My parents always stressed to my older brother Nik and I that we would share the longest friendship. So growing up, they made sure that we did everything together: school, sports and almost sharing the same friends. We were practically twins despite being 13 months apart.
We only differed when it came to special responsibilities that I was forced to take on as his protector. It did not help that Nik was considered “good looking” by all of the girls in the schoolyard, forcing me to constantly watch over him. I have come to learn that it sucks to be the little sister of an attractive older brother.
As protector, my job was to constantly give death stares to them as I walked down the school halls. On rare occasions, I would make the Robert Deniro hand-eye gesture. Some ladies were courageous enough to even admit that my brother was “hot.” I had to break the truth to them by either replying, “Ehh, I don’t think you would want to be my girlfriend in law” or “Hell no.” They always had a disappointed face after I hit them with the truth.
In reality, no one seemed worthy of my brother. I was not ready to let them take my best friend.
It seemed like all the ladies at one point were enamored by Nik’s model-like appearance. Don’t get me wrong, Nik is a great looking guy. He definitely received both the looks and the brains; he was a great soccer player, good student, and had both the charm and the dashing looks. Heck, if I were not his sister, I would think he was a cutie.
I noticed a humorous pattern between Nik and the ladies. The ladies would come up to him and flirt. Then Nik would slap on the fake charm and goofiness and make their hearts flutter. Afterward, it was left to me to do the dirty work.
The ladies reacted in two ways: either they were totally rude to me because they thought I was a threat or they would be fake and pretend to be my friend. I have seen this pattern played out so many times to discover which lady was a keeper or not. To all the ladies out there who act either way to a sister; that’s just a dumb idea. The sister is the gatekeeper. You have to go past the gatekeeper in order to reach the grand prize, which, in this case, is Nik.
So if someone acted fake or completely rude to me, why would I let her through the pearly gates to my brother? Their reaction to me was a test, and if they failed I would just tell Nik, and he would listen.
Not only did I have to put up with random love-struck women, but I’ve also had to enact patience with my all of my female friends who were cast under my brother’s spell. When they meet him for the first time, they always say, “Oh my goodness, your brother is hot. Can I have him?” And every time I just think, “Yes, I have heard that Nik is hot before, can we just talk about something else…like science?” But the only science they care about is chemistry between them and Nik.
Sometimes it became too much having to constantly protect Nik from the ladies chasing him. I was becoming jealous by all of the attention he got. I sure as hell don’t get that much attention from men. It reached the point when I started to believe that only Nik got the looks in the family, and I did not. In comparison, there were no boys pursuing me for Nik to scare off. So between us, I was the only one who held the title as “gate-keeper.”
I think what has bothered me the most is that these love-struck girls will never know the true Nik, but rather make judgments based on his looks and goofy charm. Nik is more than pretty looks; he is a down-to-earth, honest and caring guy. Good looks are a plus, but I’ve learned that a guy’s personality is more important. There is a serious and sincere side to Nik. Whenever I feel upset, he is always the first person I call to cheer me up or give me advice. Only a few people know this Nik. Despite the pathetic headaches I may get from these lovesick women, I wouldn’t give up my duties as a protective sister to my amazing and so-called “good looking” brother.
