me started on how many times I've seen her shake her... you-know-what around you for seemingly no reason." Shit. That last one sounds pretty bad when you say it out loud. "She even made you breakfast this morning! She never does that!"

"That's not fair! She made you breakfast too!" I exclaim.

"Oh, did she now? When I saw her in the kitchen this morning, I asked her what she was doing and she told me she was making breakfast for you. For you. It wasn't until I asked why it was just for you that she realized she should make some for everyone. And even then, she didn't seem nearly as interested in cooking my food as she did yours," Julia explains with a hand on her hip.

Fuck! I didn't know Mom did that! How was I supposed to? I mean, in retrospect it seems obvious, but come on. The more and more Julia talks, the more I realize just how bad this looks. With each thing she adds, it only becomes harder to explain. I know I told Violet the truth, but this is way different. Violet was more curious than upset. Julia is furious at this point. I have no idea what she would do if I told her I'm turning Mom into a human dog.

"And what about Michelle?" She continues. Great. I forgot about Michelle. "I've grown up with you two my whole life and it's been nothing but one big fight. You two never get along, constantly pick on each other, and argue nonstop. Do you know how many times I've had to break you up? As much as I wanted us to be a big, happy family, I knew it would never happen. Then, all of a sudden, it just stops. No more fights. No more passive aggressive comments. Nothing. Now it seems like Michelle can't even look you in the eyes. So when we went to the mall yesterday, I asked her about it..."

No, no, no! I knew it! I shouldn't have left the two of them alone together! But what was I supposed to do? **** them to not go to the mall? That might have worked on Michelle (and even that's a big might), but that would have only made Julia more suspicious.

"I tried to get Michelle to talk about you. To explain what was going on. I really did. But she couldn't. Every time I mentioned your name, she got uncomfortable. After trying about a million times, I finally got her to say something, and do you want to know what she said? She told me 'It's not very nice to talk about our brother behind his back. Let's just leave him alone.' Does that sound like Michelle to you?"

I don't know what to do. I'm stuck. How would I even begin to dig myself out of this hole. Without seeing another option, I slowly move my hand down and slip it into my pocket. I rest my hand on the Random Remote. I obviously can't take it out, but maybe I could manage to lock-on to her while it's still in my pocket? Julia stares into my eyes with a fury she's never looked at my with before. I place my finger on what I believe is the green button, but then I freeze.

I... I can't...

Even after all of this... as I look deeply into the green eyes in front of me... the eyes of the girl who's always had my back... I don't think I can do it...

Besides, what if she ends up with something like Rose's "Wild Card" or worse? I could easily end up making the situation more dangerous. Yeah, that's right. I don't want to put myself in more danger. That's why I'm not using the remote. That's the only reason. Definitely not because of any other factor.

And when I really think about it, I don't know how much the remote would help right now. Sure, it helped with the dean, but things were already moving in my favor then. Even if Julia somehow also got the "Submissive" identity, I doubt it would be enough to calm her down right this second. Man, this moment really makes me wish Mom and Michelle could have gotten attributes to make their behavior seem normal, kind of like that one Dr. Powell got.

...so what do I do now? I guess if I'm not going to use the remote, there's only one thing I can do: keep playing dumb.

"Listen, Julia. I'll admit I've been noticing Mom and Michelle act weird too, but I swear I don't know anything. You have to believe me," I say as sincerely as I can.

"And yet, I don't," Julia responds. Then something changes. A new emotion erupts in Julia alongside her anger. I realize that her eyes are welling up with tears. "Fine. Don't tell me. But I promise I'm going to figure out what's going on. Thanks for nothing."

With those last word, my sister turns around and runs back to her room, desperately trying not to cry in front of me. As I watch her leave, I feel absolutely awful. Now that she's facing away from me, I technically have the perfect chance to use the remote, but I still don't. I just let her go.

As I stand in the now silent kitchen, I think to myself about what I'm going to do. I really need to be careful how I interact with Mom and Michelle now, at least until I get those normalcy attributes. If they even exist. In my heart, I know if I don't get them soon, my only option will be using the remote on Julia. I hope I'll be prepared if that moment comes.