Chapter 1
Chapter 1
"The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up."
-Paul Valery
When you have to wake up. You should probably wake up, but what if you don't want to wake up? My alarm clock is telling me to wake up. My alarm clock is also stupid. What else is new?
My hand is just itching to destroy it, but luckily I'm not a murderer. I'm also not a morning person, but does my alarm clock care? No, it doesn't.
I open my eyes slowly blinking rapidly against the morning sunlight streaming in through my window. Reaching out blindly with my hand, I quickly hit a random button on my alarm clock. Luckily it stops making those awful noises of doom. Unfortunately, I'm already awake. The damage has already been done!
While slowly sitting up I look around my bedroom. I'm sad to report that no magical fairies snuck in yesterday night to clean the mess. I girl can hope, can't she?
My bed is already busy mourning my loss as I stand up while looking at the time. It's half past nine. Wow, it's really early. Way earlier than when I usually wake up. Except maybe on school days I wake up earlier. Fortunately, today is Saturday. Unfortunately, today is also a field day for my little sister.
Brielle is the athlete of our family. She won the state championships this year for the 100m and 200m races. I don't understand why the school has another athletics competition this close to summer break, but my mother wants the whole family there today to support Brielle. All the good athletics schools in the district are going against each other. Apparently, it's going to be BIG. There are a champion cup and everything for the school who has the most points at the end of the day.
I love Brielle. I just don't love waking up at half past nine. The plan is that I'm going to drive me and my little brother later today to the competition.
Since my parents already left with Brielle bright and early this morning.
The house is silent as I walk out of my bedroom into the hall and down the stairs. Humming a little tune as I go down. Brielle wanted to leave earlier because like she said in her own words- "she wanted to get a feel of her competition". Could she get any more ridiculous?
Walking into the kitchen I see my little brother sitting at the counter. He's busy watching YouTube videos about Minecraft. Cole is obsessed with that game like every other boy his age. He looks up from his phone to look at me.
"Finally, I thought you had died and gone to hell." He said giving me an evil smirk. He may be twelve, but believe me when I say he's evil. Two weeks ago he smeared blue icing on my chin while I was sleeping. When I woke up there were blue icing everywhere. Long story short I went to school looking like I had a smurf beard.
"How long have you been awake?" I asked ignoring his insult. If I didn't we wouldn't be leaving this house anytime soon.
"Since seven, " He suddenly looks at me with pleading eyes, "can you please make me some cereal?"
He's been awake all this time and still hasn't made himself some breakfast. Ladies and gentleman may I please introduce my brother to you- Cole Woods. That is my brother for you. Waiting till someone else can make him some cereal. When the cereal box is sitting right in front of him. I mean it's cereal. How hard can it be?
"No, " I said while rummaging through the cabinet for a bowl, " you have had plenty of time to make your own cereal. Besides, I'm not your slave. Do it yourself. It will surprise you what you could accomplish on your own."
Finally finding a bowl nice enough for my favourite cereal ( I'm a bowl snob).
I close the cabinet door and pour some fresh milk and Otees into it.
"It would only take you like two seconds to make it." My brother argues while looking longingly at my bowl of awesomeness.
"No, " I said stubbornly while walking out of the kitchen, " it would also take you two seconds to make it."
"Fine, but just remember this day when you ask me for something again. Don't you dare be mad at me then when I don't do it!" Cole yells at me from the kitchen.
"Whatever makes you sleep at night, Cole. Be ready in ten minutes. We're leaving then and please remember to bring some sunscreen." I yell over my shoulder while walking up the stairs.
While walking to my room I felt a little guilty. I could have just made him some cereal. No, no, no! I will not feel guilty. Cole should learn to do things himself.
And you should learn how to clean your room. My brain concludes as I walk back into my messy bedroom.
I'm not even parked yet and Cole is already out of the car. To say the ride was tense is an understatement. Cole decided that he's going to ignore me for the rest of the day. All over a bowl of cereal. How childish can one be?
The parking lot of our high school is almost full. Wow, people actually show up to this kind of things. Brielle must be nervous. Her event is in about a half hour.
Climbing out of the car I grab my handbag and sunglasses. The air is simply buzzing with excitement and the nerves of athletes. There are small clusters of people hanging around the parking lot, but most are on the bleachers or are walking around the food stands.
Locking the car I make a mental note to stop by the food stands later. If I'm going to be here all day I might as well enjoy myself. The ice cream truck is at the very top of my list.
The bleachers are pretty packed when I get there. Spotting my parents on the front row of the farthest bleacher with my brother I started to walk over. Really, they had to choose the farthest one?
I'm busy walking peacefully toward my parents when suddenly somebody yanks me back and starts pulling me under one of the bleachers.
"Hey! what the hell do you..." I start protesting but a smooth voice interrupts me.
"Relax, A. It's me." There is only one person in the whole universe that calls me A.
"Brielle, " I say relieved turning around to look at her face, " you almost gave me a heart attack. I thought I was being kidnapped!"
My sister laughs amused. "Wow, A. Your really getting worked up about this."
There is something you should know about me. There are two types of scares that I get. There is the laughing matter scare. It's lighthearted and funny and then there's the really terrified scare. Where at first I'm shocked and then I get very, very angry. This is probably the latter.
I'm pissed.
Brielle sees the expression on my face and probably realizes this is serious because she stops laughing.
"Before you kill me just remember that in prison there isn't any ice cream." Brielle rushes out to say.
She does have a point. Oh well, I'll just have to forgive her then.
"It's alright, B. Just don't scare me like that again," I say.
My parents are both pretty neat people. Their kind of perfectionists.
They decided from an early stage in their marriage that they wanted three children. Unlike normal people who actually pick out names for their babies, they wanted to do it differently.
They like order and that's why they decided on the Alphabet. Their first child would get a name that starts with an A, their second with a B and their third with a C. My father wanted us to be named after the planets, but luckily my mom put a stop to that idea.
So when I and Brielle were little we would make jokes like that we're the ABC's and that she is the B to my A and that I'm the A to her B. It was fun and I guess it stuck. She's my B and I'm her A without each other we're not whole.
I sometimes call Cole C, but it doesn't sound right to me. Especially when I'm using see in the same sentence. It just doesn't work.
"I won't. I promise A," She says looking at me sincerely, " but you won't guess what coach Anderson just suggested to me."
"What?" I sigh, " did coach Anderson suggest to you."
But with the way Brielle is smiling at me my guess is that I don't want to know.
"She wants you to try out for the cross country team!" Brielle screams excitedly.
For a moment there was silence and then I started laughing.
"B, you're hilarious." I choke out while holding my stomach shaking with laughter.
"It's not a joke, A. Coach Anderson saw you running the other day and thought you had some potential and since your my sister she also thought I could train with you this summer," Brielle said in a serious voice.
Realizing this wasn't the joke of the century. I start collecting myself.
"When did Coach Anderson see me running?" I ask my sister really getting curious now. I never, never voluntarily run.
" Apparently she saw you chasing after Bingo in the park when it was your turn to walk him," Brielle says with a smug smile on her face.
Bingo is our 2-year-old Jack Russel. Now I remember that day when Coach Anderson saw me. I was taking Bingo for a walk around the park when suddenly he saw a mouse or something and chased after it. The leash was yanked out of my hand and because of my love for Bingo I decided to do the unthinkable. I was going to chase after that stupid dog before he got hit by a car. Meaning I'd have to run. Thus presumed ten minutes of me chasing Bingo around the park. Thus resulting in Coach Anderson thinking I can run.
The whole thing was absurd. Unfortunately, before I can express myself to Brielle. The Announcer announces that all the 100m athletes should start making their way to the starting base. Brielle's eyes widen for a second and then she pulls me in for a hug.
"Think about it, " she whispers in my ear before taking off. Leaving me behind under the bleachers.
"Good luck, " I whisper to no-one in particular.
Well, I guess I can finally go sit with my parents. Walking out from under the bleacher I get a few odd looks from the people around me.
I ignore them and start walking again to my parents, but it it's not meant to be as I walk straight into another person that is unfortunately busy carrying precious cargo. Meaning that that person is busy carrying coffee. Hot coffee that presumes to spill all over my shirt.
"Woah, didn't see you there, " says a deep muscular voice. Can a voice even be muscular?
I look up to look at the owner of this voice and what I find is the most beautiful moss green eyes staring back at me. At first, I'm entranced and then I just get mad, really mad.
