“Big brooooother!”

Twelve-year old Terry ran into his home kitchen with disgust and fear in his eyes. He found his big brother, who’s six years older, on the family room couch reading the newspaper. Terry hopped next to Seth and then hid himself amongst the pillows.

Seth smiled lifted the top pillow. “All right, little bro. What is it this time?”

Terry faked a gag before telling him. “It was disgusting, big bro! First, I ate my ice-cream really fast and got it all over my face!”

“And that’s disgusting,” Seth chuckled. “You do it all the time. On purpose, for that matter.”

“No, no you have to listen to the rest, big bro!” Terry continued. “I was eating the ice-cream with that weird girl Sara!”

Sara, their next-door neighbor since forever, was a cute blonde-haired girl in the same grade as Terry. She was anything but a typical kid however Terry spins it otherwise.

“With Sara, huh? What happened next?”

“Okay, so I got ice-cream all over my face. Sara said she’ll clean it and I was feeling lazy so I said yes. Then she leaned in and,” Terry shuddered. “kissed me. Ewwwww! She gave me the cooties!”

“Hahahahah!” Seth couldn’t suppress his emotions after that. “She kissed you? That’s amazing!”

Terry was terrified. “Big brother, this isn’t funny at all! I could be infected or turned into one of those…mind-control slaves like that movie!”

Seth managed to wind down himself enough to answer. “First off little bro, aren’t you a little old to believe in cooties?”

“…They exist, still.” Terry crossed his arms in pride. “I didn’t see a cootie exterminator come by the last few years. That means they’re still here.”

“Or they never existed like Santa Claus.”

“Santa doesn’t exist?!”

Seth pondered. “Hmm, I thought mom and dad told you…oh well. That’s for another time. Anyways, what Sara did was completely normal, albeit a bit forward.”

“What do you mean Santa doesn’t exist?!”

“Oh boy, this could be trouble….”

A phone call saved temporarily saved Seth from this awkward situation.

“Be right back, little bro.” He patted Terry’s head and escaped the family room. A couple rings later, he picked up the kitchen phone with a hearty greeting.

“Randall residence. How may I make this call pleasant?”

A female giggle was heard on the other line. “Well I see you still kept your charm.”

“Ah, Selena! Well, you saved me from a dangerous situation.”

“What happened now? Did your parents found out you can’t do math?”

Seth chuckled. “Definitely not. They found out that fact long ago. Nah, apparently my brother still believes in Santa Claus and the cooties.”

“Santa Claus? Isn’t that something kids naturally find out at ten?”

“He has either very naïve friends or they’re not telling. Either way, I’m stuck in this situation now.”

“I’m surprised Santa Claus is the biggest worry when a certain someone pecked him on the cheek,” Sabrina teased.

“Haha! I see Sara told you about it. I just got the news myself. Little Sara growing up, isn’t she,” Terry said. “I wonder where she got such forward skills….”

“Oh please, you’re embarrassing me!” Selena blushed as she wrapped her finger around the phone cord. “That’s not something I tell my little sister, you know.”

“I’m just saying it runs in the family. It would be two for two if Terry submits to it.”

Speaking of which, Terry yelled across the house for help. “Big brooooother! I’m feeling depressed!”

Seth sighed. “Got to go. It seems my brother-”

“Is depressed, yeah I heard all the way from here. Hehe, you got some stories to tell!”

“Really? Is it okay to tell the stories?”

“I’m fine with it,” Selena replied. “Anything to help your brother understand.”

“All right, guess I got some stories to tell. Wish me luck.”

“Lucky kiss, bye bye!”

“You too, love.”

Seth hung up the phone, brushed back his red hair, and took a deep breath. “Here we go."

---

Terry and Seth sat comfortably on the couch, as time passed by silently. The older brother did little but deep breaths while the little one stood still, frustrated.

“Big bro, what are we doing here?”

One last exhale left Seth. “Okay, I’m ready.”

“Ready for….”

Set firmly grasped his hands on Terry’s shoulder. “I’m going to tell you my experiences on what happened to you, today. This will help you understand a little better.”

“Okay then, big bro! Tell me what happened to you!” Terry’s eyes were filled with anticipation.

“So it was a long time ago….”

-10 years ago-

Seth was sat down by his parents at the kitchen table.

“Son,” his mother started. “Santa Claus doesn’t exist.”

“…NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

-Present-

“And that’s how I felt.”

Terry frowned. “Big bro, I already accepted that Santa Claus doesn’t exist from a logical matter.”

“Oh. Well that makes it easier. So I’ll tell you about the other thing, then!”

-9 years ago-

Seth’s father sat next to his son during a basketball game.

“Son?” His father randomly said during a steal.

“Yeah dad?”

“Cooties don’t exist. They’re just something adults say so girls don’t play with boys.”

“Oh. Cool.”

“Son?”

“Yeah, dad?”

“We’ve talked about this. This is our talk. Tell this to your mother if she asked.”

“Okay, dad.”

-Present-

“And that’s what happened. So, do you understand?”

Terry sighed. “I also accepted that cooties can’t exist in this media-related world if it did exist at all.”

“Oh. Well…what do you want to know then?”

“Why Sara…” Terry pointed to his cheek. “Kissed me?”

“Well I do have a story about that, but it’s quite long.”

“Any story would be longer than your previous ones at this point, big bro.”

Seth cleared his throat. “All right then! Let me tell you the first time I met Selena….”