The Perfect Storm

“I don’t see what your problem is.” Haley said as she pushed her hair out of her face.

“Hale, the guy hates me. He loathes me with a passion! That would be my problem with working with him!” I replied, feeling like I was explaining two plus two equals four to a five year old.

Haley rolled her eyes. “You’re exaggerating, and anyway, he’s totally hot.” she grinned at me.

I sighed but realized that she wasn’t going to get it and decided to give up. We walked along in companionable silence for a while. I was enjoying the cool fall breeze as it played with my straight dirty-blonde hair. We were about twenty feet from my house when I noticed a small group of people walking up my driveway. I watched curiously as they reached the front porch and rang the doorbell. My father answered the door and after a few moments invited them in.

“Who was that?” Haley asked me.

“No idea,” I muttered. “Let’s go find out.”

We entered my house a moment later and peeled off our jackets, leaving them hanging on hooks in the front hall along with our backpacks.

“Hey, dad?” I always felt weird saying that word. I felt like I didn’t deserve it, considering I had single-handedly killed his one true love. Of course Haley, Regina and Elaina all said that that was ridiculous when I had told them that secret, but I couldn’t help how I felt.

“I’m in the kitchen, Sydney.” he called back in the same flat tone he always used whenever speaking to me.

We trooped into the kitchen, me in the lead and Haley following, when suddenly I froze on the threshold into the kitchen. Standing in my kitchen was Kasey Adams.

I blinked.

And then again.

I stared at him until he looked up at me.

And then he stared back.

All I could think at this moment was, Fuck my life.

*

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Anthony said.

“Would I make this up?” I demanded, staring evenly into his hazel eyes.

We were talking over Oovoo, and had been for the last half hour. I had told him that Kasey Adams had been standing in my kitchen, and then told him the story as to why. It turns out that the cousin and aunt Kasey had gone to live with were my next-door-neighbors, and his aunt had wanted to introduce him to all the neighbors to help him get situated.

So I now had the juvenile delinquent who hated me for reasons unbeknownst to me living next door. And he was on friendly terms with my father, where as I was not. This had to be some punishment from God.

“I don’t see why you would,” Anthony admitted.

“And Haley’s completely insane.” I moaned, putting my face in my hands. “She thinks I’m actually lucky to be living next door to him!”

“We already knew she was insane.” Anthony replied, completely distracted by whatever he was watching on TV.

“Hey, Anthony? Could you focus on the problem at hand please?” I demanded.

“Yeah, sorry,” he said, slowly tearing his eyes from the screen. “Look, just ignore him, stay away, it can’t be that hard.”

“I have to work with him on that stupid Spanish project!” I cried out. “And Mrs. Rodriguez is going to be calling my dad to make sure we’re actually working together!”

“Dude that sucks!” he laughed.

“You know what, I’m going to bed.” I snarled at him with heavy sarcasm. “Thanks for the help though.”

I disconnected my webcam before he could reply and went into my bed and hid from the world under my covers, hoping that all that had happened was a nightmare and it would disappear when I woke.

*

“Hey, Sydney, get your lazy ass up.” Regina’s voice cut through my sleep like a knife.

“Go away,” I muttered, putting my arms around my head in an effort to block out her voice.

“Rise and shine, sis, it’s a beautiful day!” Elaina’s voice sang at me.

“What the hell are you doing home?” I demanded, refusing to look at her.

“It’s called the Thanksgiving holidays, Einstein, now let’s go, you have school.” she replied.

Suddenly my warm covers were whipped away from my bed and a cold breeze surrounded me. I whined indiscernibly into my pillow before that was ripped away from me too.

“I hate you,” I whined at them.

I heard one of them sigh. “You are the laziest person I have ever met.” Regina said.

“I don’t wanna go to school.” I complained.

“But if you don’t go to school how will you get into Harvard Med and become a doctor?” Elaina gasped sarcastically.

“I don’t want to be a doctor.” I muttered.

“It’s called sarcasm, Syd, you should be able to recognize it by now.” Elaina replied.

“Go away,” I muttered yet again.

“I got legs and you got arms?” I heard Regina say.

“Sounds good,” Elaina replied.

And then suddenly I felt a pair of hands grasp my ankles and another pair of hands grasp me by the wrists. Suddenly I was lifted up into the air and then lifted down onto my cold wood floor. I grunted angrily and brushed my hair out of my face to glare at my sisters.

“Good morning sunshine!” Regina crooned.

“What’s so great about it?” I demanded as I sat up.

“We made pancakes,” Elaina offered with a shrug. Neither of us were morning people.

However, I perked up at the word pancakes. I sniffed at the air suspiciously; this wouldn’t be the first time they had lied about something like this to get me awake. But I could smell pancakes in the air.

“Okay, fine. You’re forgiven this time.” I sighed. “But only because there’s pancakes,” I added quickly.

Elaina nudged Regina in the side with her elbow. “See?” she said with a grin. “I told you pancakes would work.”

Regina rolled her eyes.

“C’mon,” she said to me, offering me a hand to help me to my feet.

I grudgingly followed my two older sisters downstairs and into the kitchen. It was there that I could see a huge stack of pancakes sitting on the counter. I felt myself beginning to grin despite having been literally dragged out of my bed.