Eyes With Pride

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

I look at the white ceiling as the alarm on my phone droned on. I sigh heavily as I sit up against my white headboard. I tap the stop button twice to make sure it was completely off. Glancing over I instantly see that Brooklyn is gone. This didn’t surprise me since she is the morning bird of us three sisters. I stand up, stretching like the little black cat that I am in my head, then moving on to make my bed. My bedding is a mixture between light grey and dark grey. You can catch my accessories these colors as well. I’m the one who enjoys more girly and fluffy things.

I stand on the nightstand that sits between Brooklyn and I’s bed to make my 5′7 frame slightly taller, so that I can look over the railing to see Alice still sleeping. You can barely see her since the room is still dark and she is rolled up in her dark purple and black cover.

The way that our room is set up is pretty cool if you ask me. You enter the room and you’ll instantly be in our “living room” area which is essentially just our work area and relaxing space. We don’t have a tv in here which many find strange because we spend the majority of our time here when we are actually home. This is to the left of the room, to the right you’ll find the door that leads into our walk in closet and our sleeping area.

In the closet the first thing you’d notice is the color choice for a lot of our clothes. We all own too much black like a majority of teenagers our age. You can catch me wearing other color but good luck with the other two. The most you would get are dark greys and white. The coolest part of the room are our beds. Brooke’s bed is closest to the window, a nightstand, then my bed. There are two lights that are in the corner of the walls that a-line our beds. It isn’t a full wall but large enough so that if Alice were to fall on her way up the storage steps beside my bed, I won’t be crushed. The steps lead to a loft that is a little bigger than a king sized bed that goes out above our beds, excluding Alice since hers is up there. Does that make any sense?

I go over to the closet and pick out a pair of leggings and loose t-shirt, with shoes to match. After this I go downstairs to the bathroom to start my simple morning routine. I start with a face cleanser since it’s not easy to have flawless skin. Brushing my teeth, showing, and whatever else needs done in the bathroom happens. Once I’m dressed with contacts on I oil between my braids, because we don’t want a dry scalp, before putting it into a high ponytail.

Walking back into the room I spot that Alice is now awake. She looks over at me which would seem like a glare to someone who doesn’t know that she just cant see.

I’m actually a triplet the middle one at that. Alice being the oldest and Brooklyn being the youngest. All of us only seconds apart. I can’t even imagine how hectic that was in the hospital. It must have been like, pop - catch - pop - catch- pop - oh snap she almost fell, but still catch. To put it simply we are all your average athletic, smart, chatty teens enjoying their summer before senior year with the love for marching band.

We have cocoa brown skin, big brown eyes, and we are pretty tall. The way that the smart ones, mainly our friends, tell us apart are by our piercings. I have my nose pierced, Brooke has the right side of her bottom lip pierced and Alice has her belly pierced- not that you would notice on the regular. Or some may go with the obvious difference, I always have some type of purple in my hair. Wait who am I kidding purple hair looks good on all of us so your best bet would be to pick up on or somewhat style differences or maybe pick up on our personalities. Brooklyn is usually rocking her natural hair curly, Alice with either twists or her hair straightened, and I usually always wear my hair in box braids.

“Moring young vampire, have a nice rest?” I ask throwing my dirty clothes in the hamper.

“Wish I was still sleeping.” She mumbles getting up.

“There is always time for that tonight, if you actually go to bed on time.” I say to her as I grab my purse backpack that has my keys, wallet, and charger in it. A pillow gets thrown my way which I dodge but not before falling over the second one that thrown. This earns her a glare which she pays no mind to as she too busy laughing.

When you first come into the house you’ll find the small living room too the left and large kitchen to the right. Our parents room is down the hall, then there are the stairs that leads upstairs. This floor has the bathroom, our parent’s study, and a guest bedroom. Then the spacious attic where my sisters and I have our room. There is a door in the kitchen that leads to the basement, my second favorite part of the house other than my room. The basement is our in home dance/ music studio. Our parents tend to become very busy with work so the didn’t want us to be bored at home. Yes we are in school activities but for the times that we are not they want us to perfect our talents. Alice has such a beautiful voice and Brooklyn can play pretty much any instrument. Brooklyn and I can both sing as well, just not on the same level as Alice. I’m more of the dancer of us three. The dancing section of the room is more for when we learn dances in the guard, we don’t look a mess on the field.

This house has been one of my parent’s goals ever since they got married. They knew they wanted kids and they wanted what they thought was the best. Mom has light brown eyes, curly medium brown hair, and milk chocolate skin. She is in her late 30′s She owns a lounge named Hot Jazz and it is located in Deerwood, Pa, close to our house. Hot Jazz is a cool place for people with the love of jazz can go to enjoy the music, chat, see different talents from far and near, and just be stress free. Dad has black hair, dark chocolate skin, and has hazel eyes color. He is taller than me by a mile and is in his early 40′s. Dad works as a lawyer at a law firm downtown. He has also been involved with baseball since the stone ages, but he just doesn’t play for real anymore. This man can and will get real creative with any punishment he gives you no matter how big, how small, or what sport, it doesn’t matter. All I know is you are going to regret it because boy do they do numbers on your body.

The smell of bacon puts my mosey walk to a jog into the kitchen. Dad chuckles the moment he saw that I have my bacon lover face on.

“Good morning Amori.” He says turning the bacon and flipping the pancakes.

“Morning dad.” I say giving him a kiss on his cheek. I go over to the pale-yellow cabinet and get out some plates and cups. I get some utensils from a drawer and set the table.

“Morning mom.” I say giving her a kiss as well. She and Brooklyn were cutting up fruit by the sink.

“Morning baby.” She says with a smile. The other girls come down and we all help finish cooking and preparing breakfast then we all take seats around our cherry wood table. I bop Brooklyn on the head as my way of telling her good morning. She throws a apple slice at me which I knew she was going to do, so I catch it in my mouth, doing a little victory dance.

“Where is River?” I ask. Right after I say her name. The black fur ball walks into the room.

“Hey baby.” I say petting her head. Her tail bud wiggles as I did so. We have 3 Rottweilers and I love them all to pieces. We have had River for about 7 years now. She has this eye condition where the skin in her left eye completely covers her eyes and there’s nothing we or the vets could do about it. She hasn’t really been eating lately and she’s getting skinnier but I guess it’s just from her being sick, I pray that she will get better. My other Rotties are Rocky and Storm. Storm is more aggressive because she thinks she owns something and she doesn’t play about her food. Rocky just lets her do what she wants because he knows that’s his lady, even though he is now bigger than her. They are both almost a year. Storm was our 16th birthday present.

It’s not long before the food is done and Alice joins us. “Any plans for today?” Dad asks us.

“I’m going to rifle with Cora, I get to shoot today.” I say excitedly as I pile my plate with more food.

My sisters and I have 3 best friends. Cora has walnut brown skin, a curvy body, brown eyes, and very wavy dark brown dyed teal hair. Cora pretty much does all the main things in school. She’s on the rifle team and in the marching band but more specifically she’s in the color guard, she plays the violin in the pit during musical, and she’s in the art club for photography. Isabella is the sweetest little thing out here. With her beautiful blonde hair that sits at her shoulders and sparkling clear blue eyes to match that sparkling personality of hers. Her creamy flawless olive white skin always has me jealous. I mean I’m pretty sure that girl has never seen a pimple a day in her life.

Then there’s Eva, she has light espresso skin, brown eyes, shoulder length straight dark brown hair. She’s in the color guard with us. Cora has been around since grade school, Izzy since the middle school, and Eva since high school. It just so happened that Cora and I became one of the closest.

It’s a bonus that they all live super close. What do I mean by this? Isabella lives on the other side of our yard while Cora lives diagonal. Eva lives a little more down the street. You can just imagine all the trouble we got in as kids.

Down in the range Cora is a beast shooter. In all honesty she is basically my evil twin nor literally because that would be Alice. The rifle season is just about over, or shall I say that it’s about to restart, and today is Shoot For Cancer. The rifle team has this event every year for 3 days so people can come shoot if they donate. I think it’s a ton of fun but that’s only my opinion.

“I already went on my run earlier, so I just have to head into work.” Brooklyn says spinning a spoon in her tea.

“Izzy and I are going to work on some video ideas for the channel.” Alice says. Did I mention that we all have a YouTube channel where we do music and dance covers, along with some original songs?

“That sounds good to me.” My mother says pouring syrup over her food.

“Before I forget we have new neighbors who just moved in next door. Well actually they are old friends of our family. I’m not sure if you remember the Knights’ or not but I want you girls to introduce yourselves at some point.” Papa says.

After breakfast Alice helps me do the dishes. Alice lets out a short laugh before I get her elbow in my side.

“Ow, what?” I ask but she only nods to the window. Cora is climbing over the fence instead of using the door like Izzy is doing. I finish drying the last dish before letting them in.

“Guess who’s grandma got her a car!” Cora says happily.

“Izzy?” Alice asks in a sarcastic way.

“I wish, I’m sick of my idiotic brother taking the car.” Izzy says frowning.

“We aren’t taking it because it’s such a nice day.” I tell Cora.

“You’re no fun.”

“Oh shut up, it’s only a ten minute walk lazy bones. By guys.” I say before grabbing my bag and Cora’s hand dragging her out the front door.

The library is the halfway point between the school and where we live. At the school we go through the side entrance instead of the range door incase a relay was going on. We make a few turns down the hall and we appear in front of the door that leads down to the range. The closer you got to the range the more you heard voices and sometimes music. In the lounge I spot some of my lovely weird friends.

Only a select few of my friends do rifle and that is Rion, and of course Cora. Rion has manila skin, long straight honey blonde hair, is skinny, has greyish eyes and she plays tennis. Throughout the season I would always lay on one of the four couches that outlined the lounge. Down there I would only venture in the staircase, team lounge, the range, and sometimes I’ll go through the hall to get outside the back way. I really only get to shoot once a year but that’s fine by me. I would say hello to the people who were people doing homework, chatting, sleeping and playing cards. Usually Cora would be dominating the card games they play. Cora is on the varsity squad and I must say she has really worked her butt off to get there.

I put my bag on the ground against the wall before continuing into the range. Darnell looking into the range when he sees me I’m immediately squashed into a hug. Darnell who has light skin, light brown hair, and hazel eyes is a tall giant who plays the baritone saxophone in the marching band.

“I think Louis is going to be happy to see you.” He says jokingly, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Why, what did I do?” I ask suspiciously and slightly defensive.

“You know you’re his favorite.” He says leaning against the wall.

I huff, “As if.”

Cora rounds the corner after getting something from her locker. Darnell bends down placing a short sweet kiss on her lips before telling her something. I turn away deciding to let the lovebirds be. They’ve been together since the 8th grade. Super cute right, I know.

“Are you shooting today AJ?” Louis says coming out of where they hold the firearms.

“Yes sir I am.” I say smiling.

“Stop that.” His brown eyes narrow at me.

“Stop what?” I ask curiously.

“Calling my sir, I’m not old.” He says rolling his eyes.

“Yes sir.” I tease. He isn’t that much older than me because he in his second year of college. How can he be in charge of a high school rifle team? His dad is actually in charge, Louis just helps.

“Alright let’s start this relay.” Louis says. Cora is my spotter because she never wants anyone else to do it. They go over the rules with us and tell us to begin.

“Remember not to pull the trigger too hard.” Cora whispers reminding me. Something I love but hate at the same time is how silent it gets inside the range. The only sound heard other than the firearm firing and shells hitting the ground, is the comments spotters have to help improve your shots.

I nod and focus my attention ahead of me. I hold my breath and concentrate on my target. When it seems to be lined up I pull the trigger gently. I repeat my test shots 3 more times before moving on to the outer targets. After I finish I wait for everyone else to finish. There were only a few left so the wait wasn’t long. I then take my paper back to Louis. When Louis is done scoring me he smiles.

“You’re getting better.” He smiles handing me the target.

“90-4X, yes!” I cheer doing a little dance.

“’What did you get last year?” He asks.

“85-2X.” I mumble.

“That was good for someone who never shot a rifle before and it’s going up. Maybe if you would have joined last year you could have 100s right now.” He says patting my head. It would be late for me to try to join the team they only take freshmen and some sophomores.

“You know I would have but my dad told me I couldn’t.” I say sadly. Dad thought that if I would join the riffle team that I would never be home. He was right, I wouldn’t be home, even though it’s not like I’m home now as it is. I go to as many events I’m allowed to attend with Cora.

“Go away so we can set up the next relay.” Louis says shooing me off. Darnell is sitting on the couch by himself so I decide to go sit with him.

“Hey Nelly, what did you score?” I ask having a seat.

“78-3X, how about you?” He says showing me.

“Nice and I got a 90-4X.”

“Your good.” He says looking back at his paper with a slight frown.

“This was your first time.” I remind him.

“Yeah I know. Anyways onto a more important topic, how is your plan going?” He asks.

“What plan?” I ask curiously.

“’Operation B.” He says nudging my shoulder.

“Oh that plan.” I say bouncing my leg. “I haven’t started yet.” I say.

“Wait, why? You need to do it now before it’s too late.” He exclaims.

“It’s harder than you think. I don’t want just anybody they have to be my type of perfect.” I sigh. Operation B was Darnell’s way of giving me hope with finding a guy that would be my version of a perfect boyfriend.

“Have you been out and actually trying to meet people?” He asks.

“Not one bit, no.”

“Why is that?” He asks looking at me. When I don’t answer he continues to speak, “could it be because of tall, blonde, and off limits?”

There goes the question he already knows the answer to just as well as my sisters and Cora. Have I mentioned that Izzy was a twin? Yeah, Antonio is not only her twin but he has been my crush for the past 3 years making its way into 4. He flirts with me when he feels like it and I have to sit here and act like I have no interest in him whatsoever. The funny thing is, everyone always speaks of us as a possible item. I mean the whole school would be beyond happy to see one of their golden girls and golden boys together.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I say rolling my eyes.

“Oh, so you won’t mind that Tori is over there flirting like her life depends on it?”

I turned around so fast I fell out my seat and onto the nice comfortable floor, note the sarcasm. I send my best glare at Darnell who just silently laughs. I turn my attention to the boys. Though Tori wasn’t standing there, Antonio was however, speaking with Louis. When they finished speaking Louis walked away and Antonio’s eyes found mine. At this point I would gladly run away if it weren’t for the fact that I can’t outrun the athletic star.

“I have to go, but, I will be waiting for an update.” Darnell says giving me a serious look as he emphasized ‘will’. I put my hands up in mock surrender. As he went away this gave Antonio free will to speak with me since I am now alone.

“My beautiful Mori, what did you score today?” He asks walking up to me. I stand up so that I don’t feel too small. Even then his frame is still bigger than I. He is the only person who ever calls me Mori, everyone else calls me AJ. He just had to be the odd ball with everything he does.

“How many times must I tell you. Tony, I am not yours.”

“In a way you are.”

“I’m not doing this.” I roll my eyes nice and hard trying to move past him. He grabs my arm, spinning me, and keeping me so that our shoulders are overlapping. His scent was intoxicating and his warmth brought a weird sense of comfort. Since I’m facing away from him I can only feel the intenseness of his gaze.

“What did you score?” He asks not letting me go. With my free hand I hold up my sheet.

“’Could have done better.” He says giving me the look when he thinks something is okay. I glare at him and try to pull away only to be pulled back.

“But it’s not bad, rookie.”

“Aye Russo, stop harassing my best friend.” Cora yells exiting the range.

“She’s my best friend too, you know.” He says loosening his grip enough for me to pull away yet I don’t.

“Actually, Izzy is the twin that’s our bestie but you’re a semi but not really close second.” I say shrugging.

“Whatever smart one. Don’t you have to get going?”

“We’re going now if you’d let her go.” Cora sasses.

“I’m not even holding her that tight anymore. She’s choosing to stay in my grip.” He says smugly. Now I have to go after that comment. Cora sent a suspicious glance my way and I feel my neck heat up.

“Right.” I say trying to cover up the awkwardness of the situation as I pull away.

“Let’s go.” Cora says taking my hand.

“Not one word.” I mumble to her as we walk away.

“I wasn’t going to say anything but now I just might.” She teases.