Margin
"Why did we let Carly talk us into this?" Sam moaned as she pulled on her coat.
"Oh come on, it won't be that bad," Freddie said.
"It's the opera," Sam said. "It has to be bad. We're gonna be forced to sit through six hours of fat ladies singing!"
"Well you know how Carly gets when she has these ideas," Freddie reasoned. "She was going to force us into couple's opera night one way or another, so we might as well get it over with."
"You better hope they have a decent snack stand," Sam said. "If I'm gonna endure this, I need chili fries."
"Seriously doubt they'll be selling chili fries at one of the fanciest theatres in Washington," Freddie chuckled as the couple stepped into their living room where their four children were sitting.
"Alright guys, we're off," Sam said.
"Where are you going?" nine-year old Tyler asked.
"To a very boring place," Sam replied, kissing the top of his head. "Jason, you're in charge. There's pizza money in the kitchen."
"Got it," the seventeen-year old said, not looking away from the T.V.
"Emma, remember, you need to study for your English exam tomorrow," Freddie said. "So no T.V. tonight."
"What?" Emma exclaimed. "But there's a new episode of Outrageous Cheerleading Accidents on tonight. Apparently some cheer captain forgot to calculate a margin of error for her squad's pyramid so the whole thing comes crashing down!"
"You can record it," Sam said. She turned to Ashton. "You're working on your science project tonight, right?"
"Yeah, my partner's coming over in a little," Ashton nodded.
"Good," she said. "Alright, you have our numbers. Call us if you need anything."
"Come on, we're gonna be late," Freddie said.
"Yeah…that'd be a shame," Sam mumbled under her breath as her and Freddie walked out the door.
Once Sam and Freddie were gone, Jason turned off the T.V. "Alright well, I'm starving. Tyler, go call and order the pizza."
"Why me?" Tyler frowned.
"Because I'm in charge," Jason said simply.
Muttering indignantly, Tyler headed into the kitchen.
"Hey, put the T.V. back on," Emma said. "I was getting into that show."
"Aren't you supposed to study?" Jason pointed out.
"Pfft, like I'm gonna do that," Emma scoffed.
"Um, yes you are, I'm not gonna get busted when you fail your test," Jason said.
"What? Come on!" Emma exclaimed. "Most kids are supposed to have fun when their older brothers are in charge. You're just as bad as mom and dad!"
"Yeah, sucks for you, doesn't it?" Jason said, kicking his feet up onto the coffee table. "Now beat it."
Giving her brother one last glare, Emma stormed upstairs.
Jason glanced over at Ashton. "So…I could really go for a soda right about now."
"You know, just because mom and dad left you in charge, doesn't mean you can boss us around," Ashton said. "You can't make me get you sodas!"
"Sure I can," Jason said. "Because if you don't mom and dad will find out who broke that lamp in their bedroom last month…"
"Ugh! You're the worst!" Ashton groaned, getting up and heading into the kitchen.
"And nothing diet!" Jason called after him, leaning back in his seat. "And mom and dad make this parenting stuff look hard…ha!"
…
An hour later, Jason was playing videogames in the living room when Ashton came in.
"Hey, can you at least get your gross feet off the coffee table? My science partner's gonna be here any minute and we need to work in here."
"Can't you guys go up to your room? I'm battling zombies here," Jason said.
"No, because Emma's up there actually studying," Ashton replied.
"Whatever," Jason sighed, moving his feet. "You two better not make too much noise, though, because I'm on a roll and-no! I died! How could I have died? I had the shield of severed heads?"
"Ha-ha," Ashton smirked.
"Oh shut up," Jason said, rolling his eyes as he tossed the controller down. "Well, I had to do homework anyway, now you can have the living room to yourself."
"Cool, thanks," Ashton said as Jason grabbed his backpack and headed into the kitchen just as the doorbell rang.
Ashton stepped over to the front door and opened up, revealing a tall boy with shaggy hair. "Hey there Ashton, looking good."
Ashton rolled her eyes. "Hi Mike. Come on, let's get this project over with."
When she had gotten paired up with Mike in class, she had been less-than-thrilled. Mike was known as the school's slime ball and Ashton wanted to get this project done as soon as possible.
"So," Ashton said, sitting down on the couch. "Mr. Dumphrey said that all we really needed to do for this project was look up some sort of natural phenomenon and make a slideshow about it. I figure it shouldn't take more than an hour."
"Sounds good," Mike said, sitting right next to Ashton, making their knees touch. "Hey, I'm liking the smell of your lip gloss…"
"Yeah, well, it's just some old junk I found in my jewelry box," Ashton said, scooting over. "Anyway, I was thinking we could do our project on volcanoes, so we can discuss tectonic plates and how they form-what are you doing?"
As she had been talking, Mike had slowly stretched his arms out so he had one arm around Ashton's shoulders.
"Just getting comfortable," he grinned. "Hey, it's a little bright in here…how about we dim the lights?"
"Um…no," Ashton frowned, pushing Mike's arm off of her. "Seriously, Mike, let's just focus and get this project done. Now how about you start finding some pictures for us to use and I'll start doing the research?"
"Okay, whatever you say," Mike said, pulling out his Pearpad.
Ashton shook her head as she opened up her laptop, determined to finish this project as soon as possible.
"Hey, did I leave my phone around here?" Jason asked, coming back into the room. "I was trying to call-oh, hey."
He looked over at Mike.
"Mike, this is my older brother Jason," Ashton sighed, snatching her hand away from his, which was inching towards her. "Jason, this is Mike…my science partner."
"Okay, well, good luck with whatever your little project is on," Jason said, grabbing his phone as he headed back into the kitchen.
"I'm gonna need it," Ashton mumbled as Mike moved closer to her. She was already at the end of the couch so she had no more room to scoot away.
Just as Jason was about to enter the kitchen, he looked over his shoulder and saw this. He frowned and stopped in his tracks.
Maybe he'd stay in here for a moment…
"Mike, um, do you mind moving over a little?" Ashton asked. "I sort of have no room."
"That's okay, you can cuddle up next to me," Mike grinned.
"No, I don't want to cuddle next to you," Ashton said firmly. "I want us to get this project done so you can go home."
"Aw, Ashy, why are you so tense?" Mike said, leaning closer to her. "Maybe a little kiss will make you feel better."
"No!" Ashton said loudly. "Get away from me!"
"Okay!" Jason said loudly, causing Ashton and Mike to look over at him as he strode over. "We're done here."
He grabbed Mike's arm and began to pull him towards the door. "Time for you to go home, Mick or Mark or whatever your name was."
"It-It was Mi-" Mike stammered.
"Oh I don't care," Jason said, opening the front door. "Now, let me give you a piece of advice. If I were you, I'd stay away from my little sisters. I don't want you anywhere near either of them. You're clearly a scuzzy guy, and I don't like scuzzy guys. So if I find out you ever come near my sisters again or try anything with them, I'm going to make sure that you pay. Got it?"
"G-Got it," Mike nodded quickly.
"Great," Jason said brightly. "Bye now!"
"Wait-My Pearpad is in there still!" Mike said.
"We'll mail it to you," Jason said, slamming the door in the boy's face.
"Wow," Ashton said as Jason walked back over to her. "That was awesome! Did you see his stupid face? He was terrified."
"Yeah, well," Jason shrugged modestly. "What kind of older brother would just sit there while some jerk bugged his sister like that?"
"Thanks," Ashton smiled.
Jason put an arm around her. "Anytime."
"It sucks that I'm gonna have to wind up finishing this whole project on my own, though," Ashton sighed.
"Hey, I'll help you out," Jason said.
"Really? It's super boring," Ashton said.
"Eh, science is sort of my thing," Jason told her. "Come on, let's get started."
…
"We have to go back! That was the best thing ever!" Sam said excitedly later that evening as her and Freddie walked back into their home.
"Wow, who knew you'd wind up being such an opera fan," Freddie grinned as Sam kicked off her shoes.
"It was amazing!" Sam said. "The drama, the fighting, the yelling…it was almost like watching an MMA fight! Seriously, nub, when can we go back? Wanna go again this weekend?"
"I need time to let my eardrums heal," Freddie said as they couple walked into the living room. "I wonder if the kids are still awake. It's pretty late but-aw! Sam look!"
He nodded over to the sofa where Jason and Ashton were both fast asleep with Ashton's head was resting on Jason's shoulder.
"Aw, it's just like what they used to do when they were little," Sam whispered.
"Come on, let's go upstairs," Freddie said softly. "If we wake them they'll be back to their usual loud selves."
"Oh, right," Sam nodded, following her husband up the steps. "But for real, we should get those season passes for the theatre so we can always be up to date on all the operas that come here."
"I'm gonna kill Carly for this," Freddie mumbled, shaking his head.
