Hey peoples! Yes, yes, I know; I write too many stories. Which one do you guys want me to update? The Mistake? Five friends, Five choices, Five Different Lifestyles? The Battle for Love? Or this one? Tell me in the reviews!
"Phoenix!" my mom calls, "Where do you think you're going?"
I have somewhere to be, but turn around anyways. My mom's head pops around the kitchen doorway.
"You have to the watch the boys for another ten to twenty minutes," she says.
"Ugh, mom," I groan, "Why can't Aria do it?"
"She'll do it in ten to twenty minutes when you're done."
I groan and relent but it turns into a smile; I have fun with my brothers. I throw the door open and sit on the steps. My brothers are kicking around a ball. Xavier kicks it towards me, I catch it.
"Uh oh," Sebastian takes off running in the opposite direction. I grin and look at Cameron. His eyes grow wide. I sling off my side bag and stand, putting the ball on the steps. Cameron turns quickly and takes off, but I take off after him digging my heels into the dirt. I catch up to him and put my hands on his waist and lift his 35-pound body into the air. He shrieks in laughter and I laugh. I swing him around and he attaches to my back. I take off running again to find Xavier.
"Oh, Xavier," I sing.
"Not coming out," he calls. I follow his voice and find him behind a box. His eyes grow wide and he backs up. I set Cameron down and go towards Xavier. He bumps into a wall. "Uh oh," he mutters. I laugh and grab his wrist and pull him out. He shakes his head, laughing. When I get back out with Xavier, Cameron is nowhere to be seen.
"Cameron," I call. I squat down and Xavier jumps on my back. "Cameron," I call again. I hear his giggle before I see him. I get on my hands and knees and see him wedged back between a wood plank and the wall of our house. I smile and raise an eyebrow at him. He laughs and crawls out. He extends his arms to me and I lift him up.
"How am I supposed to carry both of you, and run?" I ask them laughing. They laugh.
"You don't," Xavier says over my shoulder.
"What about Sebastian?" I ask, knowing that they'll figure something out with that bait.
"Shoulders," Cameron says. I smile and lift him up onto my shoulders. He wraps his arms around my forehead. I stumble, but regain my balance.
"I'm gonna fall over," I groan.
"Oh well," Xavier says.
"You'll fall with me," I sing.
"Then, we'll be easy passengers," he says, "Won't we Cameron?"
"Yep," Cameron says.
"Okay here we go," I call up to them then quieter, "Where is Sebastian?"
I can feel Cameron shrug and Xavier points. I take off in the direction he pointed, stumbling a few times but regaining my balance with their help. I see Sebastian's blonde head stick around the side of the building. He sees that we see him and starts running.
"Hold on," I yell and I take off. About an arm's length away from Sebastian he decides to tuck and roll and I fall on top of him. I roll a few feet with him under me and the other two on top of me.
"Sebastian," I groan. Cameron frees his legs and Xavier rolls off of me. Then Cameron starts laughing, then Xavier, then Sebastian, and finally me. Then we're all a laughing mess on the ground. Finally, I come to my senses and remember what I was doing. I get out from under Cameron and stand up. Cameron stands and extends his arms. I lift him onto my shoulders. Xavier stands and hops onto my back. Sebastian rolls his eyes, but stands as well. I grab his wrist and we walk back to the house.
"Mom," I call when we walk in the door, "I brought some criminals."
I hear her laugh from the kitchen. We enter the kitchen and she looks over at us. She shakes her head a starts laughing. Wiping her hands on her apron she says, "What should be the punishment this time?"
"I think they should be forced to lick the bowl clean," I say grinning.
"The batter bowl," mom says, "Hmm, sounds perfect."
Xavier hops down. I let Sebastian's wrist go, and then lift Cameron from my shoulders and set him on a stool. Xavier climbs up onto the stool next to Cameron and Sebastian stands in between them.
Cameron reaches his hands out of a bowl. Mom gives him one and sets one in front of Xavier and Sebastian. Cameron and Xavier dig right it but Sebastian tries to act like it doesn't matter but it gets the best of him and he digs in.
When they finish up and mom puts the last batch of cookies in the oven, I toss a handful of flour at Sebastian. He looks at me in mock shock and tosses a handful right back and it splotches my hair and face. My mouth drops open and I smirk, "It's on."
Xavier seems to catch on and throws some at Cameron. Cameron throws some at Mom and soon all of us are ducking throughout the kitchen and trying to avoid looking like a snowman. Mom pours out some more on the counter and then surprising all of us tosses it into the air and it falls down on all of us covering us from head to toe. I start laughing hysterically and throw more flour at her. Once out of shock, the war starts again.
"What are you all doing?" someone shrieks.
We all freeze and look towards the door. Xavier and Sebastian put their hands behind their back, like that helps they're covered from head to toe. I roll my eyes.
"Hi Aria," I say sheepishly.
"Do none of you remember who's coming over tonight?" she yells.
"Yeah, yeah," I mutter, "We know."
"We were just having fun," Cameron says, "See? Watch."
"No Cameron!" I try to warn but it's too late. He throws a handful and hits Aria right on her blouse.
"CAMERON!" she shrieks, "THIS IS A NEW SHIRT! YOU LITTLE—"
Mom puts a hand over her mouth, but doesn't hold her tight enough. Aria lunges at Cameron and slaps him on his little cheek. My mouth drops open and Cameron starts bawling. Aria huffs and stomps up the stairs, then slams her door making the whole house shake. Sebastian is the first to come out of shock and he goes to the freezer and gets an ice-pack. He kneels in front of a wailing Cameron and holds the icepack to his cheek.
I snap out of my trance and go to Cameron and pick him up. I cradle him and hold the icepack to his cheek. I climb up onto the stool and rock him back and forth. His wails slow to sobs which slows to soft crying.
"Thank you Sebastian," I say, "I don't know what happened; I was just in a trance. I'm sorry."
"Not your fault," he smiles, but it fades to anger, "its Aria's." He starts to walk out of the kitchen towards the stairs.
My eyes widen but before I can call after him Mom does, "Sebastian, let me talk to her."
Xavier sits on the stool next to me, and Sebastian comes back into the kitchen. I pass off a now silent Cameron to Xavier. I stand and grab Sebastian's shoulders guiding him to sit. He relents and I fill four glasses with ice cold lemonade. I hand one to Sebastian and I take Cameron from Xavier and hand Xavier a glass. I sit on another stool and help Cameron sit up on my lap. I hold the straw to his lips and he drinks some.
Muffled voices drift down the stairs and we sit in silence for a while listening. I glance at Sebastian every so often and bite my lip.
"I'll be right back," I say. I set Cameron on the stool happily sipping his lemonade and holding the icepack to his cheek. Sebastian nods.
I head up the stairs and start to hear voices.
"You . . . embarrass me . . . in front of . . ." Aria yells.
". . . He . . . a good influence . . ." Mom says calmly.
"Look what Cameron did to my blouse!" Aria shouts.
"That gave you no right to slap him!" Mom yells, "NONE!"
That shuts Aria up; Mom never yells. I push the door open carefully and Aria and Mom are just staring at each other.
"Go back down!" Aria glares.
"She's just checking up on us," Mom says, "Aren't you, Phoenix?"
I nod. "I figured u had been fighting too long."
Aria huffs and turns away. "Get out so I can change."
Mom and I turn and head back down the stairs. The oven beeps and Mom goes to the kitchen. Sebastian is over at the oven pulling out the trays.
"Sebastian," Mom says, "Thank you."
Then I remember where I was going. My eyes grow wide. I dash out of the kitchen to the back and pick my bag up from the steps. I run back to the kitchen.
"Bye Mom," I give her a hug, "I'll be back in time for dinner."
"Bye Phoenix," she says.
I give each of the boys a hug. Then I run towards the Seam. When I near the Seam I see him standing there waiting for me. I can't believe I forgot… I slow my run and walk. He opens his arms and I don't hesitate to run into them. I wrap my arms around him and inhale his scent. Pineapple and Smoke. It may sound weird but it's a good smell.
"Grey," I murmur.
"Phoe," he says into my hair.
"Sorry I'm late," I say, "I got caught up doing other things."
"What other things?" he asks.
I pull back and look at him, "I may or may not have been chasing around my brothers and then having a flour fight in the kitchen."
He laughs, his grey eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Can I talk to Autumn?" I blurt out.
He pretends to think, "Shouldn't you be talking with Xavier? Tomorrow being his first reaping and all."
"I'll do that later; its Autumn's too."
He groans, "You're relentless."
"But you love me," I sing and start running towards his house.
I hear him start running after me. I run faster. He catches up anyhow and puts his hands on my waist and spins me around.
"Grey!" I shriek in laughter. He tosses me over his shoulder and runs the rest of the way to his house.
"Hey, guys," he calls, "I picked something up on the street."
I laugh and roll my eyes, struggling to get down, but he holds tight. They all come into the entryway.
"Phoenix!" Autumn yells.
I wave awkwardly from his shoulder. Help, I mouth to his older brother, Bryce. He shakes his head at me. My mouth drops open mockingly, and he laughs.
"Put me down," I whine.
"Nope," he laughs.
"Ugh," I groan, "Help me, Autumn."
"Sorry," she says, "No can do."
"Put her down," his mom says, but she's laughing.
"Fine," he finally relents. He sets me down upside down on my hands and I fall on my butt.
"Ow," I exclaim.
Autumn and Grey laugh, but Bryce extends a hand and helps me up.
"Thank you, at least someone is kind, ish."
They head to the living room and I ask to talk to Autumn and we go to her bedroom that she shares with her brothers. She sits down on the bed, crisscross. I sit across from her.
"You nervous about tomorrow?" I ask quietly.
"Yes." She looks down at her lap.
I pull her into a hug, and say what I hope to be comforting words into her dark hair, as she starts to cry.
"Hey," I say softly, "I brought you something."
"Really?" she whispers. She pulls back and wipes her eyes.
"Yep." I dig around in my bag until I feel it.
"Here." I take the back of her hand in my palm, and place the necklace in her hand. Then I close her hand around it. I let go so she can look.
"A turtle." She grins.
I smile with her. "It'll keep you safe tomorrow. You can just tuck into your shell."
"Thank you, Phoenix," she says.
"You're welcome," I tell her, wrapping her in a hug.
"Hey, dinner's almost ready," Bryce pokes his head into the room, "You staying Phoenix?"
"No I have to get home," I say smiling over Autumn's shoulder, "Thanks though."
He nods. I let go of her and stand. She hands me my bag and follows me to the kitchen, where Grey and Bryce are standing next to the counter watching their mom cook.
"Is it really that exciting?" I ask, smirking.
"Right?" their mom says laughing.
"Oh yeah," I say reaching into my bag, "Before I forget, I brought some cookies my mom made today."
"Phoenix, you didn't have to do that," Grey says, but excitement lights his eyes.
"It's really no problem," I say. "We have plenty and . . ." I trail off.
"You can say it," Bryce says, "We don't have plenty."
"Bryce," their mom scolds lightly.
"We don't," he mutters.
"Thank you, Phoenix," Autumn says, breaking the tension, "For everything."
"You're welcome," I say, setting the cookies down. "I better get home for dinner."
"Can I walk her home, Mom?" Grey asks, and she nods.
On the front porch, we lace our hands together. Grey steers us to take the long route to my house.
"Phoenix," Grey starts.
"Yeah," I say looking over at him, swinging our hands.
"You really don't have to bring us all that stuff."
"I want to, and it's really—"
"Phoenix," he cuts me off, "I realize you like bringing it, but I feel like that you think the only reason I'm with you is because of that." He looks down at his shoes.
I stop. "Do you really think that? I would never think of you like that. I know you're kind. I know you're caring. I know you're sympathetic. I know you care about your family."
I tilt his chin up with my free hand so he looks at me. My blue eyes meet his grey ones. "I know you care about me."
He smiles slightly and leans in. I give him a short kiss then pull back smiling. "So let me help."
He sighs. "You're relentless." He throws his hands up, mine still in one.
I laugh. "Now, come on," I say, "I have to get home."
"What's the hurry?" he asks, "You usually don't care."
"I'll tell you on the way." We start walking again, and I swing our hands in between us.
"You know who is coming over tonight." I groan slightly and he nods urging me to continue because he knows I don't usually care.
"And today after the flour fight, Aria came into the kitchen. She scared us all because she screamed. We all froze. She asked what we were doing and Cameron—"
He grins at the mention of Cameron. "Well Cameron, he said, 'Look Aria, we were just having fun.' Then he said, 'See?' And I tried to warn him but he threw a handful of flour at Aria and it hit her right in the middle of her shirt. She started yelling, but my mom covered her mouth. Mom wasn't holding her tight enough, and Aria slapped Cameron."
His grip tightens on my hand. Then I continue, "That's why I want to get home, before I make Aria mad."
"She slapped Cameron?" he asks, anger and shock lacing his voice.
I nod slightly, and start rubbing circles on the back of his hand, trying to calm him.
"Can I come see him?" he asks.
"Of course." I smile. We climb the porch steps and I turn the doorknob and step inside. He follows.
"Mom," I call because the house is silent. Then the screaming erupts and someone starts wailing. Grey pulls me in the direction of the wailing. We enter the living room, and Sebastian and Aria are yelling at each other. Mom is yelling at Aria to stop. And Xavier is yelling, but calmly trying to get Cameron to stop wailing but to be heard over the rest of them.
Grey immediately rushes over to Cameron and picks him up. Cameron loves Grey so when he sees him his sobs subside. With Cameron and Xavier quiet, Grey takes them out of the room.
"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" I shout really loudly.
Their words freeze in their mouths and they look over at me.
"Would you all just stop?! We're a family and we're slapping each other because of a shirt." I look pointedly at Aria. "We're yelling at each other when the others have already forgotten." I look at Sebastian. "I mean come on; Cameron was the one that got slapped. He was the one who was wailing because you were all yelling. And he's in the other room, fine."
"Sorry," Sebastian mutters.
Aria rolls her eyes. Then she goes back upstairs, stomping on the way.
"Sorry, I yelled," I say quietly.
Mom wraps me in a hug. "It's okay, Phoenix."
Sebastian joins the hug. "I'm sorry guys."
"It's okay, Bastian," I say using his hated nickname.
"Ugh, Phoenix," he groans.
"You know I love you," I say ruffling his hair.
"Yeah, I love you too," he says.
"I love you both," Mom says.
"What a cute family moment," Grey says.
I look over Sebastian's head and raise an eyebrow. Grey walks over, with Cameron in his arms. He sets him down and Cameron attaches to my leg almost knocking me over. I lift my left arm and let Xavier in. Mom motions for Grey to join us and lets him in between me and her on the side Cameron is attached to my leg. Cameron extends his arms to Grey and Grey lifts him up.
We enjoy each other's company until we hear a knock on the door. Aria dashes down the stairs and flings open the door. Our eyes all grow wide and we look at each other.
"Dalton," Aria says loudly and happily, obviously wanting us to hear.
Please please review! And tell me which one you want me to update the most!