My status in the family has been replaced.

I came home to see my brother buried in his work - building a mini zen garden for his girlfriend for their 1st month anniversary.

Ok, let me first introduce you to my brother. He's 5 years younger than me, but probably 5 inches taller. He's not good looking, but he has style (from me, of course). His hairstyle (now a faux mohawk) and clothes must go through my approval first before it's finalised. He's skinny, but he has muscles and abs. He's had more girlfriends than I had lychee martinis but they don't last long, unlike my alcohol rashes. The thing is, whoever becomes my brother's girl, becomes the luckiest girl on Earth.

He's poor but nifty with his hands (oh so that's what he took up Design & Technology in school for) so while he can sometimes spend his entire allowance on someone, he also sometimes spend his entire time making a gift for someone. He made a woodburning for his previous one, but that didn't work out. That's why when I saw him poring over the mini zen garden in the box, with a switch for fairy lights, I asked him in all sincerity, "Everytime you put in so much effort, but they always leave you in the dust, are you sure this one is worth it?" On hindsight, he might just be scaring them off with all his lurrve.

He only bought me presents thrice. First time, he was in k2. My grandmother gave him 60 cents and brought him downstairs and he came home with a page of stickers for my birthday. I was 11 years old when I was first touched to tears. The second time 2 years ago, he donated to some charity and they gave him a pencil holder shaped like a cat. We assembled them together. The last time was when he came home from India and bought me Indian bangles that I can't fit into.

I walked out of the room, sniffing with cynicism when I met my mum in the kitchen. After scolding me for drinking iced water in the middle of the night, she came close to me and whispered, "Eh, it's that girl's (yes, my brother's girlfriend has a name but nobody has mentioned it before) birthday tomorrow, do I need to get her anything?" I just replied that since she wasn't celebrating it with us and we hardly see her since she's in my brother's room all the time, there's no need to get her anything.

Then she said, "I was thinking maybe tomorrow I go to Soo Kee and buy her some semi-precious stone pendant. What do you think?" What do I think? What do I think?! My mother has never so much as bought me a non-precious stone pendant for my birthday. I think she should go fuck herself.

And she doesn't even like the girl.