“You?!” he exclaimed.
“You?” she echoed.
“No, I’m the one who’s supposed to be surprised!” he snapped.
“You’re the one standing at my doorstep!” she retorted.
Ash’s brother, Jayden’s best friend was expecting him for a play date, and his mom had asked his older siblings to take him there. Ash didn’t mind tagging along, as long as he didn’t have to sit at home and study French for Monday’s test. They drove to the friend’s house and parked outside. Ashton’s sister, Kaitlynn got Jayden out of the car and gave him his backpack.
She walked him to the door and pressed the doorbell calmly. She had done this many times before. She was a pro at delivering her little brothers for play dates. She thought this would be like any other play date.
Ash had no idea who lived in this house. He was just following his sister’s instructions to drop off Jayden. He hoped it would be a quick and easy task. He did not expect to run into his worst enemy. The door opened, and there she was. Angelina, in all her annoying glory.
Angie looked at Jayden, then glared at Ash. “He’s your brother?” she snapped.
His sister sighed. “This is just great…” she muttered.
She waved them in. “Let’s go. We’ll talk later.”
They stepped inside the house, and looked around curiously. It was a cozy and colorful place, with paintings on the walls, cushions on the couch, and toys on the floor. Ash noticed a framed photo of Angie’s little brother, Leo and Jayden on the mantelpiece. He wondered how the two became friends in the first place. Meanwhile, Kaitlynn noticed a pile of books on the coffee table. She wondered what Angie liked to read.
“Leo, your friend’s here!” Angie called out to her brother, who was inside his room, awaiting his best friend’s arrival.
Upon hearing this, the eight-year-old sprinted out of his room at a speed that would make any cheetah jealous, yelling, “Jayden!” at the top of his lungs.
“Leo!” he echoed cheerfully, and threw his arms around his friend.
“I missed you so much!”
“I missed you too!”
Angie shook her head, and turned to Kaitlynn. “Those two just saw each other yesterday,” she said with a small smile.
The two of them exchanged knowing glances and smiled at each other. “Little brothers,” Katie replied.
Ash felt a surge of annoyance as he watched the two girls talk. He did not like Leo, or his sister, or this house. (Mostly his sister) He wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. He looked at his sister, hoping she would say they had to leave. But she seemed to be enjoying her conversation with Angie. He wondered what they had to talk about.
He decided to interrupt them. “Hey, sis, can we go now?” he asked impatiently.
His sister gave him a look. “Not so fast, Ash. We have to stay for a while. Mom said so.” she hissed
“What? Why?” he protested.
“Because it’s polite, and because we have to make sure Jayden is okay here,” she explained.
“He’s fine, look at him. He’s having the time of his life with his new bestie,” Ash said sarcastically.
“Exactly. And we don’t want to ruin that for him, do we?” she said sweetly.
Ash groaned. He knew he had no choice. He had to stay and endure this torture.
He glanced at Angie, who was smirking at him. She knew he was miserable, and she loved it.
He glared at her. She glared back.
This was going to be a long, miserable Saturday.
He wished he could trade places with his French textbook.
(Fun Fact: Credits to my friend and first beta reader for ideas for Ash's siblings' names... I took the liberty to rename hus sister from Adelaide to Kaitlynn... cruz why not?)
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