Hello, everyone! Welcome to the short story entitled Miranda Parker. Enjoy!
This is a prompt from Movies And TV Shows AU.
Disclaimer: I do not own Drake And Josh or anything you recognize. The character Miranda Parker was an idea given to me by Movies And TV Shows AU.
Miranda Parker was smart, kind, gentle (but she could be stern when she needed to be), and wise beyond her years. She was a firm believer in choosing the right discipline for the right child, or you might as well not discipline them at all.
For example, one kid may obey everything their disciplinarian says when the disciplinarian uses physical discipline, but another kid may not listen to the person, no matter how many times the person yells, scolds, or punishes them. The second child may need a more emotional type of discipline because if the physical discipline won't get through to them, why keep trying what isn't working?
Therefore, over the years, Miranda had gotten the discipline thing down to a science. She knew which of her siblings needed what kind of discipline (well, Drake and Megan. She'd only met Josh a month ago, so she was still figuring him out) and when it was necessary to be gentle and when it was necessary to be strict.
Miranda Parker, twenty one years old, shut the door behind her as she stepped into Drake's room when she knew Josh would be out of the house. Drake strummed a cord on his guitar and the sound lasted a few seconds as he looked up before the musical sound halted.
"Miranda," he realized and set his guitar aside. "What's up?"
"I heard that you've been getting bad grades and staying out past curfew," she replied.
Drake flinched. "Yeah…" he replied. "Mom's already grounded me. I don't need to hear it from you, too."
Miranda sighed as she sat beside her younger brother on the bed.
"I'm not going to scold you or punish you," she told him.
Drake's eyes widened in surprise. "You're not?"
Miranda shook her head. "No. I'm going to ask you why. I'll admit, you're not the best student, but you were passing until a few months ago, and I've seen you skip curfew, but not five times in a row. So what changed?"
Drake shrugged. "Nothing. I just didn't feel like doing my homework."
Miranda hummed. "I don't think so. Your grades started slipping, and you started staying out later a little over a month and a half ago. You want to know what happened a month and a half ago?"
Drake frowned. "What?"
"Walter and Josh moved in," Miranda answered with a raised eyebrow. "Would that humongous change in your life have anything to with your grades and your behavior?"
Drake seemed surprised she'd figured it out, but Drake had his pride, and he scoffed.
"Of course not!" he lied.
"Then, why are you strumming all the wrong cords on your guitar, like you always do when you're nervous?" Miranda asked as he stumbled over the notes on his guitar.
Drake sighed. "Fine. You got me."
Miranda took a deep breath. "Drake, just because Josh and Walter are apart of our family now doesn't mean Mom or me will pay any less attention to you. You're still my baby brother, and even if I have another little brother now, I will never forget about you. If I ever do, you have permission to slap me until I remember my promise to never forget you. Okay?"
Drake smiled. "Thanks, Miranda."
Miranda shrugged. "Now, will you get your grades up and start coming home sooner? The last thing we need is Mom yelling at you again. I won't tell Mom about your feelings, and therefore, she won't smother you until you wish she would pay less attention to you if you get your grades up and are home by ten pm on school nights and eleven pm on weekends. Deal?"
Drake smiled and nodded. "Deal, big sis. But stop calling me your baby brother! I am fifteen!"
Miranda laughed. "Face it, Drake, you'll always be my baby bro, whether you like it or not," she replied, making them both chuckle.
Neither of them noticed Megan slowly close the door before quitting her ease dropping and returning to the room she shared with Miranda.
Megan sighed, heavily, as she laid down on her bed.
Miranda had such strict rules when it came to the room they shared. Don't cross over to Miranda's side of the room; don't touch Miranda's stuff; don't lay on her bed; don't play pranks on Miranda or the boys while Miranda is in the house. Unless you have permission, of course.
Miranda was always so strict with Megan, but she was never strict with Drake and Josh. Why was Miranda so hard on Megan? What had Megan ever done to her? Why was she treated differently than Drake and Josh?
Honestly… sometimes Megan wondered if Miranda actually hated her.
Thank you for reading! There will be 4 chapters in this story (as of now, anyway), and I am hoping to have the next chapter up on Sunday! See you then, and please leave a review! Bye, everyone!