Juju's pov
A few days later, I woke up in the middle of the night to my dad shaking me awake.
"What?" I groan, rubbing my eyes and blinking back the light.
"We're going to the hospital," he says.
"What?!" I cry, sitting up, feeling suddenly wide awake. "Why? What's going on?"
"Your mom has a fever, and her doctor thinks she may have the flu. She's gonna have a checkup and probably get some medicine," Dad says.
"Will she be okay?" I ask, concerned. I don't care too much about what happens to the baby, but I don't want anything to hurt my mom.
Dad sighs deeply. "If we can start fighting it now, she and the baby have a better chance," he says. "You guys will be here alone for a little while, okay?"
"Okay," I say slowly, nodding.
"I'll see you soon," he says. "Bye, Jules."
"Bye, Dad," I say. He walks out of the room.
Yawning, I open my phone to check the time. 5:20 a.m. "Great," I whisper. I won't be able to fall back asleep, I know, so I get up and walk to my desk, where I begin working on a detailed drawing of an eye I've been going back to for a few days but never been able to work on it for more than a few minutes.
After a little while, I finally finish with the eye and sit in the hanging chair I have, where I watch YouTube for another half and hour before deciding to get some breakfast.
I decide to make waffles, because Mom always does on Sundays. As I'm taking out the ingredients, Everett walks into the kitchen.
"Where's Mama?" he asks.
"She and Dad went to the doctors', because Mom's sick and they're getting her some medicine and a checkup," I tell him.
"What are you doing?" he asks.
"I'm making waffles. Wanna help?" I ask.
"I don't know how," Everett says.
"I'll teach you," I say. "Sit on the counter, so you can reach easier," I tell him. I help him climb on, and then finish gathering ingredients.
"How do we start?" he asks.
"First," I begin, "we need to turn on the waffle iron." I say, as I plug it in and turn it on.
"Then what?" Everett asks, watching me curiously.
I hand him an egg. "Crack this. Make sure not to get any shells in the bowl," I instruct.
We continue making waffles, and Grayson joins us halfway through. Once we finish, I put berries and syrup on all of them and carry them to the table.
As we're eating, our parents walk in.
"Oh, Juju, you made waffles?" Mom asks. She definitely looks sick, and tired.
I smile at my brothers. "We made them together," I say.
Our parents smile at each other.
"Alright, Betts, you're gonna go rest," Dad says, leading Mom down the hall.
After that, he comes back to the kitchen and makes himself a cup of coffee before joining us at the table.
"She's gonna be okay, right?" I ask him.
He smiles at me. "Yes. She'll be fine," he says. "So will the baby."
I nod silently.
"Is it a boy?" Everett asks immediately.
"We still don't know, buddy" Dad replies, chuckling and taking a sip of his coffee.
"Can you please know soon?" Grayson whines.
"We'll know in about five more months," Dad replies.
"That's so long! Why does it have to be so long?" Everett demands.
"You sound exactly like Juju did when we were waiting for Grayson to be born," replies Dad.
"Except we knew Gray was gonna be a boy, and we knew Rhett was gonna be a boy," I add.
I still remember a little bit of my mom being pregnant with the boys. Not a ton, but enough. Like how it felt like years waiting for them to arrive, or how I'd stayed with my grandma both times my mom gave birth, and we'd gone to a toy store before going to visit them in the hospital to get a toy for the baby. I remember my mom and I making a scavenger hunt for my dad when she was pregnant with Grayson, and all four of us sitting together, huddled up on my parent's bed, when my mom found out she was pregnant with Everett. I wonder for a second how and where she found out she was pregnant with this new baby, if it were before the Disneyland trip or during it.
"That's not fair," Everett pouts.
"Yeah!" Grayson agrees.
"It's just five months," I shrug. "It's not like we'll never know."
"But we could know!" Grayson points out.
"True," I say. "What's an extra few months, though?"
"Thank you, Jules," Dad says.
I finish as much of my waffles as I could eat and bring my plate up to the counter. After that, I go to my room, where I spend the majority of the rest of my day.
I go back to Archie's house the next weekend. Scarlett and Noah are still there, and it's just as gross feeling as last time. But, it's an escape from my parents at least.
I sit at the desk in Scarlett's room working on a drawing of a face. As I'm sketching the lips, the door opens.
"Yeah?" I call, without looking up. No one responds. I turn around, and there's no one in the doorway. I shrug it off, getting up to close it.
Only seconds after I sit down again, the same thing happens. I sigh, closing it again. It happens again, and again, and again, until I lose track of how many times it's happened.
Finally, after closing it again, I stay by the door instead of going back to my desk. Moments later, the door is flung open by Scarlett.
"Stop it!" I snap at her.
"Okay," she says, smiling.
I sit back at the desk, but a few minutes later she opens it again.
I stand by the door after closing it again, and when she opens it, I push her away from the door, hard, sending her crashing into the wall of the hallway with a bang. She cries loud sobs, clutching her head. Treasure and Poncho run up and begin sniffing and biting at her. The door to the master bedroom is flung open, and Lynn and Archie rush out. Noah's door opens, and he walks out of his room to laugh at Scarlett.
Lynn bends down to where Scarlett sits, comforting her.
"Why would you do that, you asshole?" Archie shouts at me roughly. "She could've died!"
"I- I-," I start, unable to form sentences. "Ididntmeanto," I say quickly, backing into my room as tears fall down my face. I crawl into the bottom bunk.
"Yeah, stay there, bitch!" Archie screams, and slams my door as he leaves.
I curl up under the blankets and sob. I skip dinner that night and don't leave my room for the rest of the day. Once I'm sure no one is still awake, I sneak into the kitchen and grab some crackers, water, and an apple, which I sit outside in the cold night air and eat before returning to Scarlett's room to sleep.
I wake up late the next morning. Archie gives Scarlett and I microwave breakfast sandwiches on trays in our beds, as if nothing had happened the day before. I think jealously of the waffles my parents, Grayson, and Everett would be having right about now as I eat it.
I begin a sketch of a boy that afternoon, and while I sketch the basic outline of his face, Scarlett barges in.
"We're going to bike to an ice cream store, wanna come?" she asks.
I shrug. "Sure, I guess," I agree. "Wait, I don't have a bike over here."
"You can use my mom's," Scarlett offers.
"Okay..." I say. I slip on my shoes and meet Scarlett and Noah outside, by their bikes.
I put on the helmet and get on the bike, which Archie has adjusted for me.
"I don't know which way to go," I point out.
"Don't worry, we do," Scarlett reassures me.
"That makes me more worried," I mumble under my breath so neither hear me.
We take off down the street, and I follow the pair of them through the streets. Archie's house is close enough to where I've been to the area before, but far enough to where it would be hard for me to get around the area on my own.
I realize, as we go along the side of the street, that even with my bike gear set as high as it can get and me pedaling as fast as my legs allow me to, I still fall far behind the pair of them.
We get to the ice cream place and walk inside, where it's nice and cool compared to the weather outside.
"Oh, I've been here before," I comment, looking around. My grandma had taken me and my brothers there once previously.
"What flavor do you want?" Scarlett asks as we wait in line.
I look at the flavors. "Can I get two scoops?" I ask.
"Sure," Noah shrugs.
"Hang on, how are we paying?" I question suddenly. I'm not in the mood to steal ice cream.
"Mom gave me her credit card," Scarlett answers.
"My mom would never give me her credit card," I say.
"You mom is lame," Noah says, laughing.
"No she's not," I say, taken aback. "She's responsible."
"Nah, she's lame," says Noah.
"And your dad's a nerd!" Scarlett adds.
"Who, Archie?" I ask.
"No, the other one, idiot!" Scarlett tells me. We move up in the line.
"He's not a nerd," I tell them. "Who told you that?" I demand, already knowing the answer.
"Archie!" Scarlett responds happily. "He also said not to tell you, but he said your mom's a slut," she tells me.
"Your mom's a slut, your mom's a slut," Noah says in a singsong voice.
"And your mom's in jail," I remind him coolly. "Besides, do you even know what that word means?" I ask them.
"Yeah, someone who has sex a lot," Scarlett answers.
I stare at her in shock. "Y- you know what sex is?" I ask.
She stares at me like I'm insane. "Of course!" she says. "Ooh, only one more person before we order. What flavor are you getting, Juju?" she asks.
"Cherry and cheesecake in a waffle cone," I reply coldly. I'm not liking this conversation much.
"Ew, cheesecake is disgusting," Noah comments.
"To you," I reply. "What're you getting, that's so much better?" I ask him, crossing my arms.
"Chocolate," he answers excitedly.
"That's so basic," I tell him.
"You're basic," he taunts.
Right as I'm about to respond, the person in front of us leaves and it's our turn to order.
"I'm not ordering first," Scarlett says immediately.
"Me neither," Noah responds.
"Okay..." I reply. I smile apologetically at the lady at the counter. "I'll have cherry and cheesecake on a waffle cone," I tell her.
"I want two scoops of chocolate on a cake cone," Noah says.
"Two scoops of bubblegum on a cake cone with rainbow sprinkles," Scarlett orders.
The lady scoops us our ice cream. I thank her and we pay, and Scarlett and Noah run out with their ice cream to the bikes. I followed them, expecting to see them sitting near the bikes. Except, there were no bikes.
"What happened to the bikes?" I ask, panicking.
"They're not here!" Scarlett says.
"I can see that," I reply, rolling my eyes. "How are we gonna get home?"
"Ooh, call my mom," Scarlett suggests.
"I don't know her number," I say.
"Call Archie," Noah says.
I pull out my phone and go to Archie's contact, pressing call.
The phone rings, and eventually leads us to his voicemail.
"Dang it," I say softly.
"Call my mom now. I know her phone number," Scarlett suggests.
"Alright," I shrug. "What is it?"
Scarlett recites a phone number with some difficulty, which I type into my phone. I call the number, which once again rings until it gives us a voicemail.
"I'll try Archie again," I say, sighing.
The same thing repeats a few times, switching between Lynn and Archie until Archie finally picks up on the fifth try.
"Finally, you took forever," Scarlett complains.
"What's up, guys?" Archie asks.
"Our bikes are gone," I say slowly.
"What?" he asks.
"The bikes got stolen," I repeat even slower. "Can you come pick us up?"
"Yeah. I'll be there in about thirty minutes," he says.
"The bike ride didn't even take thirty minutes," I tell him, confused.
"There's something I have to finish before I leave," he says.
"Oh, okay," I say, confused. "Bye."
"Bye guys" he says, and hangs up.
We sit licking our ice cream cones for another few minutes before he texts again, an address.
"What's that?" Noah asks, pointing to the message.
"Not sure," I reply. "He's typing, this'll probably explain it," I say.
I set my phone down while we wait.
"He replied! Ooh, what's on your background?" Scarlett asks.
"It's pictures of me and my friends", I reply, opening Archie's text.
"You're friends with a boy? What's his name?" Noah asks, smiling wickedly.
"Yeah. Preston," I reply casually. "He says, 'This is Lynn's sister Janet's house. Go there instead, it's closer'," I read.
"Is Preston your boyfriend?" Scarlett asks teasingly.
"No, we're just close friends," I reply absently, not caring as much about Preston right now as I do about going to this Janet's house. "Do either of you know how to get to Janet's house from here?" I ask.
"You're dating Preston! Preston is your boyfriend!" Scarlett shouts, causing an elderly couple walking through the parking lot to glance over then begin muttering things to each other, giving me a dirty look.
"No- Scarlett, stop it! Preston is not my boyfriend!" I cry, embarrassed and frustrated by the two of them. "Now, do either of you know how to get to Janet's house?" I ask again, harsher this time.
"Yeah, that's easy," Noah says lazily.
"You won't just get us lost?" I check.
Scarlett groans. "You're so dramatic. We didn't get you lost on the way here, did we? So why would we get ourselves lost this time?" she asks me.
"Calm down, just making sure," I tell her.
A few minutes later, Noah asks, "How are you not done yet?"
"I like to eat ice cream slowly. You know, enjoy the taste instead of inhaling it," I reply.
"But I don't take centuries to eat," Noah responds. "Come on, Scarlett, let's go to Janet's," he says.
"Yeah," Scarlett agrees, standing up.
"Wait, I want to finish," I say looking at my half eaten ice cream cone.
"Nah, you're taking too long, we're going now," Scarlett says.
"I don't know my way there!" I cry as they begin to walk away.
"Too bad!" Scarlett calls back, and she whispers something to Noah before they take off, sprinting as fast as they can out of the parking lot.
I stand there alone, holding the ice cream cone in my hands.
Mad, I throw the ice cream cone away and run after them, trying to catch up.
I see them in the distance, and, pushing myself as hard as possible, sprint after them, eventually catching up at a stoplight, completely out of breath.
"Hey, Noah, let's play the 'leave Juju behind' game!" Scarlett says just as the light changes and we can cross. She and Noah dart away again.
I sigh, walking slowly as I catch my breath. I make it to the other side of the street and pull out my phone, not even attempting to catch up to them a second time. I check the address, and put it into the maps app, hoping that I end up at the right place.
Once I can breathe normally again, I begin to pick up my pace and jog, keeping the rhythm of my feet steady to the beat of a song playing in my head.
I think of the flavor of the cherry ice cream, and how good it was. I'd have to make a cherry pie with my mom when I got home.
After checking my phone a few times to make sure I'm going the right way, I see Noah and Scarlett walking at the end of the street.
I jog slightly faster, not wanting them to ditch me again but not wanting to lose them.
I follow them the rest of the way, and they never notice me. When they turn into a driveway, I sprint as fast as I can and am right behind them when the door is opened.
"Oh, you must be Juju," the lady at the door says. She has thick, dark brown hair and deep brown eyes.
Scarlett turns around and screams in shock before laughing. "Where did you come from?" she asks, as Noah does an over dramatic laugh while pointing at Scarlett.
I laugh as well. "I was following you," I reply, and I then look back up at the lady. "Yeah, I'm Juju. Are you Janet?" I ask.
"Yes. Nice to meet you, Juju," she says, smiling. "Come in, come in!" she offers, letting the three of us through.
To the right, I see a kitchen, and in front there's a living room. I walk towards the living room, and see that there's a hallway next to the TV.
"Nice house," I tell her.
"Oh, thank you" she replies. "That's my son Sebastian on the couch," she tells me. "Sebastian, say hi to Juju!"
"Mom, I'm in the middle of a game!" he says.
He's sitting on the couch, playing video games on the TV. He has the same color dark brown hair and brown eyes. He's chubby, and he has black and blue glasses on.
"Be polite!" Janet says.
"Hi, Juju," Sebastian says, turning to look at me for the first time.
I give him a small, fake smile. "Hi, Sebastian," I reply.
"Don't worry, I'll kick him out of here and we can watch a movie," Janet says.
I smile weakly and sit on the couch. Sighing, I text my mom, asking what time she's picking me up tomorrow and if she can pick up ingredients for a cherry pie we can make together.
A few minutes later, she texts back.
"Of course!" her text reads. "I'll be there at 11:30. See you soon! Love you!"
"Great! Love you too" I reply, and sigh as Janet goes through movies to watch, wishing it could be tomorrow at 11:30.