Disclaimer: I don't own.
Author's Note: To be honest, when I planned to start out writing in this fandom with a slash story that would probably not include Karen, who is a definite un-favorite of mine. Then again, the muses work in strange ways and this particular plot got to me first. While, technically, Karen and David Michael are not blood-related siblings, they are siblings nevertheless and if the idea of kosher incest (hah, is there such a thing?) creeps you out, really, don't bother telling me. I chose this story to write for its mildly questionable moral issues.
Oh, and I uploaded this story onto this penname after finding out that my e-mail for the other one was dead, therefore no alerts. So sorry for the first reviews I've lost! I really appreciated them and thanks McKay for pointing out that it's Myriah, not Mariah!
: Tiny Vessels :
It was freezing. That was the first thing that registered in my head when I woke up. The second was that the sheets were…well…
I balled them up, swearing under my breath as I did so, and carried them quietly down the hallway. I paused, briefly, by Watson and my mom's room but heard nothing. I padded down the stairs, tripping over Shannon's tail, who gave a disgruntled noise and went back to sleep, surprisingly. Then again, she was old now and ceased to follow me around like a third leg and I kind of missed it more than I thought I would.
Turning on the light in the laundry room with my elbow, I opened the washing machine and stuffed the sheets in. I turned it on and leaned against the wall, eyes closed. It had to be at least three in the morning. I slid down to the tiled ground, trying not to recall the dream that I had been having. Okay, so I'm a guy. This sort of thing happens to guys all the time. I shouldn't be so worried if it wasn't the third damn night in a row. In a row!
"Jesus," I muttered, rubbing my palms against my eyes. It wasn't even the fact that I was sitting on the floor of the laundry room, freezing my ass off, and doing my own sheets that was worrying me. It was, to put it delicately, the subject matter.
To be honest, I really found Karen annoying as hell at first. And by "at first" I mean the first five years of my mom's new marriage. She was bossy and spoiled and followed around Kristy like a bad infection. Every other weekend she would plague us (well, probably just me) with her overly loud voice and her cockiness. Then…I don't know what happened. As we started to go to the same school, I started to find a few more things I had in common with her. We'd take the same classes, since she skipped a grade and all, and even help each other out with homework. Well, more like me bribing her to write my papers for me.
Then, after her mom and her stepdad, Seth, split, Karen got strangely quiet and weird. I can't swear, in good faith, that I really missed the oldKaren but it was enough to make me concerned about her. I mean, she's my sister, right? Stepsister, sure, but we had been part of the same family since we were in second grade. Karen moved into our house full time, after what Watson alluded to was a series of extreme fights with her mom, starting freshman year of high school. That was two years ago and now we were nearing the end of our junior year in high school.
And I can safely say that I like who Karen is now more than any other time I can remember. She was quieter than she was before but wasn't a silent, brooding sort of person. She still laughed and talked and functioned like a normal, non angst-ridden human being, which was a plus.
I felt my eyelids starting to close as the rumbling of the washing machine droned on. And I realized I had spent the last fifteen minutes musing over my stepsister, which could be considered kind of weird but hey, she's my sister, right? Of course I'd think about her sometimes.
The next thing I realized was a foot prodding me in my side. I had slumped over and had fallen asleep next to the laundry machine. I opened one eye to find Watson standing over me.
"Hey, what's up?" I croaked. He just stared at me for a second.
"I'm not even going to ask," he muttered, opening up the dryer, looking for a pair of socks.
"What time is it?" I asked.
"Nearly eight. Don't you have to go to school by eight thirty?"
"Shit!" I yelped. I ignored Watson's reproving look for language. I mean come on, who doesn't swear? Especially when they have thirty minutes left to go to school and it's a good twenty-five minute drive? At least? When the conditions are nice? I ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and burst into the bathroom as Karen was on her way out.
"Up early, I see," she said. She was already dressed and ready to go so I didn't know what she was talking about. It wasn't until I was brushing my teeth that I realized she was being sarcastic; I admit that I am a little slow in the morning. Karen was leaning against the doorway, watching me.
"Nugh." My mouth was full of foam from the toothpaste. I spat it out.
"Hannah's giving me a ride so you can be late if you want. Need me to cover for you?" I shook my head.
"I'm not going to be late," I said. Her blonde eyebrows rose in disbelief.
"Well, I'll think of something if you are." I was about to counter her again but realized there was no point because she had already left.
School is actually enjoyable. There's nothing really great about it but then again, there's nothing glaringly awful about it either. Like I had predicted, with a breakfast on the go, I wasn't late and had arrived at school with two minutes to spare. It was lunchtime now and I was heading towards my usual table. Hannah and Karen were already seated there, as well as Nick, Jackie, Myriah, Erick, Lindsey, and a couple more drifters who occasionally sat with us.
All I know is that it had something to do with Pamela and Leslie getting rezoned into another school and Karen suddenly learning that nobody likes a bossy bitch that she floated up the social hierarchy to settle at the top. Jackie, being the class clown, and Myriah have always been popular and, I'm not sure, I guess Nick and I kind of joined them near the end of freshman year. Erick and Lindsey DeWitt we became friends around the same time. There were several other random floaters that sometimes we hung out with, like James and Buddy, but for the most part, we were the main group. Sure I liked to ignore that kind of social ladder thing but that didn't make it go away. And I won't lie; sometimes it's nice to be at the top. It sure as hell beats being at the bottom, that's all I can say.
"I told you I wasn't going to be late today," I informed Karen. I slid into the seat next to her and my hand brushed against her bare arm, making my stomach drop a little bit. I shrugged it off. Maybe I was hungrier than I thought. Karen merely shrugged and thoughtfully snapped her carrot in half, chewing on it slowly.
"One more week of school left." I glanced over at Nick, who had said that. He might as well be a clone of his older brothers; he looks so much like them. If you exchanged him with one of the triplets and presented the three to me, it would probably take me a minute to realize.
"There's a party going on at your house, right David?" Jackie asked. Jackie still insisted on being called…well…Jackie, even though made him sound like a girl or about five years old. Or both. A five year old girl.
"What? Yeah, I think so." I glanced over at Karen in silent questioning.
"Dad and Elizabeth are probably going to be spending the night at Elizabeth's parents' place," she said. Karen was methodically peeling her string cheese into tiny strands and dropping them onto her paper plate.
"Whoa, wait a minute, so there's going to be no chaperones?" Myriah asked. It's funny, the story with her. Myriah had endured the first fifteen years of her life with her stage mom pushing her to do every little thing that came her way. Now Myriah basically got her to back off so she can live her life. I think most of the boys in the school were more excited about that than she was because she's really hot and now she actually has the time to go out.
"It looks like it," I said. "Unless Kristy decides to drop in that weekend but I doubt it. She's kind of busy lately."
"Sounds good then," Erick said, smiling appreciatively. He fingered the collar of his polo shirt. He was a stereotypical prep from his popped collars to his sun-lightened spiked hair. He actually looked a lot like his sister, Lindsey. She was wearing a white polo that offset her tan and her blonde-streaked hair fell in clean lines below her shoulders. I admit it:I take a closer notice in girls' appearences than guys'.
"Your guys' house is huge so it'll be all out," Lindsey said. She was smacking on some lip stuff, whatever they're called, and it smelled fruity.
"All out," I echoed. At that moment, I chose to look over at Karen for what seemed like no apparent reason and she was looking back at me with an expression I couldn't quite interpret. I bit into my sandwich and dropped my gaze.
A/N: Super slow beginning. I apologize. This is all for now. I really want to get this written but it's extremely frustrating when you can't stand the canon of one of the characters (i.e. Karen). Oh well; thanks for reading.