[1/2](https://www.reddit.com/r/Erotica/comments/10t4n8c/love_pill_generations_ch04_12/)
“Dylan?”
I cleared my throat and pressed my phone closer against my ear. “Hey, Lucia.”
“Is there something wrong?”
“No. No, it’s nothing.” I cleared my throat again, then nodded when a couple of guys waved at me in the distance. “It’s just…”
My step-mother (Aunt?) waited for me to continue.
“It’s Ellie. She’s not answering my calls, and she didn’t come to school today. I was just wondering if she’s okay.”
Laughter on the line. I loved it when Lucia laughed like that. It was a sweet, feminine sound. I wished my mother laughed more. I’d bet it would sound even better.
“She’s fine,” my stepmother told me. “Just a little sick. Fever, she told me.” A pause. “Dylan, I didn’t know you cared about her so much.”
Why was everyone saying that? Had I been that bad of a brother this whole time?
I grunted. “Just trying to be a better brother.”
“Good. I love to hear that. Wait—” Lucia must still be in her cafe because I heard several people murmuring in the background, but she returned quickly. “You know, Dylan. She really loves you. She talks about you often.”