Chapter Ten
A car pulled up the driveway outside, and my mother looked up from where she was cooking.
"Makayla, take Monique upstairs to your room. Go on, dear," she said sternly. We had already talked about this. She had told me she needed to get my dad used to the idea before he saw me.
Makayla slid her tiny hand into mine and led me upstairs to her room. We shut her bedroom door just as the front one opened.
"Wow," I said, taking it all in. "It's so beautiful." Her room was decorated like a princess'; elegant white walls, hanging roses and one of those beds with a curtain you draw around it for privacy.
"I know. It's like a princess'. It makes me feel so special and pretty."
"You know what would be so cool to learn?" Makayla asked suddenly, laying down on her bed. "Ballet."
"Really? Well, I could show you if you wanted," I said. Getting along with her was really easy.
"Really? Right now?" She asked, jumping onto the floor excitedly.
"Yeah," I said, smiling as she pumped her fists.
"Hey, Rose," a boy's voice said as the door swung open.
"Matt!" Makayla said happily, jumping into his arms. He smiled and laughed and hugged her.
"Hey, Matt, look!" Makayla said, turning around in his arms to point at me. She brushed her black curls off of her face and looked back at him.
He set Makayla down and she ran over to me and pulled me over to him. He was quite a few inches shorter than me and had to look up at me.
"This is Monique. Monique, this is Matt. You guys are siblings!"
"What do you mean, Makayla?" Matthew asked, clearly not believing it.
"Well," she started to explain like she was talking to a four-year old. "Me and you are siblings. Brother and sister. And, Monique is your sister, just like me. Which makes you her brother."
"Yeah," Matt said. "I get that part."
Makayla gave him a weird look, like she didn't understand why he didn't understand.
I understood, though.
"My friends and I were going around town today, getting information for a medical project-"
"Kids!" Our mom yelled from downstairs. "Get down here, now!" Matt and Makayla immediately started downstairs, but not before Matt gave me a suspicious look. I trailed behind them slowly, wondering if that included me.
"Matt, Alex," my mom said, "this is Monique. We lost her a long time ago. About fifteen years, correct?" My dad and I nodded as we looked at each other, and I sized him and my mom up, trying to figure out if there was any possibility of them being spies or whitecoats for Itex or any of its affliates.
It was a maybe, now that I was looking at them, trying to figure it out, but I cleared the thoughts from my mind and followed everyone to the dining room to have what would be a very awkward dinner.
"Here, Monique," my mom said after dinner, leading me upstairs and to the end of the hallway. "You can have this room. It was kind of unexpected, you just showing up here, so it's not decorated or anything, but Matt's old be is in here, so," she said, opening the door.
"Um," I said, looking down at her. "It's-"
"Go up the stairs, dear," she said, smiling, making me feel stupid. I ducked down under the doorway and walked up the five steps and turned.
"Oh," I said breathlessly. "Wow." The Flock had watched the Harry Potter movies several times and this room was like the Room of Requirement was when Harry and Ginny hid Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem. It was long, vast and messy. But, in the middle of it all, I did see a bed under a bunch of boxes.
"Well, Matt and Alex'll help you clean it out later on. There's windows around here somewhere, and you can open those to get the smell out. And I think there might be carpet in a few spots on the floor around here," she continued with a smile. "Anyway, I'll leave you to get settled. If there's anything you need... Well, holler."
I nodded and she walked back downstairs. I closed the door behind her and decided to use my genetic engineering to my advantage for once. I rolled up my sleeves and set to work moving things out of the way. Tomorrow, I decided, I would go through all of the boxes.
When I finished a half hour later, I stepped back and surveyed my work. All the furniture pieces were shoved against the wall so you could walk around the room easily, but a lot of them needed to be gotten rid of. And I could tell that well over half those boxes needed ditched, too.
But, that was enough for one night's work.
"Hey, Monique," my mom said, coming up the steps. "Do you need any-? Oh, wow." I blushed as she looked around. Had I been being a bit too strong?
"Guess you don't need Matt's help... Oh, yes. Speaking of Matt. I know he seems sort of, well, mean right now, he's really not. He just has trouble adjusting to change. And, a long lost sister is kind of a big change, ya know?"
"Yeah," I said, "I know." I was still getting used to the whole family thing and I had known about them for weeks now.
"Okay, good we got that all cleared up. He's really nice once he warms up to you. Do you need anything?"
"Well, a shower would be great," I said.
"Yeah, I bet it would," my mom replied with a smile. "C'mon, I'll show you where the towels are and stuff."
I followed her out of the room and took a shower, later joining Makayla in watching the Disney classic Snow White, one of my favorite Disney Princess movies. Afterwards, I collapsed into Matt's old bed, completely exhausted, but happy with the day's results.
I opened up the next box. It was full of Hot Wheels. I guessed they were Matt's and set the box aside. I smiled as a cool breeze drifted in from the open windows.
A heard a car pull up outside on the driveway and headed over to see what was up. It was a truck, a Ford, and it was smoking from the front.
Uh oh.
A guy climbed out and made his way to the front door. There was a knock on the door and I listened as Matt ran downstairs and opened the door.
"Hey, John!" Matt said.
"'Sup, Matt?"
"Not much, dude. Lame summer homework."
"Aw, that sucks. Mind taking a break to help me with my car?"
"Sure," Matt replied easily, stepping outside and shutting the door behind him. "What's the problem?"
"Well, that's what I came to you for. It's smoking, but I can't figure out what the problem is."
"Huh," Matt said, opening it up and John held it for him. "Well, my friend, that would be the problem of the year." Matt continued to look around and I started downstairs and went outside to join them, already pulling my hair back into a ponytail.
"Hey," John said, "who're you?" Matt looked up and then returned to the car.
"That's Monique. Long lost sister, just met her yesterday."
"Hey, I'm John, your cousin. Glad you finally rejoined us. I was about ten when your mom had you."
I smiled. "Hey. Mind if I take a look at the car?"
"Um, Monique-" Matt started but John interrupted.
"Move over and let her look, Matt. Something tells me she's ridiculously good at this," John said with a wink. Matt reluctantly moved over, and I joined him beneath the hood.
"Oh," I said after looking around for a few moments. "I see what it is!" I quickly fixed the problem as Matt and John watched and pulled back a few minutes later, finished.
"It should stop smoking in a few minutes. It was overheated."
"And how'd you know that?"
"I'm a walking car encyclopedia. If you were to talk to any of my old friends, they'd tell you the same thing."
"See, told ya, Matt!" John said, clapping him on the back. "I'm gonna chill here for a bit, 'kay, dude? Just 'til my truck is completely ready to go."
"Yeah," Matt replied. "Want any lemonade?"
"Sounds great!" John said.
"Monique?" Matt asked and I figured it was from politeness.
"Yeah," I replied, "thanks."
He waved me off as he headed inside. I watched him and caught a basketball as it came flying towards me.
"Sorry!" John said. "I shoulda told you first. Wanna shoot hoops?"
"Sure," I said. "One on one?" John smirked and nodded and I started the game, shooting and easily making it.
"Hey!" He protested. "I wasn't ready!"
"Ready now?" I asked with my own smirk, getting the rebound.
"Oh, bring it!" He said happily, getting into a guarding position.
I easily beat him again, and John laughed.
"Who taught you?"
"A blind guy," I answered truthfully, which sent John into laughter. "No," I said, "I'm telling you the truth."
He stopped laughing when Matt came out and handed him a glass of lemonade. He handed me mine it and was some of the best lemonade I'd ever had.
"Your sister is one of the best basketball players I've ever seen, man!" John said. "I wish Janey was more like her," he said, shaking his head. "Anyway, I'm outta here. See you two later!" And, with that, he climbed into his truck and drove off.
"So, cars and basketball. What else are you good at?"
"Girl stuff," I replied easily, spinning the basketball on my finger.
"What would you say to a little one-on-one?"
"I'd say bring it," I said, smiling and tossing him the ball. So, I thought, this is how to get through to Matt. Basketball.
An hour later, our parents were back from their day with Makayla and Matt and I were tied.
"So," our mom said, "did you guys have fun?" We glanced at each other and Matt nodded as I said,
"Oh, yeah."