Chapter One:
Part VI:
Nikole came downstairs, stretching and yawning like a cat. She was dressed in her typical baggy dark pants and a white t-shirt. Her pants today made a cloth against cloth sound when she walked. Ethan looked up from the newspaper when he heard her approach.
"Good morning, Niki." He smiled, coffee steaming in his hand. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and blinked sleepily at him. Her eyes tried to stay open, but failed. Ethan wondered if she had even seen him sitting at the table. Behind her, an equally dazed Reese slumped down the stairs. Her presence was given away by the thick thump of her weighted feet contacting the wooden stairs. "Good morning, Reese." He reached his words around Niki, who still hadn't moved.
"Mhh." dropped out of Reese's mouth, as if she didn't speak any English at all. Ethan smiled and shook his head. The two of them were always zombies in the morning. The fact that they stayed up late last night, again, helping clean the basement, didn't help their morning situation. They leaned against the banister as if it was the only thing holding them up. Their legs could have been Jell-O for all that mattered.
Finally, Nikole lifted her head heavily. She sniffed the air. Reese did likewise. "Coffee." they both said in the same, exhausted, unenthused monotone. Like they were the same person, the two began to move. In identical motions, they drug their feet across the kitchen floor (bumping into a few things along the way) and made it to the coffee pot. Already, two mugs of steaming coffee were sitting out for them. A slow smile crossed both faces as they lifted the warm up. "Mmm."
A lesson had been learned the morning after they arrived, when Reese tried to make coffee herself at that hour of the morning. It didn't go well. The coffee came out like mud. The saddest part was, Resse and Nikole were so desperate for their coffee, they drank it anyway. Nikole didn't speak to her for the rest of the day. And, then the next day, Alethea had woken up early enough to make coffee for everyone. No one wanted to drink mud again. However, the two morning zombies spilled coffee all over the whole kitchen when pouring their own mugs. Alethea had been stuck with clean up, and she was not happy. New coffee rules were formed: Either Reese nor Nikole were permitted to make coffee before drinking some in the morning. And, neither of them were to pour their own before drinking a significant amount of coffee first.
Alethea entered from the front room, books in hand. She set them on the "table" and sat next to Ethan, with her schedule before her. Their actual table hadn't arrived yet, so the two of them were sitting on empty moving boxes with a collection of duct taped boxes together in the center as the actual table. It wasn't chic, to say the least, but it was functional. "Good morning, my little rays of sunshine," Nikole and Reese snarled at her, "Are we ready for our first day of school?" It was a week after they moved in, and school was already beginning. It came up quickly every year. This year, it seemed to catch everyone by surprise as they had been preoccupied with their new living establishment. "Books, backpacks, pencils, paper?" The girls sighed, and sat down at the table with them.
"First day of school already," Reese sighed into her cup.
"She speaks." Ethan stated dramatically. Reese threw a napkin at him, but it only bounced off his newspaper.
"I can't believe it's already here." Reese paused. "I'm not saying I don't like school. I just.. want more time off."
"You'll get really excited when the year gets running, though." Alethea said, "You always get so excited over your music."
"I know. I just want more summer."
"Who doesn't?" Nikole added sorrowfully.
"Food! Gimmie!" Casey exclaimed as he came down skipping stairs. "Fooood!"
Alethea laughed. "Get your own, you bottomless pit."
Casey froze in place, making his flaming pose. "Food, bitch." Alethea raised her eyebrows. The two stared at each other for a moment, everyone else ignoring them and sipping their coffee. Casey sighed. "Yeah, yeah, yeah..." The tension was lost as he skipped the last stair into the kitchen. "I know. I'll get my own."
Breakfast came shortly in a mess of bagels and cream cheese. Casey did a horrendous job of keeping the cream cheese off the kitchen counter. Nikole dropped her bagel on her chair. It undoubtedly landed cream cheese side down. Reese tried to go make more coffee, and Alethea couldn't have it. Even though Reese had already had her first cup, it still wasn't good enough for Alethea. She had to supervise. Ethan went through this hullabaloo in silence, flipping slowly through the pages of the morning paper.
Suddenly, amongst the chaos, Casey's wrist watch started beeping. With one half of his bagel hanging halfway out of his mouth, Casey stared at it in confusion. He looked at the wall clock, back to his wrist, and back to the wall clock. Then, something hit him. "Shit!" Casey shoved the bagel in his mouth and ran off out of the room. Everyone else present exchanged glances and looked at their watches. The room filled with powerful exclamations; shortly afterwards the five of them were running madly to the monorail stop. They arrived as the cars slid to a solid stop.
Between gasping breaths, Alethea addressed Casey, "That is the last time we leave you in charge of setting the house clocks."
Word Count:
7,577 / 50,000
(15.0%)
Nikole came downstairs, stretching and yawning like a cat. She was dressed in her typical baggy dark pants and a white t-shirt. Her pants today made a cloth against cloth sound when she walked. Ethan looked up from the newspaper when he heard her approach.
"Good morning, Niki." He smiled, coffee steaming in his hand. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and blinked sleepily at him. Her eyes tried to stay open, but failed. Ethan wondered if she had even seen him sitting at the table. Behind her, an equally dazed Reese slumped down the stairs. Her presence was given away by the thick thump of her weighted feet contacting the wooden stairs. "Good morning, Reese." He reached his words around Niki, who still hadn't moved.
"Mhh." dropped out of Reese's mouth, as if she didn't speak any English at all. Ethan smiled and shook his head. The two of them were always zombies in the morning. The fact that they stayed up late last night, again, helping clean the basement, didn't help their morning situation. They leaned against the banister as if it was the only thing holding them up. Their legs could have been Jell-O for all that mattered.
Finally, Nikole lifted her head heavily. She sniffed the air. Reese did likewise. "Coffee." they both said in the same, exhausted, unenthused monotone. Like they were the same person, the two began to move. In identical motions, they drug their feet across the kitchen floor (bumping into a few things along the way) and made it to the coffee pot. Already, two mugs of steaming coffee were sitting out for them. A slow smile crossed both faces as they lifted the warm up. "Mmm."
A lesson had been learned the morning after they arrived, when Reese tried to make coffee herself at that hour of the morning. It didn't go well. The coffee came out like mud. The saddest part was, Resse and Nikole were so desperate for their coffee, they drank it anyway. Nikole didn't speak to her for the rest of the day. And, then the next day, Alethea had woken up early enough to make coffee for everyone. No one wanted to drink mud again. However, the two morning zombies spilled coffee all over the whole kitchen when pouring their own mugs. Alethea had been stuck with clean up, and she was not happy. New coffee rules were formed: Either Reese nor Nikole were permitted to make coffee before drinking some in the morning. And, neither of them were to pour their own before drinking a significant amount of coffee first.
Alethea entered from the front room, books in hand. She set them on the "table" and sat next to Ethan, with her schedule before her. Their actual table hadn't arrived yet, so the two of them were sitting on empty moving boxes with a collection of duct taped boxes together in the center as the actual table. It wasn't chic, to say the least, but it was functional. "Good morning, my little rays of sunshine," Nikole and Reese snarled at her, "Are we ready for our first day of school?" It was a week after they moved in, and school was already beginning. It came up quickly every year. This year, it seemed to catch everyone by surprise as they had been preoccupied with their new living establishment. "Books, backpacks, pencils, paper?" The girls sighed, and sat down at the table with them.
"First day of school already," Reese sighed into her cup.
"She speaks." Ethan stated dramatically. Reese threw a napkin at him, but it only bounced off his newspaper.
"I can't believe it's already here." Reese paused. "I'm not saying I don't like school. I just.. want more time off."
"You'll get really excited when the year gets running, though." Alethea said, "You always get so excited over your music."
"I know. I just want more summer."
"Who doesn't?" Nikole added sorrowfully.
"Food! Gimmie!" Casey exclaimed as he came down skipping stairs. "Fooood!"
Alethea laughed. "Get your own, you bottomless pit."
Casey froze in place, making his flaming pose. "Food, bitch." Alethea raised her eyebrows. The two stared at each other for a moment, everyone else ignoring them and sipping their coffee. Casey sighed. "Yeah, yeah, yeah..." The tension was lost as he skipped the last stair into the kitchen. "I know. I'll get my own."
Breakfast came shortly in a mess of bagels and cream cheese. Casey did a horrendous job of keeping the cream cheese off the kitchen counter. Nikole dropped her bagel on her chair. It undoubtedly landed cream cheese side down. Reese tried to go make more coffee, and Alethea couldn't have it. Even though Reese had already had her first cup, it still wasn't good enough for Alethea. She had to supervise. Ethan went through this hullabaloo in silence, flipping slowly through the pages of the morning paper.
Suddenly, amongst the chaos, Casey's wrist watch started beeping. With one half of his bagel hanging halfway out of his mouth, Casey stared at it in confusion. He looked at the wall clock, back to his wrist, and back to the wall clock. Then, something hit him. "Shit!" Casey shoved the bagel in his mouth and ran off out of the room. Everyone else present exchanged glances and looked at their watches. The room filled with powerful exclamations; shortly afterwards the five of them were running madly to the monorail stop. They arrived as the cars slid to a solid stop.
Between gasping breaths, Alethea addressed Casey, "That is the last time we leave you in charge of setting the house clocks."
Word Count:
7,577 / 50,000
(15.0%)