S E V E N

My cellphone was ringing and it was-I peeked at the clock- 9:30 AM on a Sunday morning. Who the was cursed early riser was calling me?

The glowing screen of my RIZR said it was an unknown caller with the number of 401-957-3982. I picked it up anyway, and said, "Who the heck are you?" into the little speaker.

"It's Max... Did I wake you up?" said my phone.

I grimaced. "No. No, not at all."

"Oh. I'm sorry. Um... go back to bed. I'll call you later."

I sat up. "Wait. How'd you get my number? And you can say whatever you wanted to. I sorta needed a wake-up call."

"Spike gave it to me. And I was wondering if you wanted to go out for coffee."

My own boyfriend. Ouch. "I'm taken, Max. T-A-K-E-N."

"As friends."

"I have to go to..." I scrambled for an excuse, "Um, feed my cat." Pathetic, because I don't have a cat. I'm more of a ferret person.

"We could go after you feed your cat."

"Then babysit my brother."

"I thought you said the rest of your family was away for the weekend."

I did? Oh yeah. Dang it, why I tell him that? "Oh. Right. Um... "

"Meet me at Starbucks at ten-thirty, ok?" He hung up.

Snapping my phone closed, I considered ditching Max and sleeping for the rest of my day. Deciding it was a good idea, I fell back on to my mattress and felt it vibrate with the sudden force of my weight. I pulled up the mess of random blankets and turned to face the poster on my wall. It was black with the words GET YOUR LAZY BUM OUT OF BED on it in bright colors. Remind me to take that down.

I flipped, now laying on my back, and closed my eyes.

In about three seconds, I gave up on going back to sleep and drowsily climbed off my bed. I stumbled over to my closet, swung the doors open, and walked in.

It was long an narrow, maybe the size of a moving van. There was a door at the end that led into my bathroom, and clothes were on either side. I unhooked a red thermal, a white hoodie with black horizontal stripes and ¾ sleeves, and jeans. I headed into the bathroom, setting the outfit on a stool outside the door.

This room was covered in white and gold tile, with a white bathtub at one end that was next to a shower. Next to it was a white wall that extended a third of the way across the room before folding in wards a fourth of the way with-wise, which behind was a toilet. A sink was also in that room-within-a-room, in the corner opposite the toilet.

I quickly took a shower and got dressed in my pajamas again before heading into a little room between my closet and my bathroom, which I'd passed through earlier. It was carpeted and Jazz had painted the walls with a sunset two years ago. The lighting had a red tint, even when I opened the window on the north wall, so the little table by a mirror was accompanied by a bunch of normal lights along the rim of the mirror. A bunch of empty shelves and a coat-rack were the only other furnishings in the vanity room. I headed for the table and pulled a hair dryer and a brush out of one of it's drawers.

Setting the dryer on medium, I dried my hair out while I brushed it. I looked in the mirror when I was done. Staring back at me was a some-what tan sixteen year old girl with neon highlighted black hair, violet eyes, and full light red lips. I don't look like anyone in the family. Dad is blond. Mom was a redhead. Twerpy's redheaded. Barbie's secretly brunette, and isn't even really related to me. They all have green eyes. My highlights are fake, but the eyes aren't, and violet eyes aren't supposed to exist naturally.

I shrugged, because I don't really care. I probably got them from some long-lost great cousin's aunt twice removed or something.

I got dressed and then did a 180-degree turn to face a full length mirror. The black-and-white hoodie covered most of the thermal, except for a third of the arm, where you could see the fabric because the sleeve ended. My dark-wash jeans were a well-worn favorite pair, and they had holes in the knees.

Peering out the window, I saw that it was raining, so I grabbed an umbrella before rushing out of the house.