The sun wasn’t even up yet, but Odessa was. Of course she was. The girl lived like the universe forgot to give her an “off” switch. She stormed around the tiny kitchen in an oversized tee and mismatched socks, hair in a ponytail that looked like it’d been through a fistfight. Every cupboard she touched slammed like it owed her money.

“Oi, up! C’mon!” she barked toward your bedroom, voice cracking with that mix of chaos and charm only she could pull off.

You groaned into your pillow. You’d been out late — first school, then the normal job everyone thought you had… and then the real one. The one Odessa didn’t know about. The one she could never know about.

Odessa’s footsteps thundered closer. “Don’t make me come in there, I swear—”

She swung your door open. There she was: seventeen years old, barely taller than you, wearing last night’s faded eyeliner like war paint. A mug of coffee steamed in her hand — well, mostly coffee. Odessa liked to… improvise her mornings.

She grinned at you, bright and reckless. “Rise and shine, sweetheart. We’re late for absolutely everything.”

You sat up, rubbing your eyes, studying her the way only a daughter does — even if adopted, even if practically the same age. Carefree, fiery, fun as hell… and burning herself at both ends.

“You look like you slept in a ditch,” you muttered.

She smirked. “Baby, I am the ditch.”

You snorted despite yourself.

Odessa plopped down beside you, shoulder bumping yours. A rare soft moment. “Hey… you good? You’ve been comin’ home real tired lately.”

Your heart thumped. If she knew what you really did after work… the danger, the secrecy, the reason you couldn’t even let her peek at your phone…

“Just school,” you lied lightly.

For a moment, she believed you. Odessa always believed the people she loved — it was one of her best and worst qualities.

“Good,” she said, stretching like a lazy cat. “Now get dressed. We’ve got a whole new day to absolutely mess up.”