There was a disturbing sense of silence that seemed to creep its way through the household of the Bennets'. Claire sat at the rounded table in the dining room, she stared blankly out of the arched window as her brother Lyle and a few of his friends laughed and joked in the kitchen.
"Claire, you got a boyfriend?"
Claire rolled her sea blue eyes and sighed deeply as the boys laughed and whispered to each other like immature four year olds
"No, but I bet you have," She frowned as she twirled a pink and white straw between her index finger and thumb
"Hilarious!" Lyle laughed sarcastically as he clapped his hands together
Claire put on a fake grin and mocked her brother by copying his sarcastic behaviour
"Weirdo!" She huffed.
Lyle raised his eyebrows
"Freak," he smiled as he finally decided to go outside into the bright summer's day with his friends to play football
Claire rested her head on the table and groaned in boredom. She had no clue of what to do, it was summer and she was stuck with the horrible duty of babysitting a bunch of fourteen year olds. Suddenly she heard rapid knocking on the dining room window, she quickly raided her head to see her brother
"What do you want now?" Claire sighed
Lyle stood looking dumb with a football tucked under his arm
"Sam's going to play a football match, can I go with him?"
Claire shrugged her shoulders as she took a sip of strawberry milkshake that was placed in a tall glass on the rounded table.
"Where's this match at?" She asked
Lyle scratched his head of longish blonde hair
"down town…"
Claire folded her arms and raised her eyebrows
"dad told you that you weren't aloud to go town, Lyle!" Claire reminded her brother.
Lyle sighed and shrugged his shoulders
"please, I promise I'll be back before mom and dad get home, it's either that or me and my buddies inside all day!"
Claire knew all too well what Lyle and his friends got up to, always in trouble and liked to start arguments over the littlest of things. In other words, just plain annoying!
"Fine, but if you're not back when dad gets home that means I get the blame which also means I'll kill you," Claire explained in a serious tone of voice
Lyle rolled his eyes but nodded. Claire took another sip of milkshake before Lyle ran off.
"Finally, peace and quiet!" She smiled as she got up from the dining room table and made her way through to the kitchen where she poured the milkshake down the sink and placed the glass into the dishwasher.
She sat on one of the stools in the kitchen and grabbed a magazine before she realised the front door was still wide open
"How many times have I got to tell that boy?" Claire said to herself as she headed towards the door and closed it
She peaked out of the kitchen window to see if anybody was out in the street but it was empty, nobody seemed to enjoy the outside world anymore. Claire turned around to see Mr Muggles standing by the hallway wagging his tail
"I didn't know mom left you here," She said
Mr Muggles barked loudly and began growling, he never really accepted Claire as part of the family. He seemed to hate her for some unknown and quite odd reason.
"Oh shut up, go and chew on some shoes or something," Claire sighed
The little Pomeranian sneezed before making his way into the dining room where he wasn't allowed to be, the one thing Claire's mother detested was animals on the cream sofa. But as usual Mr Muggles jumped up onto the sofa and lay there staring at Claire to see her reaction
"You just try your hardest to annoy me, don't you?"
Claire walked towards the little dog and raised her hands to try to lift him but he growled frantically and bit her hand
"Hey!" She snapped as she pulled her hand away.
He had drew some blood but after a few seconds the wound healed
"Round two!" She huffed as she quickly yet gently grabbed the dog and placed him to the wooden floor below
He growled and had a fit before turning and running through the downstairs hallway.
"Stupid dog!" Claire frowned as she threw herself onto the sofa and closed her eyes shut
Silence was creeping around the home, the only sound Claire could detect was the slow and repetitive ticking of the rounded clock that was fixed to the kitchen wall.
Suddenly the front door opened, it startled Claire and she jumped to her feet in record time as her heart beat hard within her chest
"Claire!" A familiar voice called out "Lyle?"
Claire let out a breath as her mother and father walked into the kitchen, she walked towards them with a smile spread across her face
"Claire bear, everything been okay?" Noah asked as he hugged his daughter close
Claire nodded nervously, of course everything wasn't okay. There always had to be one thing that ruined the good atmosphere, Lyle!
"I hope Lyle and his friends haven't been annoying you again, have they?" Sandra asked as Mr Muggles barked excitedly at her feet
"Actually…" Claire began
Noah frowned and folded his arms
"Now you mention it, where is Lyle?" he asked "The house is unusually quiet!"
Sandra laughed as she cuddled Mr Muggles in her arms, Claire frowned as Sandra let the evil little Pomeranian lick her lips.
"Lyle's down town!" Claire smiled, hoping that her parents wouldn't freak out
Suddenly there was a pause, both Sandra and Noah stared at Claire with frowns
"What?" Claire shrugged
Noah huffed and shook his head
"I told you a million times that he wasn't allowed down there, Claire!" Noah said firmly as he pointed his finger at her seriously.
Sandra let Mr Muggles to the floor
"You should know better, Claire," she said "you're supposed to be the responsible one when we're gone, that means sticking to the rules!"
Claire rolled her eyes and began to bite her fingernails, she couldn't understand why they still insisted on treating Lyle like a baby. He wasn't dumb most of the time and did contain a tiny bit of responsibility in that thick skull of his, she couldn't understand the problem. Yes he was extremely immature for his age and lacked most knowledge a basic human being would have but he was only playing football. The only thing he could do without thinking too hard
"He was bored, and come on it's just football he's playing!" Claire frowned
Noah looked at Sandra then grinned at Claire
"You seriously think he's playing football?"
Claire frowned, she was confused. Was there something she was missing here?
"Yeah, him and a bunch of his friends!" Claire nodded
Noah shook his head in disagreement
"When Lyle says he's playing football, it's a lie, him and his so called buddies will probably be vandalising a private piece of property right now because of you," Sandra said
Claire's eyes widened and she shook her head
"don't blame me, blame Lyle for once!"
"I guess I'll have to go and find him!" Noah sighed as he headed back out of the front door again
Sandra nodded with her hands on her hips
"When you do find him, tell him that he's grounded for a week."
Noah nodded as he got into the family car and drove down the street
"I'm going to kill him as soon as I get my hands on him!" Claire said
Sandra walked through the hallway with Mr Muggles and Claire quickly followed until they were in the living room.
"I don't think you need to go that far, Claire," Sandra smiled as she sat on the chocolate leather sofa
Claire grabbed the remote control off of the top of the TV and switched a channel on
"Oh yes I do, he needs to learn that I'm not some dumb blonde that will believe anything he says!"
Sandra chuckled as she petted Mr Muggles head,
"but it seems to be that you are a blonde girl that believes anything he says which makes you look kind of dumb," Sandra nodded.
Claire gasped with a frown
"Mom!" she shouted "you're meant to be on my side!"
Sandra rolled her eyes and shook her head
"I'm not on anybody's side, I'm neutral," she explained
Claire huffed as she leaned back in the sofa
"Thanks for your support!" Claire sighed sarcastically.
Sandra smiled
"You're very welcome."
Suddenly Mr Muggles let out another bark and jumped off of the sofa, the front door opened and Claire heard Lyle and her father arguing loudly. Sandra stared at Claire
"That was quick!" Sandra called out
Lyle stormed into the living room and sat down on the sofa next to Claire while Noah made his way next to Sandra.
"He was on his way home with two cans of spray paint in his hands that he tried to hide, didn't you?" Noah said raising his dark eyebrows at his son
Lyle frowned as he folded his arms angrily, Claire looked at him
"How was football, Lyle?" Claire smiled sarcastically
Lyle frowned at Claire
"shut up, idiot!" he snapped.
Claire pushed Lyle's arm
"Don't call me an idiot, brat!" Claire shouted.
Noah quickly got up from the sofa
"Okay, that's enough!" he said "Lyle, room now!"
Lyle growled in anger and stormed out of the room with a temper, Claire smiled
"What a baby," she sighed
Noah put his hands on his hips
"you're not getting away with anything either, young lady, get to your room!" Noah said pointing to the staircase.
Claire's jaw dropped, she didn't think she had done anything wrong and looked at her mother for support. Instead her mother shrugged her shoulders
"fine!" Claire said angrily and made her way out of the living room.
She quickly ran upstairs to her bedroom and slammed the door shut, Noah rolled his eyes and sighed with relief as he fell on the sofa exhausted
"kids…" he said
Sandra nodded
"tell me about it!" she laughed as she stroked Mr Muggles.