The Perfect Setup

Mariza pressed her nose against Lindsay's bedroom window, watching her eighteen-year-old sister walk down the street toward their house. The afternoon sun made Lindsay's work uniform shine as she carried a large brown box.

"She got it!" Mariza whispered, bouncing on her toes. Her red sneakers squeaked against the wooden floor.

Lindsay had been saving money from her job at the grocery store for months. Every week, she counted bills and coins on the kitchen table, talking about getting a real computer instead of their old tablet that barely worked.

The front door opened with a bang. "Mariza! Come help me!"

Mariza raced downstairs, her long dark brown hair flying behind her. She found Lindsay struggling with the heavy box in the living room.

"Is that really it?" Mariza asked, her bright brown eyes wide with excitement.

Lindsay grinned and wiped sweat from her forehead. "One brand-new computer. And I already know the perfect chat app to download."

New Connections

Two days later, Mariza watched Lindsay set up the new computer on her desk. The screen glowed bright blue as Lindsay clicked through menus.

"What's that app called again?" Mariza asked, perching on the edge of the bed.

"ChatWorld. People from all over can talk and play games together." Lindsay typed her username and password. "Want to see?"

The chat window opened. Lindsay scrolled through names until she found two users: Miku_Turquoise and TetoRed_Drills.

"These two are really nice," Lindsay said. "Miku helped me with math homework yesterday."

The screen flickered. Suddenly, Miku appeared on video chat. She had long turquoise hair in ponytails and smiled warmly. "Hi Lindsay! Who's that with you?"

"My little sister, Mariza."

Another video window popped open. Teto had bright red hair twisted into twin drills and small black horns on her head. She grinned mischievously. "A sister! How fun!"

Mariza stared. The horns looked so real.

"Those are costume horns, right?" Mariza whispered to Lindsay.

Lindsay shrugged. "Probably. People wear all sorts of things online."

But something about Teto's smile made Mariza's stomach twist uncomfortably.