Part Two: Chapter Three
September 1, 1984
Light streamed into Sara and Meg's room through the window above their heads. The room was noticeably tidier than last month, before Sara had come. Toys were in toy-boxes or on beds, not floors. Sara taught Meg how to properly make her bed, so now she could do it with only little help. The closet was neat and organized and the clothes were put away as soon as they were brought upstairs, not splayed out on the floor.
At the current time, an alarm clock was beeping steadily, rousing Sara and little Meg from their slumber. Sara rubbed her eyes groggily, stepped from the bed, and dropped a sleepy hand down on the clock. The clock stopped its loud drone and Sara flattened some of her bedhead.
"Time to get up Meg," she mumbled, reaching for her covers and beginning to make her bed. Meg grumbled quietly. "Meg," Sara groaned, "Get up. You've got your first day of kindergarten today."
More mumbles emitted from beneath Meg's covers. "What time is it?"
"6:00." Sara stated, smoothing her blankets and fluffing her pillow for good measure. It was a habit, fluffing her pillow, almost like the more comfortable she was, the better her dreams would be. She then picked up the clothes set out on her end table and entered the closet to change. She had showered the previous night and set out her clothes for school the next day. It was a simple red long sleeved shirt and jeans. She was there to do well in school, not become popular.
When she exited the closet, Meg was still curled up under the covers, snoring quietly.
"Meg!" Sara exclaimed. "Everyone else is getting up. You have to too." She snatched the covers off Meg, a wave of cool morning air blowing around the room because of the action. Meg shivered and pulled her knees up to her chest against the cold.
"Okay…" she mumbled. "I'm up…"
"I'm not leaving until you make your bed."
"Fine," She did as she was told, making her bed so sloppily, Sara felt the need to do more than to help her tuck the corners in and smooth the covers. "Mom said it's not nice to wake people up when they don't want to wake up." Meg managed to comment.
"That was before you started school. Go get dressed. I'll meet you downstairs." Sara swung her bookbag filled with brand new school supplies, over her shoulder. She loved new school supplies, the way they smelled, the way their crispness felt when you opened them or used them for the first time.
Sara tiptoed past the many cars littering the hallway and the stairs, to smell the savory aroma of pancakes.
"Jill?" she called, peeking into the kitchen. It wasn't Jill; it was Derek, apron on over his dark clothing, flour leaving white dust all over him even with the cover.
"Hey Sara," Derek called brightly, swerving pancake batter over a pan.
"I didn't know you cooked." Sara stated.
"I'm in charge of cooking breakfast and getting everyone out the door for school. Now that you're here though, I won't have as much trouble." He set the skittle on the oven, then tossed Sara an apron.
"I can't cook."
"That's too bad. Come on, keep an eye on this pancake for me, I'll set the table. I already got Mike and Taylor up. Did you wake up Meg?"
Sara nodded, poking at the half-cooked pancake with a spatula Derek had been using.
"Great, they should all be down here in about an hour."
"An hour?" Sara exclaimed.
"I'm just kidding. They're not that lazy." A sheepish grin spread across Derek's face as he set plates and bottles of syrup down on the table.
"Oh no!" Sara cried, when she flipped over her pancake. "I've burnt it," She frowned.
"No big deal, I'll eat that one." Derek cried. Sara raised an eyebrow at him. "I did the same thing with my first pancake; I let it go too long. It cooks really fast." He took the spatula from Sara and flipped the pancake again, showing a perfectly brown side on the opposite side, even though it had been flipped over just a second ago.
"I don't know how you do it," Sara muttered, wiping her hands on her apron.
"Takes practice," was all Derek said.
Around 7:00, Meg, Mike, and Taylor all filed sleepily into the room. Mike and Taylor's hair were still ruffled, Meg's gray eyes seemed to have lost their fierceness, and the twins didn't seem in the slightest mood to play tricks. The three sat down at the newly set table with a little sigh each. Derek motioned for Sara to go in there and get everyone ready for when he brought in the pancakes.
Sara walked into the dining room and sat down across from the sleepy threesome. They sat in silence for a little while besides the random clattering of pots, pans, and plates in the other room.
A few minutes later, Derek burst into the room wearing a chef's hat and his apron, a platter of eggs and bacon in one hand, pancakes in the other.
"Goooood morning Nelson family!" Derek boomed like a man over the morning radio. "It's a beautiful Monday morning in September and not only that, it's the first day of school. Treat yourself to the luxurious dining of the Derek and Sara breakfast meals, complimentary for a limited time…or at least until school gets out!" He swept over to the table, plates balancing precariously.
Mike, Taylor, and Meg all seemed to perk up at the sight and smell of warm food. Derek set the platter on the table then swiped his chefs' hat off his head with an embellished bow.
"Bon Appétit,"
Meg, Mike, and Taylor dug in instantly, but Sara was only attempting to, for she was giggling in her chair too much. It felt good to laugh. She hadn't done so in a long time…a really long time. She hadn't had any reason to.
The only times she really truly smiled was back when she was five. Oh yes she had 'smiled' since then, but it was a sort of false smile because deep down she was just to sad and hurt for it to be a real display of happiness. The times she 'smiled' were rare, but she did have her moments.
Over the past month, she had formed several different bonds between the different members of the family. She and Derek were always with each other, talking, contemplating. Meg was now taking up an interest in reading and staying organized like Sara. They worked daily on her vocabulary and Meg was now beginning to read several simple words. Mike and Taylor were always dragging Sara off in directions of mayhem, whether they wanted her to join them in digging up worms from the yard, or dissecting road-kill.
"Eew! Awesome! Look Sara!" cried Mike, pointing into the middle of the road where a pancaked squirrel lay dead.
Sara walked over, one hand placing itself on Mike's shoulder so as to keep him from running into the road.
"Is that a dead squirrel?" inquired Taylor who had just walked up behind the two.
"Yep, I think so." Sara replied.
"Are you sure it's dead?" Mike asked, squinting into the road as a car rolled past.
"Of course it's dead," Sara muttered.
"Could you go get it Sara?" Taylor begged, tugging on her sleeve.
"Sure,"
Sara grabbed a stick from the curb, looked for cars, then walked out into the middle of the street. The squirrel had been flattened straight through the middle, its insides gushing out from its rear end and sides. Its head was the only thing in tact, its rotting eyes seemingly staring out from beneath the clouds of flies. Sara poked the stick through the eye and into the animal's skull. She then lifted the stick, the squirrel peeling off the ground like a piece of tape.
Sounds of disgust and amusement were heard back on the grass as Taylor and Mike watched her remove the carcass from the road. Sara walked slowly back to the curb, careful not to let the squirrel fall off the end of the stick.
Suddenly a disgusted cry from the porch brought the threesome's gaze towards the door.
"Mom said you're not allowed to go in the road, or touch dead things!" cried Meg. "Mom!" she called, turning on her heel and stomping back into the house.
Taylor rolled his eyes.
"She's so mean."
Sara nodded in a silent agreement.
"Sara, Mike, Taylor! Step away from the road! And put that dead thing down Sara!" shouted Jill from the doorstep. Meg stood gleefully, grinning broadly, arms folded in victory.
Sara sighed and dropped the squirrel in the gutter. The three trudged back to the house.
"We thought it was awesome Sara," Mike muttered. Taylor nodded in agreement. "Even we wouldn't have done that."
Sara couldn't help but grin.
"Hello? Earth to Sara? Are you going to eat your breakfast or not?"
Sara jumped to find everyone in the room staring at her. Derek had sat down next to her and was now waving his hand in front of her face as she recalled her memory.
"Wh-What? Oh…sorry." She ripped a forkful from her stack of pancakes and shoved it into her mouth to divert everyone's attention, though she nearly gagged on the enormous bite of food. Derek was chowing down on the burnt pancake from earlier and the three little kids were all nibbling greedily on their bacon.
Soon it was nearing 7:30 and everyone's bellies were full. Sara and Derek made sure everyone put their dishes in the sink and that there were pancakes left over for Jill and Frankie. Then the two spent the next ten minutes attempting to fit the children's backpacks on. By the time everyone was set to go, they were running late.
"Come on," Derek muttered, taking great strides down the sidewalk towards the kid's bus-stop. Sara ushered the kids along, speeding them up to keep with Derek's fast pace. There were several other children standing calmly at the stop, waiting for the bus to come pick them up. Meg and the twins instantly dashed over to a few of their friends, Meg to another girl with what looked like brand new Mary-Janes and an ironed dress. Mike and Taylor bounded up to another boy with filthy jeans and tennis shoes.
Derek and Sara walked by, giving each child a goodbye wish and ruffle of hair.
"We'll get faster once we get used to waking up for school and making breakfast." Derek muttered, slowing down a little as the tiptop of their school came into view.
They walked in silence until the parking lot for the school was in view, along with several skate-boarders using the railings. There were small clumps of other students on the sidewalks before the school, chatting casually amongst themselves, and for the first time ever, Sara felt out of place at school. She must have given off some sort of body language, because Derek looked down at her, analyzing her with his gaze.
"Don't worry," he said comfortingly, taking an arm and squeezing her shoulder in a one-armed embrace. "You'll fit in fine."
"Hey! Dare Bear!" cried one of the skateboarders, rolling up to Sara and Derek, three other's following. "How've you been?" He and Derek shared a high-five before the new boy glanced down at Sara. "Shouldn't have asked. New girlfriend? You've been doing well!"
Derek let out a laugh and Sara felt herself blush. Was she really that tall?
"Dude, she's not my girlfriend. She's my sister."
Sara blushed even harder. But she was more shocked than embarrassed. Sister? He had never called her that before, but she decided she liked the term.
"Oh," the boy seemed slightly taken aback, "New kid at your house?"
Derek nodded.
"Um, Sara, this is Todd," Derek pointed at the first skateboarding boy, "Todd, Sara,"
"Hey," He reached out and shook Sara's hand, "Sorry 'bout the mix up."
Sara smirked. She was still trying to get over the fact Derek had called her his sister.
"And these are Chris, Brian, and Dave." He pointed at each of the other boys in turn.
"Hi," Sara whispered.
"How'd you land with the Nelson's?" The boy named Brian asked. He was very pale with brown hair and blue eyes.
Sara threw a pleading glance at Derek, then remembered his words one month ago.
"I…um…I…never knew my parents."
"Oh."
"Hey Derek," said Chris, a boy with bowl-shaped blond hair and green eyes, "You want to hang out after school?"
Derek glanced down at Sara, biting his tongue nervously, but Sara didn't see what he was so nervous about.
"Uh, sure. Sure, I'll be there. Sara, you want to tell Mom where I am?"
"All right,"
"Great," He patted her head. "The bus drops Meg, Mike, and Taylor off at home so you don't have to worry about them."
The bell rang piercingly throughout the schoolyard.
"Let's go in guys," Derek muttered, taking great strides to the building. The four skateboarders followed, pushing themselves along forcefully.
Sara stood where she was for a few more moments. Sister? Really? Did he really think of her as a sister now? Sara began following quietly, kicking gravel out of her way as she walked.
It was the first time she ever considered Derek to be a brother.
