A happy Return
In side Charlie's apartment his cousins where settling down. The boys were in his room getting ready for bed as the girls were in the living room. Charlie knew that their home back in Iowa was twice this size and the girls seemed to noticed how much bigger their house was.
"Our room is the size of this living room." Misty and Mandy said together. They looked around in disgust. "Where are we all supposed to sleep?"
One of the quadruplets turned on Alex. "This was a great idea Alex! We can't even find a place to sleep here. I want to go home."
"Shut up, Sami!" Alex said getting in her older sisters face. "There is a thing called the floor! That is were most of us will be sleeping. And if you have a problem with that you can go out side and sleep in the truck!"
"Why don't you go sleep in the truck, seeing that this whole trip was your idea!" Sara said backing up her sister. Now it was Alex against Sami and Sara, but she didn't back down. "Yes this was my idea! I didn't come just to get out of Iowa and go shopping! I came here to celebrate my cousin's birthday seeing that we only get to see him once a year! I came because of him not for me!"
"Girls separate before I have to get in the middle of this!" Roxie said finally interfering with her daughters fight. "If you have such a problem with is we'll rent a room in a hotel tomorrow and you girls can go stay there. But you won't be going to the mall at any time during the stay here. Alex is right. We came here to celebrate Charlie's birthday not a shopping day."
"You always take her side!" The twins announced in out rage! "Its not fair!"
"Considering she's the only one of my children who gives good ideas or is normally right then yes I do take her side!" Roxie said getting mad. Her ears were already a dark red color. "Now I don't want to hear another word from any of you or there will be no shopping at all no matter what!"
The girls nodded and with out a word found a place to sleep. The quadruplets took the couch and chairs while the twins and Alex took to the floor. They laid there quietly till they had all fallen to sleep.
The next morning Alex was woken up by Charlie. "Come on. Roxie said it was ok to take you to work with me today!"
"Are any of the others going?" Alex asked looking at her sisters. They were all wearing those sleeping masks that were supposed to keep you looking awesome for the rest of your lives. Alex wouldn't be caught dead wearing one.
"No!" Charlie said as though the idea was crazy. "Well the girls aren't but Brad and Collin may come over after lunch."
"Well in that case I'm all for it." Alex said with a smile. It had been almost three years since she had seen her favorite cousin and he didn't seem to change a bit. Except for the part where he was a great skater now. Alex wasn't that bad herself, but she was into soccer and cheerleading more than skating.
"Good now get dressed." Charlie said patting her on the head. He had developed that habit when he was three and he still hadn't grown out of it. Alex didn't complain even if she hated when he did that. She just got up off the floor, grabbed her suitcase and headed for the bath room. She opened her suitcase and picked out a black and silver cheerleaders out fit. She hadn't told Charlie that the girls had gotten her stuck on cheerleading, but she knew this out fit would conjure up some questions. She also hadn't told him that she was on the cheer squad with the girls either. Putting that out of her head she put her hair up into a pony-tale and walked out of the bath room.
"Wow you look like one of them." Charlie said the moment he saw his cousin.
"Yeah well when you live with them you end up looking like them." She said twirling around. "But it's still the same me."
"That's good to know." Charlie said with relieve. "Come on we're going to be late."
They walked out of the apartment and down the street till they came to some place very familiar to Alex. The Skate shop. She remembered coming down here with Charlie and her sisters, before the boys were adopted, and try on skates till their feet would fall off. When Charlie unlocked the door Alex looked at him in awe. "You work here?"
"I knew you'd like it." He said with his warm smile. "Come on in. You can meet Hans. I'm sure he'd like to know that not all of you turned in to brats."
"Who said you were a brat?" A voice said from behind a screen. Charlie pulled back the screen to see Couch Bombay lying down on the bed. "Hey Couch! What are you doing back?"
"Got injured so I had to come home." The man answered he looked at Charlie and saw the confused girl behind him. Charlie noticed Bombays eye's flash behind him, he had almost forgot about Alex. Couch this is my cousin Alex. She's as you can see a cheerleader. But she's also not that on skates."
"She'd better be good at skating!" Hans said bringing Bombay his breakfast. "All those years of coming in here and trying on skates. If I remember you were the one the tried the throw one at your sister."
"I don't recall that." Alex said looking around the room her cheeks as red as could be. "If I remember right Sami hand threw it at me and I was just throwing it back."
"No I remember that!" Charlie said with a laugh. "She called you a sissy skater and you threw it at her with the blade towards her. You got grounded for a week for that. Sami had to get six or seven stitches."
"It was ten but she had it coming." Alex replied with a small smile. She really was a brat back then. "But I haven't touched a skate since we moved to Iowa. There isn't a skating rink for miles. Its more of a farming state."
"Yeah nothing but farms for miles and miles." Bombay joked. "I bet you have to ride a donkey to school for an hour."
"No it's a bus but you were right about the hour." Alex replied adding to Bombay's joke.
"I like this kid!" He replied as he dug into his breakfast.
"I can handle one of you." Hans replied shaking his head. "But seven of you is too many. Please tell me you didn't invite them Charlie."
Only Brad and Collin." Charlie replied and laughed at Hans's confused face. "You haven't met them. Roxie adopted them and they're the only boys in the family."
"Sucks for them." Alex replied with a laugh. "I went to the orphanage with mom. They were so happy to have a sister. Now seven of them is too much for their liking."
"I bet." Hans said taking Bombay's plate. "Now that you'll be staying here you can help Charlie with his job."
"Great." Bombay replied sarcastically. "I can't wait."
Alex smiled and went to examine the skates. She hadn't owned a pair since they had lived here. She picked up a pair of black and pink skates. They looked like her style. She looked at her reflection in the blades. She didn't look like the twins or. quadruplets Her hair was a sandy brown and her eyes were a brilliant silvery-blue color. Just like Charlie. But everything else she looked like her father. She inherited his small nose and ears and light skin color. The only thing she got from her mother was her lips. The twins and quadruplets looked exactly like their mother. She sighed and placed the skates back on the rack. She looked up at the window and noticed Brad and Collin walking towards the shop fallowed by all their sisters.
"Barbie alert!" She warned and the men paused. They looked at her confused so she explained. "My sisters are coming."
"Where does Barbie fit in?" Bombay asked.
"They're like life sized Barbie." Charlie explained then looked at his cousin. "Kind of like what you look like."
Alex punched her cousin hard on the shoulder. "No I'm more like a Bratz. I can go preppy, punk, gothic or even athletic in just three minutes, and I'll never go out of style."
"You for got tomboy and hick." Charlie joked as he rubbed the place Alex punched him Alex raised her arm as to punch him again. "You're asking for another!"
"You couldn't hurt a fly." Brad said sarcastically as he shut the door on Sami. Collin and Brad high-fived then moved away from the door before they got pummeled by the girls.
"What was that for?" Sami asked as she rushed through the door. "You could have smacked my face in!"
"it would have made you look a lot better." Alex added in a heart beat. Brad and Collin licked their pointer finger, pointed towards the ceiling and made a sound like something being singed. "You just got burned!"
"I haven't heard any one do that since I was in fourth grade." Sara replied high-fiving her sister. "Now who just got burned?"
"Mine was so much better." Alex replied but changed the subject before the quadruplets caught on to what she had just said. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Mom told us to come and get you." Sara replied eyeing Bombay. "Arent you that one hockey player?"
"Yes that's Gordon Bombay." Alex said rolling her eyes. "Now why were you to come and get me?"
"We're going to the mall." Kassy replied. Then turned to Bombay. "What are you doing working here?"
"He got injured." Alex said answering for him then went back to the real questions. "And you were to come and tell me why?"
"Your coming with us." Misty replied with a smile. She was the only sister Alex could stand to be around. "But I think our going to have to go ask mom for money. She just gave us the same amount and told us to get out of her hair."
"No we have your money." Brad replied digging in his pockets. "Mom didn't trust them so she have us your money."
Both Brad and Collin handed Alex a hundred dollar bill. Alex took them both and placed them in her hip purse.
"That is so not fair!" Sami complained.
"Yeah mom only gave us 100 each." Sara protested.
"Well she is the favorite." Brad pointed out but backed away as the quadruplets turned on him. He covered his face. "I didn't mean it…don't hurt me."
"You big baby!" Collin replied rolling his eyes. "Alex, mom wants all of us back by 3 pm. Make sure they have their cell phones on."
"Will do." Alex replied giving Collin the salute."Come on Barbies before Hans kicks you out. See you tonight Charlie. Your favorite color is still green isn't it?"
"Of course!" Charlie said pointing to his green shirt. "See you tonight."
Alex lead her sisters out of the shop and to the bus stop. They waited for a minute in silence. Alex knew one of them was going to blow. 5-4-3…She thought and then…
"Why don't we just walk!" Misty blurted out. Alex turned to look at her sisters. They were all dressed in whit and gold cheerleading outfits with their hair in low girly pigtails tied with gold ribbons. Then she looked down at their shoes, white flip flops with gold straps and kitten heals. She pointed down at them. "That's why. If we walk your feet will get dirty and besides its almost fall and it's getting colder."
"Good point." Sami said at once. She looked around and let out a sigh of relief. The bus just turned and came to a squeaky halt in front of them. Sami got on first and placed seven bus tokens in the machine. The bus driver looked at her with an odd look but she didn't notice. Alex was the last one on the bus. The bus driver looked confused so she just had to say something. "Were from Iowa."
"Here for a cheer contest?" He asked.
"Nope this is the style in Iowa. Sisters dress the same." Alex explained even if it was a lie.
"Alex your holding up the line!" Krissy yelled up to her. "We saved you a seat!"
Alex left the bus driver and she swore she heard in mutter "Iowans." She smiled. She loved making people confused and nothing confused city people more than her home state. She sat down across from Sami and Kassy then remembered the cell phones. She pulled hers out of her black hip purse and showed it to her sisters. They rolled their eyes as they all reached into their white hip purses and took out theirs to show Alex that they had them. Their cell phones all had pink rinestones on them but underneath all the glam were plane white flip phones. Alex's was a black flip phone with black rinestones and some white ones in the shape of a skull and cross bones.
"I can't believe mom let you keep your cell phone like that!" Kassy said with a disgusted look on her face. "I mean it is your entire fault we had to leave!"
"I liked Iowa!" Mandy protested. "But no, you had to go befriend the worst kids in town then get yourself in a load of shit!"
"Mandy!" Krissy said smacking her across the face. "Don't say shit!"
"They weren't all bad at first." Alex protested. Her sisters gave her a give me a break look so she gave in. "So they were bad, but you have to admit they were cool. And I never ended up like them."
"Yeah, because we left Iowa!" Sami pointed out. The pus cam to a halt out front of the mall. "Come on and don't bring up Iowa any more. Your making me miss Andy."
The others nodded in agreement as they climbed off the bus and headed towards the mall doors. They entered and were all taken back on how big it really was.
"Ok girls stick together." Sami ordered. She was born first of the quadruplets and ened up being the leader of them if Alex didn't speak up first. "Remember no one is allowed to buy anything before it is tried on and every one approves."
"Yes mommy." The rest of the quadruplets replied rolling their eyes. They had heard that speech many times before.
"Where should we start?" Mandy asked still in awe.
"There is a Rue 21." Alex pointed to the store and the girls turned to her and smiled as they all yelled out. "Ninety nine cent underwear!"
The girls hurried over to the store and went strait to the back where the bin of ninety-nine cent underwear sat. The girls dug in as they searched for a pare that they'd wear.
"Here you go!" Sami said handing a black thong over to Alex. "Read it."
Ales unfolded the thong so she would read the purple writing. She laughed then she read it out loud. "I'm the one your mama warned you about."
"That is so you." All of them chimed in. They didn't notice the odd looks the counter clerks were giving them. Both of them had black hair. One had short cropped hair and the other had long hair that almost touched her belt.
"I've never seen so many girls surrounding the underwear." one of the girls told the other. She nodded in agreement and soon their curiosity got the best of them
"Where are you girls from?" The short haired one asked. Alex turned and read her name tag. Her name was Niki and the other girls name was Ronnda.
"Iowa." The girls replied in unison. Ronnda and Niki got a kick out of that.
"Do you guys live near a Rue 21?" Ronnda asked playing with her hair.
"No." the girls replied in unison again. Niki had a hard time holding back her laughter.
"The nearest mall is two hours away from where we live." Alex explained.
"That makes since." Ronnda replied elbowing Niki in the side.
"We don't even have a clothing store in our town." Misty said picking up a yellow thong that had the word "No" in rainbow on the front. Sami took them from her and placed them back in the bin.
"I feel sorry for you." Niki said sounding actually sorry.
"There was U2 and Blonde,
and music still on MTV.
Her two kids in high school
Tell her that she's uncool.
But she's still preoccupied
With 19, 19, 1985."
"That would be mom." Alex said answering her phone. "Hey Mom."
"how did you know it was me?" Her mother asked from the other end.
"The ring tone." Alex said simply. "We're in Rue 21 right now."
"Good your at the mall. Well don't buy more than six pared of underwear and make sure Misty and Mandy don't buy thongs." Roxie said with a heavy sigh. "Well I'll let you get back to your shopping. Bye Al."
"Bye mom." Alex said hanging up the phone. She hated it when her mom called her Al. She could handle Ali but Al was pushing it. She looked at her sisters and put back three pares of underwear. "Mom said only six and no thongs for you two."
Misty and Mandy groaned as they put back most of the underwear in their hands. The other girls picked out the six they liked the most and paid.
"We'll be back." Sami said as she took her change. "We'll be here for awhile."
"We'll remember to restock." Niki joked as she put the underwear into a bag. And with that the girls left the store.
