FEBRUARY 7
I looked up from my phone as Bexley pounded down the stairs. I had just put a movie in for the twins in the home theater, and I was standing outside the room, texting my girlfriend. Mal and I had officially been dating for one week now.
Bex had her duffle bag in one hand, and her pillow and a soccer ball in the other. She had her medium-length hair pulled into its usual ponytail. She had gotten Dad's reddish-brown hair and Mom's blue eyes. Like Mom, she was a little taller than most girls her age. But not freakishly tall.
And she'd gotten Mom's attitude. Definitely Mom's attitude.
"Where are you going?"
She chomped her gum. She was almost always chewing gum. It was pretty obnoxious. "Vanessa's. I'm spending the night. Remember? I was talking to Mom about it last night at dinner."
"Oh, right. Well, I can't drop you off. You know that, right? I'm babysitting while Mom and Dad are shopping for the nursery, and I can't leave the twins alone."
She popped her gum at me. "Don't need you to, big bro. Ness's mom is picking me up. See you later, dummy."
And she just had to insult me. "How is it that a nine-year-old can be so obnoxious?" I asked myself.
It wasn't like Bex and I didn't really get along. We got along just fine, most of the time. There were times that she annoyed the crap out of me. But we didn't fight very often. I usually had a bigger problem with the twins, because they were always trying to pull some kind of prank on me. Which usually resulted in them either stealing or destroying my stuff.
"Hey, I'll be ten in four months." Funny that she didn't argue about being obnoxious.
"Whatever." A honk sounded from the front. Bex spent the night at Vanessa's house a lot, and Tina - Vanessa's mother - was usually the one to pick her up or drop her off, if me or my mom weren't available. "Sounds like Tina's here to pick you up. Is she dropping you off tomorrow, or do you need a ride?"
"Mom's picking me up. Ness and I have soccer practice in the morning, and Mom's gonna pick me up after that."
"All right. Call if you need anything. Mom's still feeling a bit of morning sickness, so I might be the one to pick you up. We'll see how tomorrow goes."
She nodded and then she was gone.
Finally, some peace and quiet.
Bex was gone. The twins were watching a movie. It was their favorite, so they would probably be entertained for a while. I doubted that they would get into any kind of mischief until it was over, so that gave me about an hour and a half.
I could get back to texting my girlfriend in peace. I looked down, checking the text she'd just sent me.
LET'S MEET UP AND PRACTICE SCENE 6.
I groaned. I would have loved to meet up her with her. Especially if she wanted to practice scene six, because that was one of the kissing scenes. But I couldn't. Not tonight.
Stupid Jaxson and Cayson.
CAN'T. I'M BABYSITTING MY TWIN BROTHERS.
CUTE. HOW OLD?
Mallory was a fan of kids. She wanted to go to college to become a teacher. I was pretty sure that she would make a great teacher.
Then again, I thought that Mal could be good at anything she chose to do.
5. THEY ARE NOT CUTE. THEY'RE BRATS.
I'M SURE THEY'RE NOT THAT BAD.
I snorted. She didn't know the half of it, of course. They could be cute, if they really tried to. Most of my family thought they were cute. But they could turn into little demons with the blink of an eye.
THEY ARE.
WELL, I'M JEALOUS OF YOU.
WHY ARE YOU JEALOUS OF ME?
YOU'VE GOT SIBLINGS. I ALWAYS WANTED AT LEAST ONE BROTHER OR SISTER.
IT'S NOT ALL IT'S CRACKED UP TO BE. IT CAN BE ANNOYING. I HAVE 1 SIS AND 2 BROS. 1 MORE SIS ON THE WAY.
YOUR MOM IS PREGNANT?
YEAH. 4 MONTHS. SHE'S CRANKY A LOT. STILL HAS A IT OF MORNING SICKNESS.
OOH, NO FUN. HEY, I HAVE AN IDEA. SINCE WE CAN MEET UP, I COULD COME OVER THERE TO PRACTICE & HELP YOU BABYSIT. IT WOULD BE FUN.
I tried not to panic. Having her come over to my house was a bad idea. A really bad idea. My brothers would probably scare her off, and they could do that without even using magic. If they decided to use their magic…
It would be a disaster.
They had gotten the speech before they started kindergarten in September, about keeping their magic a secret. And they were good about that when they were at school. They didn't talk about their magic to anyone outside of our family.
But they considered the house their place to do magic. Even if we had visitors over, who didn't know about the magic, they would sometimes use their magic.
BETTER NOT. MY RENTS WOULD BE PRETTY PISSED ABOUT ME HAVING A GIRL OVER WHILE THEY'RE OUT.
I'd just sent my response when another text came in. It wasn't from Mal, though.
It was from Jonathan. I scowled. I knew I shouldn't have given him my cell number.
IF YOU'RE FREE, I'D LIKE TO GET TOGETHER NEXT SATURDAY.
MAYBE. I'LL THINK ABOUT IT.
I wasn't going to make any promises. I still hadn't decided if I was going to keep meeting up with him. The last time was so awkward. And I really didn't learn too much about him, except for the fact that I had nothing in common with him. It wasn't the first time he'd asked to meet up since our last meeting. I kept stalling. Maybe I would hang out with him again, but probably not anytime soon.
I sighed. Now I was in a bad mood. Maybe I'd just go watch the movie with my brothers.
HEY, MAL. I BETTER GO. I SHOULD GET THE BOYS SOME DINNER. SEE YOU TOMORROW.
OK. BYE. MAYBE WE CAN GET TOGETHER TOMORROW, THEN?
THAT SHOULD WORK. I MIGHT HAVE TO PICK UP MY SIS FROM SOCCER PRACTICE, BUT AFTER THAT? ABOUT 4?
SOUNDS GOOD :)
I put my phone in my pocket. Then I poked my head into the theater. "You guys want some pizza?" I asked.
"Yeah!" they hollered.
"All right. Keep watching the movie, and I'll order it."
