"Echo, dear- you're in my seat."

Echo smiled and continued looking down as she got up. She didn't sigh, she didn't frown, she didn't complain and she certainly didn't contradict her sister. She only stood and nodded, moving to a chair across from her, where the sun hit a little bit less and it was just a little bit cooler.

"Sorry." Echo said, wrapping her sweater tighter around herself before picking up her book again.

"Didn't I tell you to stop apologizing for everything?" Lena said, frowning at Romy as she took the seat that had previously been occupied by Echo.

"Sorry." Echo said, shaking her head and turning slightly red. "I mean... yes, I know."

"Leave her alone, you're bothering her. Look, she's red again." Romy said, leaning back with her eyes closed underneath the big hat she was wearing.

"I'm bothering her? You do realize you made her move from the chair she was in first?" Lena said.

"I'm trying to get a little sun and peace, Lena. Please don't start with me." Romy replied, looking quite undisturbed.

"Under that ridiculous hat?" Lena asked with a raised brow. Romy sighed and opened her giant blue eyes, turning to Echo, who was trying so hard to focus on her reading again.

"You don't mind, do you, Echo?" Romy asked, prompting Echo to look up. She caught sight of Romy's gaze, lazy but somehow still so intense. It was the depth of her blue eyes, eyes that were so dark blue you could almost call them black.

"No, I don't." Echo replied, gazing back down at her book.

"There? You see that? Now please, I'm trying to relax. It was a stressful week at work." Romy said.

Lena stared at her for a second. She was used to Romy's selfish behavior. She hated how she pushed people around and bullied them to get whatever she wanted- it was at the point now where nobody even tried to argue with her, especially Echo. She always just gave in to what Romy had to say, in fact, Echo pretty much went along with anything anyone said.

Now that Lena stared at her two sisters, she couldn't help but notice the difference between them. Romy was a tall, elegant looking beauty with honey colored hair, perfectly smooth olive skin and eyes as blue as Lena's while Echo was a small, skinny looking little thing with dark hair, dark eyes and a tendency to look like she was sick. Romy was fashionable and well dressed, Echo... well, Echo was sitting around in an old pair of slacks that she'd taken from their brother's room years ago. They were much too long, ripped at the bottom from where they dragged on the floor as she walked, covered in old stains and Lena wasn't sure how she held them up as Echo always wore shirts that were much too large and intended for men.

Night and Day.

And still, they seemed to get along just fine, unlike Lena who found more and more reasons to dislike her older sister every day. Bossy, arrogant and sometimes just plain mean, Lena wondered how the others could tolerate Romy, even if she was a formidable beauty.

"I'm going out." Lena said, shaking her head as she stood.

"Have fun." Romy muttered without turning to look at her. Lena stared for a second before turning to Echo. "Echo, do you want to come?"

Echo looked up and blinked a couple of times. The sun was coming from behind her and for a second she could not see Lena clearly as it was bright. Then, those dark blue eyes shone for her and she wondered why she couldn't have gotten so lucky to get the same blue eyes Lena got, especially since they'd both gotten the same dark hair.

"No, thank you." Echo said. Lena sighed, Echo never wanted to go anywhere. Didn't even bother making excuses anymore, just stayed locked up all day. At least when she was still in school, Echo was forced to get out of the house and be around people but ever since she'd graduated, she'd become more and more of a recluse.

"Suit yourself." Lena said, turning and walking out. Echo stared after her for a few seconds.

She felt bad, she knew that Lena was trying to get her to socialize, trying to get her to be more assertive and more of a go getter. Echo couldn't help it, people scared her- they always had. She found everyday social interactions exhausting and while her sisters all seemed to do great in social situations and always had plenty of friends, Echo was happy on her own. She preferred warm nights in her room with plenty of snacks and a good book.

She stared through the doors and caught a glimpse of Lena talking to their mother. One look at Alice Reid and it was no surprise that her sisters were all so beautiful. Echo wondered if her mother wasn't disappointed. The Reid sisters were well known in their city. Alice and Michael Reid fell in love when they were 17 years old and when they'd finished university, the two got married and quickly took to making as many children as possible-at least that was the joke that most often got repeated.

Six kids. Six kids! You'd never be able to tell from looking at Alice either. The truth was that her parents had only planned on the first three children, the last three were a complete surprise and they certainly hadn't expected so many daughters. Only one of six was a boy, the oldest- Ben. It had been a particularly complicated pregnancy and despite trying for several years, Alice and Michael were convinced they wouldn't be able to have any more.

That was when the magic started, when Mr. and Mrs. Reid stopped trying. Seven years after they had Ben, Romy came along and less than a year after that, Vera. When Echo came along, two years later- the couple was convinced that they were more than done. Until just two years after that, Alice found that she was pregnant one more time.

Five kids seemed like too much for them at that time- their business was growing and already they found that the kids were a handful. Then, right as Alice and Michael had made up their mind that this was not the time, the doctor gave them another surprise about this pregnancy- twins and they two couldn't explain it. While five kids seemed like too much to handle, somehow six seemed like the perfect number. And so, nine months later, Echo was no longer the baby of the family and Lena and Maru made their appearance.

Six Kids... and Echo was the very epitome of the middle child. One boy, five girls and all so very different. While Ben, Romy and even Vera were hoping to run their parent's company one day, Maru and Lena had zero interest in business and Echo, well she preferred to spend her time reading.

Echo had found herself a quiet type of job as a technical writer, working from home. Something that she knew her parents found disappointing- they'd always known Echo was a talented writer but her own fear of the world made her settle for less than she was capable of, making a meager salary.

In the end, it wasn't like much of it mattered. The truth was that the Reid family business was worth than they could spend.

"Hello my loves." Alice said, appearing out on the terrace and prompting Echo to snap out of her thoughts.

"How are you, momma?" Echo said, sounding almost like a child with that bell like voice. It was a pleasant sound but she was so quiet that it was rare anyone outside the family got to hear it.

"I'm good. What are you two up to today?" Alice said, taking a seat.

"I have a dinner in the city later." Romy said simply.

"And you, Echo? Staying in again?" Alice asked, looking towards her.

"What else would she do?" Romy replied with a chuckle. "You know our little Echo likes her privacy and seclusion."

Alice frowned, it was true but Romy had a way of saying things that always made them sound worse than they were.

"Well, how about you and I go grab dinner or go see a movie?" Alice asked, trying to find an excuse to get Echo out of the house.

"Honestly, mom, thank you but..." Echo said, "I really just want to catch up on my reading."

"Right." Alice said, not surprised at all. It was so hard to get Echo out of the house these days.

"See what I mean?" Romy said.

"I have to be the luckiest man in the world to be surrounded by all these beautiful women." Michael said, appearing from inside the house. Echo looked back down at her book. Of course her father would say something like that, he was always doting on his wife and daughters. Still, Echo wasn't dumb. She knew that when people gossiped about the famous Reid sisters and their legendary beauty, they weren't talking about her.

"Daddy, I want to talk to you about an account I was looking through last week." Romy said, sitting up and looking at him.

"Romy, baby, what do I always tell you?" He said without looking up from Alice who was staring at him in complete adoration.

"Right." Romy replied, rolling her eyes. "Business Monday through Friday and only in the office"

Echo smiled as she continued to read. One of her favorite things about Romy was how very dedicated she was to her work. Romy put her heart and soul into the company, determined that it should always continue to thrive. Echo knew that Romy was a complicated woman, with good and bad just like everyone else.

"Where are your sisters?" Michael asked.

"Let's see, Vera is out to lunch with her friend, Dana?... Maru is out with Rocko somewhere and Lena went out but she didn't say where." Romy muttered. "And of course, little Echo is right where she always is... home."

"and George and Karen are..." Michael began to say but Romy interrupted.

"The one with the teeth." Romy said without looking towards them but a grin did creep up to her beautiful face slowly.

"Romy, you shouldn't be like that." Alice said, biting her lip. Why did Romy always have to have something disparaging to say?

"How? What did I say?" Romy asked, she was usually much nicer with her parents.

"Her name is Karen." Alice replied with a shake of the head.

"Yes, well her." Romy said with a faint grin.

"The one with the teeth?"

Everyone turned as Maru made an appearance, a rather large and tired looking English mastiff trailing behind her. They'd had that dog since he was a puppy and Rocko, as he'd been christened, was always following Maru around. The dog quickly moved around, expecting to be pet by everyone, except Romy, who had never quite liked dogs and Echo, who was never particularly liked by dogs. Then, when he was satisfied, he moved back to where Maru was seated and gently put his head on her lap. It was quite a funny thing to see- Maru who was so petite with a dog that big.

"Why don't we order in tonight? I think it could be nice to sit around and watch movies." Alice said to Maru but looking at Echo, who was once again consumed by her book.

"Lena and I actually have plans, sorry mom." Maru said, petting her dog.

"Sweetheart, as I was just about to say- we have dinner with George and Karen tonight." Michael said, making Alice frown.

"Is he still seeing her?" Maru asked, shaking her head.

"Unfortunately." Romy chimed in, "She comes by the office almost everyday."

"I didn't notice." Alice said with a shrug. "Echo, why don't you come with us?"

"Mom, please. You really don't have to do that. I'm fine, I'm really fine and I don't mind staying in. I like it." Echo said, standing up and closing her book. Usually, being around her family didn't bother her but it was her mother's insistence that was starting to stress her out. "You guys go out with George, have a fun time."

"You can come with us!" Maru said as Echo began to walk towards the door.

"I know but honestly, I like having the house to myself. Go out, have fun and I'll do the same here." Echo said, disappearing behind the doors.

"You really should leave her alone, the more you insist, the less likely she is to do it. " Romy said, making Maru turn to her.

"You should try inviting her out sometime, she always listens to you." Maru said and Romy nodded.

"That's exactly why I won't. If I invite her out, she'll go because she feels obligated- she'll be miserable and antisocial the entire time." Romy said, "why force her to do something she doesn't want to do?"

Michael and Alice glanced at each other, wondering if this was the way it was always going to be for Echo. Maybe Romy was right, maybe they should just let Echo do what she wanted- after all, she wasn't hurting anyone. Maybe Echo really was perfectly happy on her own, in her own world and with no one around to make her uncomfortable.

Maybe.