One More Weekend

When the familiar buzzing of my alarm clock started this morning, I immediately regret staying up past 2 in the morning. I looked blearily at the time, and when I saw that it was 6:15, I knew it was that time of year again. School.

I sat up and rubbed my eyes, really wanting to go back to sleep. Since I took my shower the night before, that was one less thing I had to worry about. Grabbing my favorite, homemade AVPM t-shirt, I slipped it on and laughed as I remembered the words depicted on my shirt. Slipping on a pair of what appeared to be dress pants, I looked in the mirror and realized I wasn't going to bother with my hair; it looked fine enough.

I headed downstairs, the wafting smell of waffles, eggs, and honey surrounded me. My mouth watered as I took the remaining stairs two at a time. I jogged into the kitchen, the table piled with freshly scrambled eggs, waffles cooked the way I liked them -- not too soft to where they seem soggy, not too crispy that they seem overcooked -- and honey dripping slowly off of the waffles.

"Mom, you're amazing!" I said, walking over to the woman in front of the stove. Her eyes were the same bright blue as mine, though her hair was as black as a starless night. She stood about a head shorter than me, but she sure could put up one hell of a fight.

I hugged her before turning around and seeing my younger brother, Chase, walking through the kitchen door. "Ooh. Waffles!" he said, his bright green eyes widening. He had the dark black hair of mom, but the eyes of dad. His build was a bit lanky, although he was on the freshmen basketball team last year. I expected him to gain something from all the workouts.

After a while, I sat down across from my baby brother -- he was 15 -- and smiled. Grabbing waffles and some eggs, I put a little more honey on the waffles. I was about to put a bit in my mouth when I caught Chase's eye and glared. "Boys! What have I told--" but mom's warning was too late. We started shoving food in our mouths.

You see, when school starts, we always see who can get done with breakfast first. Although, it normally ends with one of us choking. It didn't bug us any, but it scared mom shitless.

We -- for the first time in the last three years -- tied. Neither of us choked, which was surprising. We both laughed as we dug in for more. This time, we ate it at a decent pace so mom wouldn't freak out anymore that morning.

Dad eventually came down, but had to skip breakfast -- like every morning -- and head straight to work. He kissed us all goodbye and left.

After finishing breakfast, Chase and I headed upstairs to finish getting ready. All I had to do was throw on my socks, shoes, and dragon-pendant necklace -- which mom and dad absolutely loathed.

You see, they're both bible-thumpers, and really wished I was more like them. I respected their beliefs, but I didn't really see myself as one of them. I preferred my guitar over the bible. My words over theirs. I saw a world all my own.

Chase saw a world of sports and nothing else. He could care less about religion and all that, he just wanted to play some kind of sport when he got older. I always just rolled my eyes at that.

Grabbing my bag, I headed downstairs then out the door. I waited on the front porch for nearly half an hour before Chase finally came out. He was currently trying to run and throw on his OSU hoodie at the same time.

"Ready to go, little man?" I said, ruffling his hair. He nodded, not bothering to complain about me calling him 'little man'. We hopped in my car, and a couple minutes later, we were off.