Abercrombie & Bitch

Monday, April 20, 5:30pm -- Home

The thing is, I don’t really blame my mom for having five kids. Oh, wait. She’s not here. In that case…

“Mandy!” Meg squealed as I walked through the door, “Mandy, Mandy!” And then she started to sing her own version of the Jonas Brothers’ song, which is just about where I put my foot down.

“Okay, okay,” I laughed, inspecting my clothes for any paint splatters. Rob was going a little crazy with ‘Mowgli’s new house’ or whatever he was working on. Still confused about the pink paint. “Where’s everybody else?”

Meg shrugged and scampered into the kitchen to look for a toy or something. I sighed and stomped up the stairs to my sister’s bedrooms, where they all probably were at the moment.

I pounded my fist on Lindsey’s door. “Lin! Whatever guy you have in there and don’t want me to know about, I suggest you get him out!”

My sister shushed someone inside her room. A few seconds later, the door opened, and she glared up at me with her coffee-brown eyes. “What the hell do you want?”

She went to close the door, but I stuck my foot in before she could. “I want for you to stay a virgin, but I’m pretty sure it’s a little late for that.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What would you know, Mandy? It’s not like any guy would ever come near you-”

“Okay, I’ve heard enough.” I barged into the room, where some skinny, terrified-looking boy was desperately trying to cover himself up. “Dude, get dressed and go home. Isn’t it about your bedtime, anyway, Lindsey?”

Her expression was priceless. She strongly resembled a fish, if I do say so myself. I turned on my heel and strode out of my room, where Meg had mysteriously appeared in the hallway. She was now clutching a half-naked Barbie to her chest and staring at me with wide eyes.

“Up?”

I groaned, hoisted Meg up into my arms, and settled her on my hip. She’s only about three, so it’s not that hard, but she is going to kill my back one of these days. I headed across the hallway to my next sister was probably sleeping. “Harper, wake up!”

I head a muffled groan come from inside, but at least she was awake. Let me tell you, Harper and Lindsey may be twins, but they’re polar opposites. Where Lindsey is the cheerleader – preppy, and always begging my mom to go to Aèropostale, Harper is the ‘punk’, shop-at-Hot-Topic kind of girl.

“Leave me alone, Mandy,” she moaned, and then cranked up the volume of her iPod speakers so that Avenged Sevenfold blared through the house.

Rolling my eyes, I headed to my last sister’s room. Andrea had gone back to her dorm room this morning, so thankfully I only had four sisters to worry about. Unfortunately, I’m now the oldest and have to play Mom.

“Olivia…” I murmured, opening the door ever so slightly.

My second youngest sister, who’s in third grade, looked up from her homework. Her signature brown eyes looked bigger than they actually are behind her glasses, and her light brown hair was all messed up. I smiled. “Dinner will be ready in about a half hour, okay?”

She nodded and went back to her homework. I swear to God, that girl is going to be a doctor or something someday. I shrugged and headed back downstairs to start dinner.

Once I’d just gotten the spaghetti noodles in the pot of boiling water, the doorbell rang. Meg ran off to answer it before I could move, and I was slightly surprised when a male voice answered Meg’s standard question: “Who are you?!”

“I’m Zach,” the deep, masculine voice answered.

I choked on the soda I’d been drinking. “Meg, in the kitchen!”

Meg came running into the room a few seconds later, dragging an amused-looking Zach behind her. He was wearing the same clothes he’d had on today: faded jeans, vans, and a light blue Abercrombie & Fitch polo shirt. I can’t say I’m that surprised, quite honestly.

I took another sip of my soda. “I didn’t think you’d get here until… I don’t know… later?”

Zach grinned and ran a hand through his hair. “Well, you do live next door, Mandy. It’s not a long commute.”

What was it with everyone calling me Mandy all of the sudden? I wrinkled my nose. It sounded like a cheerleader name. Like Ashley<3.

Crap. Why’d I have to think of that?

I stared down at the table, but didn’t respond.

Zach came and sat down at the ratty, 60s style booth that our family used for a dining room table, just like he used to do almost every night. When we were friends, that is. “I heard about what happened with Bryce.” I shut my eyes tight, not particularly wanting to hear the rest. “If it makes you feel any better, somebody totally fucked up his car.”

I scoffed and looked up at him. “And who do you think that was? The Easter Bunny?”

“Wait,” he said, getting up and heading over to the refrigerator, “You did that? How?”

I put a finger to my lips. “A good magician never reveals her secrets.” Zach glared at me over the soda he’d gotten. “Okay, I may have had a little help from the baseball team.” Thank God Riley was dating Mika Goldman, the team captain. We were on good terms. They were happy to help.

Zach sat back down across from me in the booth and leaned forward. I could barely see the freckles on his nose. “How did you get my best friend to help you humiliate my teammate?”

I leaned toward him, my eyes narrowed. “Did you ever think that maybe this wasn’t about you?”

Que the Cheshire grin. “Mandy, it’s about time you realized that everything is about me.”

“Wow, Sinclair, that doesn’t sound conceited at all. You’ve really changed since we’ve been friends, you know that?” The first part was supposed to be sarcastic, but the second part? That was completely true.

Something in his face faltered for a second, but he regained his calm and cool composure a second later. When he spoke again, his voice was soft. “What ever happened to us, Mandy?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Huh?”

“I mean, why aren’t we still-”

“OMG, hi Zach!” Lindsey squealed from the top of the stairs. She raced down and took a seat next to him, adjusting her super-short denim skirt nervously.

I was vaguely aware of the boy I’d seen earlier -- who I now recognized as a junior I’d once yelled at because he cut me in the lunch line -- tip-toeing down the stairs and out the back door. I decided to let him go; it must be enough of a punishment to spend time with Lindsey. Besides, I’m not Mom. Whatever boys Lindsey has in her room are of no importance to me.

Zach cringed visibly as my sister scooted closer to him. “Um, hey… Uh…”

Lindsey, I mouthed at him.

“…Lindsey?”

Her eyes brightened. “Ohmigawd, you know my name?!” She placed her hand on his upper thigh and batted her eyelashes in a way that I think was supposed to be seductive.

He gulped and nodded before looking over to me with pleading eyes. Help me, he mouthed, trying to move away from her.

I laughed and stood up. “Chill out, Lindsey. I think you’re scaring him. Dinner’s almost ready, anyway. Why don’t you make sure your little boy toy made it past the Henderson’s dog?”

Sure enough, I could hear the big rottweiler barking viscously. The guy from Lindsey’s room – since I still hadn’t remembered his name – screamed. My sister groaned and went out into the back yard to help him.

Zach walked up next to me, looking relieved. “Thank you. God, are you psychic or something?”

I chuckled. “Not really. I’m just good with dogs. Besides, Ripley’s got a weird fetish for fleeing high-school age boys.” I glanced at him sideways. “You should take note of that in case Lindsey ever gets her claws into you.”

He gagged on his soda. “Please, Miranda, do not let that happen.”

“I make no promises,” I grumbled, putting everything into a large bowl. Placing it on the table, I turned to Zach. “Are you staying for dinner?”

“Am I allowed?” he countered, grinning boyishly.

“Yeah, I guess.” I headed over to the cupboards to get the necessary items. “You might have to deal with Lindsey trying to play footsie with you the whole time, but if you want to…”

He came up behind me suddenly, placing a hand on either side of me on the counter. I spun around and came face-to-face with his neck, since that’s about what the height difference was. My breath caught.

“I think I’ll survive.” His eyes sparkled with amusement as he leaned down toward me.

“Mandy! God, is dinner going to-” Harper bounded down the stairs, but stopped when she saw Zach and I. Zach leapt away from me and rubbed the back of his neck. “-be ready anytime soon?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Dinner’s ready.”