CHAPTER SEVEN: Movies and Surprises


Alex's POV:

We arrived at 5:40, dinner was at six. I got out of the car and followed Hayley and Luke up to the house. Mom was carrying the snacks and food, and Dad was still looking at the movie box. Somebody was very excited to get to watch that movie.

We rang the doorbell twice. Grandpa appeared at the front door.

"Hey guys! Good to see you! Dinner is in the kitchen if you want to get started!" He smiled at us, but his smile fell as I limped by him. My foot was still a little sore. I could feel his gaze linger on me for a while before he turned to welcome Claire.

"So how's….you know?" He asked her, like I wasn't there. She smiled at me before turning back to him.

"It's fine. Everything turned out great." He nodded at her and they walked towards the bar area together.

I followed Hayley into the kitchen. Gloria and Manny were there preparing food. She smiled at us when we walked in.

"Hello everyone! How is everyone today?" She turned to us.

"Fine." I replied, grabbing a sandwich off the counter. She smiled even wider.

"That's good to hear. Manny, would you mind showing these girls to their seats?" She gestured to us and Manny smiled.

"Sure thing mom!" We walked over to the kitchen and sat down. Cam and Mitchell arrived with Lily a few minutes later and soon we were all sitting at the table. Everyone was laughing, and smiling. It reminded me how glad I was to have a family like them. After dinner we all sat down in front of the T.V.

Dad was in the very front with Luke, a big bowl of popcorn set out between them. They're such kids, I thought. Mom and Mitchell were on the couch together, along with Cam and Gloria. Jay was sitting in his "special" chair, and Hayley and I were on the floor in front of the couch. I sat in front of Mom, and Hayley was to my right, in front of Mitch. Jay got up and picked up the movie.

"Ooh, what did you guys pick?" Cam asked excited.

"We found the Avengers." Mom replied, less excited.

"Really? You couldn't get something more classic?" Mitchell asked, upset.

"That's what I said!" I argued back. Mitchell nodded.

"I wanted to get something the whole family would enjoy. Just shut up and watch it! You can't judge it if you haven't seen it!" Mom snapped. Mitchell sighed and Cam pat him on the shoulder.

Jay popped the movie in and everybody fell silent. It was a pretty interesting movie. The guy who played Captain America was stunning, and every time he came on screen Hayley jabbed me in the side with her elbow. My waist was going to be very sore the next day. Mitchell was somewhat interested in the movie, more so than he thought. Whenever there was a huge action scene he scooted forward on the couch a little.

Dad and Luke loved it. It was at the scene when Loki opened the portal thing and released his army. I laughed every time some huge alien came on screen and they yelled either in freight, or excitement. Maybe in both.

In all, I was glad Mom picked it out. It was a decent movie.


Hayley's POV:

I laughed as the Hulk smashed Loki. This movie was so cool, I was glad mom had brought it back. I made a point to tease Alex about the Captain, and she glared at me every time.

I leaned forward and grabbed the bowl of popcorn away from Dad and Luke. Every time they moved or jerked, the popcorn would spill all over the place. It was annoying.

I popped a fistful of popcorn in my mouth and handed the bowl to mom. She thanked me and handed the bowl to Mitch. The movie was about twenty minutes from ending, and I yawned. It was getting late. Luke was still wide awake, which didn't surprise me, and Alex looked like she was falling asleep.

I nudged her in the side and she groaned.

"Errrrrrr, stop it Hayley, that hurts!" She yawned.

"Okay, sorry, just wanted to know if you were awake or not." I said angrily. I felt somewhat guilty though. All my jabbing and teasing made her side hurt, and I felt bad.

"Girls, don't start something, the movie's almost over." Mom nudged my shoulder and I fell silent. I did not want to cause any problems. About five minutes till the movie ended I felt a weight on my shoulder. I looked over.

Alex had fallen asleep and was slumped against my shoulder. I smiled warmly and gently moved her head to my lap, where I proceeded to softly stroke her hair. She was so cute when she was sleeping, I thought.

When the movie ended everyone started talking, as usual. Cam and Mitch were arguing over whether Thor or Captain America was hotter, and Jay and Phil were conversing about the plot. Luke was punching Manny like Hulk, and Gloria was trying to stop them. When I looked down Alex was still asleep. How she managed to sleep through all the noise was a mystery.

Mom sat behind me and put her hands on my shoulder. She looked down at Alex.

"Is she asleep?" She asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I can't figure out how she does it! Everyone is being so loud!" Mom nodded at this.

"She's always been odd, yes." Mom stood up. "We'd better get going, Hayley, will you wake her? Gently!" She reminded me. I rolled my eyes and shook Alex's shoulder slowly.

She stirred and opened her eyes. "Is the movie over?" She asked sleepily.

"Yeah, it's over. We have to get home." She nodded and slowly stood up. I got up after her and she leaned on me and hugged my arm. We walked together the rest of the way out, her holding onto me like that. It was sweet. However, I came to the conclusion that she was not awake yet, because there's no way she'd do this, in public if she was awake. We got in the car and drove home. Mom made us go straight to bed since it was already late.

I walked upstairs, Alex still holding my arm tightly. Her eyes were half open, and she yawned every two minutes.

"Somebody's tired!" I joked. She didn't respond, and I took that as a yes. I walked over and sat on my bed, Alex sitting next to me.

"Alex, sweetie, it's time for bed." I pulled her off my arm and scoot away from her. She sat there, almost like a zombie.

"Alex, come on! I want to go to bed to!" I whined. When she didn't respond again I slowly got up. Walking over to her, I grabbed her arm and dragged her towards her bed. She flopped down on the mattress and immediately fell asleep. I smiled and draped a blanket over her. She stirred, but didn't wake.

Getting into bed, I shut off the light and closed my eyes.


Alex's POV:

I don't know when, but sometime in the night I was woken up from a noise outside. I sat up in bed, surprised to find myself in my bed. The last thing I remembered was dozing off at Grandpa's house. I didn't even remember coming home. I shrugged off the blanket that was on top of me and walked towards the window. A dark shape was moving in our lawn. I shrieked softly and ran over to Hayley.

"Hayley, Hayley, wake up!" I shook her hard. She shot up immediately.

"What?!" She whispered harshly.

"There's something, or someone in our yard!" I replied, scared. She shot me a confused look before glancing out the window. We watched as the figure, definitely human, slinked through the yard towards our house. The shadow moved towards the backyard.

"Hayley, did you close the backyard door this afternoon?" I asked. She had opened the door when she went to go get a pair of shoes she had left in the yard. This was right before we had left for Jay's house.

She looked at me, her face pale and her eyes wide. "No! I thought you closed it!"

"Why would I have closed it? I didn't go outside!" I scolded. We both fell silent at the sound of the back door opening and closing from downstairs. I whimpered and Hayley walked towards the door.

"Let's go check it out!" She said, worried. I nodded.

"Oh, wait!" I ran back over towards my bed.

"What now?" She asked annoyed.

I pulled out my journal from under my pillow. Hayley rolled her eyes.

"Really?" She asked.

"Yes." I slid open the cover and pulled out the fish knife. Hayley looked at it wide eyed.

"What?" She gaped.

"Nothing, let's just go downstairs." I shushed her. Still confused, she opened the door and we slowly walked downstairs. Creeping into the kitchen, we saw the figure was bent over at the sink, washing their hands. They had all black on, including a black ski mask. It was a burglar, I thought shakily.

I started to slink forward when Hayley clamped a hand on my arm and pulled me so I was pressed up against her. She dug her nails into my arm and I shrieked. Hayley threw her hand over my mouth by it was too late. The black masked figure spun around and yelled when it saw us.

We. Were. So. Dead.