"Argh! Again!" I dropped the book in my hands, as if its very touch scorched me.

My brother, sitting beside me on our ratty couch, raised an eyebrow. "You good there Ror?"

I sighed in an overly dramatic fashion. "It happened again. I thought this book was going to be strictly action and spaceships, but no the author decided to put it in!"

"What is it?"

"Yet another freaking love triangle!"

"Oh dear." Jack laughed.

"Oh dear indeed!" I picked the book up again. "Listen to how horrible it is. Our lips met in a soft embrace. Oliver was my home, my rock in space, someone that I knew would never leave me, yet why was Jake on my mind? Jake with his dark enticing looks that spelled out mystery and drew me in like gravity." I stopped reading, and grimaced. "It's atrocious."

"And this is why I don't often read romance novels."

"It wasn't supposed to be a romance!" I exclaimed.

"Think positive, at least they haven't said, 'I love you,' to each other within the first three chapters. Well, I hope they haven't."

I nodded. "You make a good point. I hate when main characters fall in love instantly but," I paused for effect, "the worst trope of all time is enemies to lovers."

Jack got up off the couch and walked into the kitchen. "I disagree, the worst romance cliche has to be creepy behaviour being romanticised." He coughed. "Twilight."

I laughed. "True."

Our younger sister just hit prime twelvie stage, and has a slight obsession with Twilight much to our misery. For the last week straight, Jack and I have come home from school to find white faces sparkling at us from the TV whilst Alice sits there, enrapt in a world of vampires.

"Want tea? I've just boiled the kettle?"

I passed him my cup. "Yes, please."

Nothing like a good cup of tea to wash away the horrors of Twilight.

"So what is with your hatred of enemies to lovers?" Jack suddenly asked. "I don't mind that one."

"Hate is a little too strong a word." I turned my head around to face him. "But I do strongly dislike the cliche, it's hardly ever realistic."

Jack waved his hands in an outward rainbow shape. "Fiction, little sis."

I groaned. "I know, I know, but like come on, I need it to at least be plausible. Two people who dislike each other one-second, and then suddenly forget all of their bad history the next, is not likely at all!" Jack passed me my cup of tea, and I smiled before continuing. "And you want to know what the worst thing about this cliche is? It's that, it's often done in the form of a bully and a target, which then paints a picture to many readers that being treated horribly by someone is okay! Like what the heck?"

I took a sip of tea.

"Rant over?"

"Yes, sorry I couldn't help it." I flopped back into the couch. "Thanks for the tea."

"All good." Jack took his place back on the couch. "When you talk about it like that, I do see where you're coming from, however." I raised my eyebrows, curious as to where he was taking this. "When written well, and the relationship is not of the toxic type, the stories with enemies to lovers in, can be amazing."

I grinned. "I'm glad we arrived at a mutual understanding."

"Wouldn't be a normal week without at least one book debate." Jack laughed and ran his hand through his golden blond hair that matched my own. "Do you know when Mum and Alice are getting home?"

I glanced at my watch. "Mum said they'd be back around five-ish, but knowing them it will most likely be closer to six."

"Hmm, so roughly two hours give or take, before food. Cool."

"How come?" I asked.

He looked briefly down at his phone. "I'm going to go hangout with Mia in a few minutes. She's going on holiday so I won't see her again till after we get back from champs."

My stomach twisted in excitement. The Interschool Championships coming up in a week was a big deal. It was a friendly, two week competition at the end of the school year between the four neighbouring high schools in our region. The top students in the two highest years competed in both sports and academic subjects, and somehow I had been chosen for the chemistry category.

Jack ruffled my hair as he got up. "Don't worry, we're going to take the win. The other schools won't know what's hit them this year."

"That's what you said last year." I teased.

Jack was a year older than me, and had gone last year as part of the hockey team. From what he'd told me, our school had been beaten on the last day by Beckfall High.

"This year will be different. We were unprepared last time for their dirty tricks, but this year we are taking them all down to the ground, especially Beckfall High." He gritted his teeth. "Carter will not catch us unprepared this year."

"Carter?"

"Griffin Carter, Beckfall High's biggest douche bag, who is unfortunately really good at sports." I struggled not to laugh at my brother's dislike of him. "Stay clear of him Ror, he's a player both on and off the field. And that's coming from me!"

"Don't worry, I probably won't even cross paths with him." I shook my head with a smile. "This isn't a cliche book where the star jock suddenly pays attention to the cute nerd."

"I feel sorry for any person trying to go for this nerd," he said. I gasped in fake outrage. "Anyway, I'm off now. See you in a few hours." Jack waved as he left the kitchen, leaving me to wonder just how crazy the Championships were going to be.