Chapter 5

Rosemary's POV

Once I was allowed to put more weight on my wrist I started doing handstands for some reason. I have no idea why. Thankfully Leslie hasn't bothered me in months. Malakai's birthday was a few weeks after my wrist had completely healed.

"Aw. He looks so peaceful."

"WAKE UP MAL!"

"AH! WHY ARE YOU ALL IN HERE?!"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY YA DUMBO!"

"Fuckkkkk youuuuuu!"

"Time to get up!"

"But I don't wanna!"

His brother came into his room and jumped on him.

"That one hurt."

"Get ready!"

"Why? Oh no. No no no no no. You're not getting me to go. You do this every damn year. Now you've got Rose in on it."

"I'm confused. What's going on?"

"Every damn year they try to get me to go to an amusement park that's three hours away."

"Why don't you go?"

"I never want to."

"You've never gone on a damn roller coaster!"

"He hasn't?"

"No! He's only gone on kid rides!"

"We must change this."

"No we must not."

We all got on his bed and started jumping.

"AH! OKAY! OKAY! I'LL GO! JUST STOP JUMPING!"

We left so he could get ready. After he got ready he came downstairs.

Wow he looks good.

Well I mean he always does.

Today he just looks REALLY good.

"Didn't know you own more than just ripped jeans."

"Oh ha ha. You know I never wear shorts outside of the house."

We got in Ruby's car and she started driving.

"Happy birthday to you."

"I'm gonna kill you."

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MALAKAI!"

"Can I get out of the car?"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUUU!"

"Blake you're screaming in my ear."

"I don't care man."

"Clearly."

Mal put headphones in and tried to block out everyone's voices.

He really doesn't like leaving his house.

There's gotta be a reason behind that.

When we finally got into the amusement park you could tell Malakai was miserable.

"Can't I just wait in the car?"

"No you can't."

"Shoot!"

"I'm taking your brother to the rides he's tall enough for. Have fun."

Ruby and Chris walked away and we started dragging Mal to the first ride.

"I really would like to go to the car and sleep."

We got to the first ride and he looked up.

"OH HELL NO! NO!"

He went to walk away but we surrounded him. I put my hair into a ponytail.

"I really DO NOT want to do this. Why can't I just wait and hold your stuff?"

"You should at least try to have fun."

"Rose I-I-I hate heights!"

Oh shit.

"You'll be okay."

"Mary please don't make me do this."

"One ride. Just one ride. If you don't like this then I'll stay with you while they go on more rides. Okay?"

He nodded.

"How do you tighten this?"

"I'll do it."

"I'm screwed now. Oh god it's moving."

"Don't look down."

"Saying that makes me want to look down!"

He looked down.

We got to the top and he started panicking more.

"Take my hand."

We started going down. He started screaming and squeezing my hand.

"I HATE YOU SIX!"

"STOP BEING A SCAREDY CAT!"

"WE'RE GOING BACKWARDS!"

"THIS GOES BACKWARDS?!"

The guys started laughing.

"GUYS! I'M GONNA KILL YOU! GET ME OFF THIS THING!"

When the ride ended I could tell he was relieved.

"Do you want to go again?"

"NO! I'm finding my mom and brother. Those rides I can handle."

"I don't think it was smart making him go on the biggest roller coaster here."

"I told him he didn't have to go on another ride if he didn't want to."

"MALLY!"

"Hi little man."

"He found a ride he thinks you'll like."

"It's not crazy!"

He grabbed Mal's hand and started running. I ran after them.

"SLOW DOWN YOU TWO!"

When I caught up to them I jumped onto Mal's back.

"Choking! You're choking me!"

"My bad!"

I got down and Christian grabbed my hand.

"Excuse me? You make a cute family. Aren't you a bit too young?"

"What?"

"Oh no we're not-"

"We're just friends and this is his brother."

"Oh. My apologies."

We turned around and started walking back to everyone else.

"Um someone just thought we're a family..."

"NOAH DO NOT SAY ANYTHING! BITE YOUR TONGUE!"

What did he think Noah was going to say?

Noah looked like he was trying his best not to laugh.

Malakai's POV

They ended up getting me to go on more rides. I admit. It wasn't THAT bad. I still hated the first ride.

"There. You got me on rides. Ya happy now?"

"Yes."

"Thank you for humoring us."

"Never again."

"You say that NOW but we'll get you here again."

"No. No you won't."

I've been thinking about what that person said.

Would we really make a cute family?

We got back in the car and my dad  started driving us home. My brother fell asleep on the way home. I picked him up and carried him to his room.

"What's going on?"

"You fell asleep in the car. You can take a bath in the morning."

I put him down on his bed and put his blanket on top of him. I closed his door then told everyone that he was asleep.

"He did a lot of running around today."

"Alright I'm going to shower. I'm all sweaty."

"My mom said I can stay the night. No one's home yet and I don't have a house key yet."

"Is that why I saw a duffel bag in my room?"

"Yeah."

I grabbed clothes and went to my bathroom. I turned on the water and got in. My mind started racing.

When should I tell her?

I should prepare for rejection.

When I was done showering I got out and got dressed. I got out of my bathroom and started walking around the house.

Where's Rose?

"How come you're sleeping here?"

"Oh. There's no other rooms. Well ones that have beds anyway."

"You can sleep in my room. I'll just sleep on the floor."

"But your bed looked like it was big enough for two people."

"I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"We used to sleep in the same bed when one of us was getting babysat for the night."

"I don't know if it'd be different since we're older."

"I'm sure it'll fine. I can always kick you off the bed."

We slept with our backs facing each other. She must have left early in the morning since she wasn't there when I woke up.

"Mom said you have to take me and Matthew to the park."

"You're not tired or sore?!"

"Nope! His mom just called and asked if we could go. Mom or dad can't go."

"So that's where I fit into this. Okay. Give me a few."

He left and I started looking for clothes.

Why can't he just take a day to relax?

I got dressed then went to eat something.

"Mom left money on the table."

"Is Matty's mom dropping him off?"

"Yeah. they're here."

I walked over to the door and opened it.

"Hi Mrs.Robin."

"Good afternoon Mal. Thanks for watching Matt."

"No problem. What time should we be back by?"

"4:30. He's not going to want to stay there for four hours so we brought his bathing suit."

"Do you guys just want to have a pool day? You guys might be too tired to do anything if we walk to the park."

"Let's just do that."

We said "goodbye" to Matt's mom then put our bathing suits on.

"Do you guys want music or tv?"

"Can we watch a movie?"

"Sure."

They picked out a movie to play on the outside tv. We put floats in the pool. I sat down and put my feet in.

"Come in!"

"Not right now."

"Are you waiting for Rosey?"

"Who?"

"His girlfriend."

"Rose is NOT my girlfriend! We're just really good friends."

"But you like each other."

"She probably doesn't like me back. Don't get my hopes up."

"You should tell her."

"When I'm ready I'll tell her."

"I can do it for you."

"No! Please don't do that! I'll do it when I'm ready!"

We stayed outside for  a few hours. When they were done we put everything away and turned the tv off. We went inside once they were dry. We changed then ate.After that we sat down and watched tv. It got really quiet and I noticed they both fell asleep.

That's how the seven of us looked after we used too much energy.

I heard a knock on the door so I opened it.

"Hi again. They're asleep. They ate not long ago."

I picked Matt up and brought him to his mom's car. I put him down then put his seatbelt on.

"Thanks again."

"No problem."

I watched them drive away then went back inside.

"Where did Matty go?"

"He went home. Go get ready for bed."

"Can I stay up?"

"No."

"I normally do!"

"Hate to break it to ya but that's only during the summer. Your sleep schedule is not getting messed up during the school year."

He stomped away.

"No watching tv or using your phone!"

"OH COME ON!"

"I'll check on you in a bit!"

He screamed. After a while I went to check on him. He went back to sleep.

"Mal? We're back."

"Chris is sleeping."

"I'm surprised. You didn't let him stay up."

"If his sleep schedule gets messed up I do not want the blame."

"Smart choice."

I went to get ready for bed. I looked at the spot were Rose had slept in. For some reason my bed feels empty. I closed my eyes. During our senior year of high school Rose decided to wake me up on an afternoon in November.