Kieran Roberts - New Zealand
Logan woke up early Tuesday morning, and stared up at the ceiling. He glanced at the clock, which read 5:30.
He sighed.
It was time for him to start his day, it seemed.
He crawled out of bed and got changed into his running clothes. He, of course, was going for a jog.
He quickly found a paper and took out a pen, scribbling a note on it just in case his siblings woke up and began to look for him. He then ran out of the house.
There was nothing better than an early morning run, Logan reckoned (though he knew that Oscar would definitely say otherwise).
"Ow!"
Logan fell forward on his face as someone rammed into him.
"Ah, I'm so sorry!"
He looked behind him, where someone else was standing behind him.
"Uh, it's okay." he replied awkwardly.
"It's great to see another runner around!" he smiled. "It seems like all my speeches have been paying off!"
What speeches? Logan didn't dare to ask. He pushed himself off the ground, trying to process his accent.
They continued to jog in silence, until he spoke up again.
"Actually, now that I think about it... I don't think I've seen you around before. Are you new here?"
What was with his accent?
"Yeah, we moved here in January."
They stopped running, and collapsed on a park bench. Logan took the time to get a proper look at the man.
He had light brown hair that almost seemed to be blond, depending on how you looked at it, with his hair curling randomly. It reminded him of a ram. He was also shorter than him (Logan sat up straighter at this observation, no doubt trying to look taller) and that he was less stockier than him. He had brilliant green eyes (which wasn't fair, he reckoned) and a bright smile.
He cleared his throat and Logan zoned back in.
"If you're new here, then you don't know who I am." He stuck out his sweaty hand. "My name is Kieran Roberts. Nice to meet you."
He grabbed it and shook it.
"Logan Johnson."
The two sat for a little longer, the only sounds were them gulping down water. Kieran was the first to stand up.
"Alrighty!" he cheered, clapping his hands. "Now that I've found someone else who enjoys running, why don't you help me convince everyone to get out of their homes?"
"What?"
Logan stared at him in disbelief. "What are you doing on about? Let the people be!"
Kieran scoffed. "But that's boring!"
Finally someone who speaks my language. Logan shook his head. No, he couldn't think like that!
"Yeah, but still!"
The other ignored him and reached for his hand, pulling him off the bench. "So what?! They're not getting exercise! They'll grow up to be very lazy human beings! And I'm going to make it my problem!"
Kieran started yelling, making Logan groan and cover his ears. He sounded exactly like Charlie before... well, before her accident.
"Okay, shut up before you wake up the entire neighbourhood!" he hissed.
He pouted. "But don't we want to wake them up so they can exercise-"
He lifted up his finger to silence the other. "Sorry, but there is no 'we' in this." he stated.
Kieran frowned, before he sighed. "I knew Australians were chickens."
"What." He felt himself tense up. "What are you going on about, aren't you Australian?"
"Nope!" he laughed, as he began the cool-down stretches. "Can you guess where I'm from?"
Suddenly, the accent clicked into place.
"A New Zealander." he muttered through gritted teeth.
-v-^-v-
It was only the second day of school, yet the younger siblings were already late.
"What took you?!" Charlotte screamed when Logan entered the house at 7:40.
"Oh, nothing."
"Nothing, my arse." she rolled her eyes. "Do you really think we're going to believe that?"
They heard Oscar groan from the living room. "Can you stop dragging me into your problems?" he whined.
"That's impossible." she snapped. "And it's not my problem, it's his." She pointed aggressively to Logan. "He's late. And he never is."
"First time for everything, I suppose." he muttered, and Charlie glared at him.
"Whatever, we have twenty-minutes to get out of this house and to school. Os, have you eaten?"
"Of course."
Logan sighed. "Well, you two know what you're doing, I don't see why I always have to be there. Anyway, I'm going to take a shower, is that okay?"
He ran into the bathroom.
-v-^-v-
Charlotte and Oscar began the slow march to school in silence.
"Look," Oscar spoke. "If Loggie doesn't want to tell us, don't make him-"
"Shut up." she interrupted. "Do you think that matters? He should tell us things! He shouldn't keep things from us, he's our brother, not our parent, remember?"
He cringed. How long had it been? How long had it been since Logan had been playing the parent-role? He shook his head. Logan had told him not to think so much about their parents. He probably knew how _ they were to him.
Well, they were also _ to Charlotte. Yet she would bring them up in conversations.
Maybe it's because you're a crybaby.
He froze.
"Oscar?"
He glanced at Charlotte, who frowned.
"Are you alright?"
He nodded and caught up to her. "Sorry, I was just dwelling... on..." He couldn't lie to his sister and they both knew it. "On our parents."
"Oh." Charlie wheeled closer to him and patted his side. "It'll be fine."
"I know it will be, it's been a few years."
They stared at each other intensely.
"CHARLOTTE!"
Peter crashed into Oscar, making him stumble.
"Sorry!" he apologised. He turned around. "Charlotte, guess what?! My brother was being an idiot again yesterday!"
"I was not!"
Oscar jumped, seeing the red-head trudge slowly behind him with another kid.
"Well, see you at home?" Charlotte waved goodbye to her brother and followed her friends to school.
"So what did Erland do?" she asked.
A grin broke out on Peter's face.
"Well..."
"SHUT UP!"
Erland jumped and attempted to whack his brother, but he ducked, so he fell on his face.
"Better luck next time." Leopold smiled, making Erland grumble in annoyance.
They arrived at the school gates at 8: 20 and headed to the elevator and went up a floor before going their separate ways to class (as the girl's campus and the boy's were in two different directions).
Charlotte wheeled herself to the Year 7 classroom (which was much smaller than Oscar's class so it didn't need to be double-streamed) and waited for their teacher to hurry up and start the day.
"Hi, you're Charlotte, right?"
A blonde girl came into her line of vision.
"Sorry I didn't get to say hello to you yesterday, I had to go home early. Like, really early." she grimaced. "Anyway, I'm Lillian Vogel."
"You can just call me Charlie."
They shook hands.
"I have a feeling we'll get along just fine!"
Charlotte resisted a grin. She thought so too, Lillian seemed to be quite nice.
Ms. Anton arrived at the classroom and unlocked the door, ushering the twenty or so students in.
She trailed behind Lillian, who put her books down next to Charlie's desk.
"Were people nice to you yesterday?" she whispered conversationally while Ms. Anton took the roll.
She shrugged. "I guess, they were nice, but none of them got out of their way to talk to me."
She laughed. "Yeah, they really like their clichés. Don't let that bother you."
"Don't worry, I won't. I understand." She paused. "Well, not really. But at least I think I do." She pointed to her chair and giggled. "After all, who would want to be friends with a disabled person?"
Lillian pulled a face.
"It was a joke, I'm kidding."
"Girls, quiet."
The pair fell silent.
-v-^-v-
After a tedious double English lesson, Charlotte wheeled herself out of the classroom with Lillian chattering next to her. They arrived at the elevator, where Peter, Erland and Leopold stood waiting for them.
"Hey, Charlie!" Peter waved. He then noticed the other. "Who are you?"
"Lillian Vogel. Charlotte's classmate." she introduced herself, while Peter filed the name away in his mind.
"Anyway, let's go to recess!" Erland spoke up. "I'm hungry!"
"Hi Hungry, I'm Leopold."
Erland scowled. "You know what I mean, let's just go."
The five hopped into the elevator and went down a floor to the eating areas. They headed for a bench.
"Well, I've never seen you before." Peter told Lillian.
She stared at him. "Peter, this is a K-12 school. We've both been here since kindergarten, what do you mean you've never seen me before?"
"I... don't remember you?"
"PETER!" Erland cried out. "That's so insensitive! Remember that one crybaby in Primary? That's her!" he blinked. "No offense, Lilli."
She smiled. "None taken."
"So you've been here since kindy?" Charlotte asked.
"Yup! Erland, Peter and I." she chewed on her pear. "Leopold came here in... Year 3?"
"Year 5." he corrected.
"Ah, close enough."
"Wow, what was the school like in primary?" Charlotte questioned.
"Uh, like every other school, I guess?" Erland shrugged. "Though, I can't say that because this is my only school, ha."
"What about you?" Peter asked. "What was your old school like?"
Charlie tapped her chin. "It was good too, I guess. Though, I'm not sure if the curriculum is the same because we were in Western Australia."
"WESTERN AUSTRALIA?!" they squealed.
"Why did you move across the country?!" Leopold gasped.
"Hm... my brother found a better job here so we moved." she lied with ease (she and her brothers had decided to use it as their cover story).
"Your brother?" Erland repeated. "How old is he?"
"Twenty-two."
"And... he's taking... custody of you? Is that the right word?"
"I think so and it's complicated." She laughed it off with a wave of her hand.
The topic was changed and they soon began to talk about the NRL.
"You know what, I don't see why it's such a big deal." Leopold stated. "It's just a sport where people get hurt."
"THANK you!" Erland jumped up. "It's a stupid sport!"
Peter grumbled under his breath. "It's not stupid!" he protested weakly.
"I agree." Lillian nodded. "While it may not be my ideal sport, I understand that it is culturally enriching."
"I like rugby." Charlotte said unnecessarily.
"Which team do you go for?" Peter turned to her. "I personally go for Parramatta Eels."
"But they never win." she pointed out.
"I don't care, they're still my favourite team, I once met one of the players."
"I go for Penrith Panthers." she stated, while Lillian smiled. "Ah, I go Melbourne Storms."
Everyone else stared at her.
"Why? We don't even live in Victoria." Leopold reminded her.
"Melbourne's my birth-place. My stepbrother always tell me they're really good, so they must be." she shrugged.
"Have fun losing." Charlotte taunted.
The bell rang, signalling the end of recess.
"Aw, you're kidding." Peter whined. "What do you guys have now?" he asked, curiously.
"Sport." Lillian said, making Charlie grimace. "How about you?"
"Art." Leopold pretended to hold a paintbrush and waved his hand in front of him. "I like art."
"Yeah, we know."
The group headed back to the elevator and split up, getting ready for their next classes.
"Oh." Lillian said as they entered the classroom. "Not trying to be offensive but..." she glanced at her chair. "How are you supposed to do sport?"
Charlotte followed her gaze. "That's a good point. I don't really know, we'll just see what our teacher has to say, I guess."
Ms. Ly walked into the classroom. "Good morning. Have you got your sport clothes? Because we're going to the COLA, let's move it!" she announced, before leaving.
She tried to resist a groan (not that it worked, it got out anyway). It was going to be a long day, wasn't it?
-v-^-v-
Charlotte waited by the front gate, waiting for her slow brother to hurry up so they could go home. When he finally did arrive, she waved goodbye to her friends and they set off.
"How was school today?" she asked.
"Fine, why?" Something in his voice seemed iffy, but she just assumed it was because he was tired.
"Just trying to start a conversation."
"Okay then, how about you?"
"It was good too."
They continued the rest of the journey in silence.
They made it home twenty minutes later and had barely entered the house when Logan jumped out on them.
"Took you a few hundred years!" he smiled, ushering them inside and made them put their bags down.
"Get dressed into comfortable clothes, because we're going to watch rugby practice!"
"WHAT?!"
