Chapter 7
"I want you to do laps around this house until you puke," a voice booms from outside. Multiple groans follow that sentence.
"Uh coach, what if I just puke now, does that mean I get to skip the warm up altogether?" A voice asks causing loud laughter to come through my open bedroom windows and hit me in the face. I let out a loud groan and lift my head from underneath my pillow. I can feel the dried drool on the side of my mouth and don't even think about the birds nest I call my morning hair as I stumble towards my window, trying not to trip over the girls as I do.
I rip open the curtains and am slightly blinded by the sunlight. I look at the spacious back yard and notice a whole team of baseball players standing in a circle around our gym teacher and my father. What?
"Well Blackwood, then you can do twice the amount of running," Mr Miller the coach and my gym teacher tells Zach with what looks like a smirk on his face.
"Oh, c'mon coach, you know that won't tire me out," Zach says with that 'I'm better than everyone else' smirk.
I hear rustling behind me and a yelp followed by a loud thud shortly after. I turn around and see Liv wrapped up in the sheets with her body lying across Quinn and Court who are groaning and hitting Olivia to try and get her off them. After what seems like an exaggerated amount of time she stands back up and continues her march across the room ending up right next to me with a scowl on her face. Not exactly a delight in the morning as you can see.
"Could you shut up some people are trying to sleep in this household!" Olivia shouts from the open window.
"Yeah like us Liv, so could you shut up?" Courtney mumbles from the floor where she wraps the blanket over her face hoping to block out the noises.
"Olivia Grace is that the tone we use when asking for something?" My father asks loudly from the yard.
"It was more of a statement Mister H, but I hear you!" Olivia shouts back just as a pillow hits her in the back of the head and falls out the window onto the grass below. Olivia stares down at the pillow is silent shock. I turn around and gape at Courtney who now sits wide eyed staring at the window where the pillow went. Loud laughter comes from outside.
"Are you kidding me?" I look at Courtney with a glare. She smiles sheepishly at me with a slight shrug. Quinn is still rolling over trying to wake herself up.
I look back out the window and realize during my glare session that I've missed a whole conversation.
"Oh, yeah Blackwood? Why don't you come say that to my face!" Olivia shifts away from the window and heads out my bedroom door slamming it in response to whatever Zach just said. My father gives me one look and I immediately start chasing after her before she kills Zach.
I rush out the back-sliding doors and notice Olivia already standing as close as she can to Zach with my father in between them.
"Nice tank top Liv, a little cold this morning?" Kyle, one of the juniors asks which results in a few snickers from the boys.
Olivia looks at him with a bored look on her face, "You are proof that evolution can go in reverse."
Everyone bursts out in laughter at the comeback Olivia just casually threw at him. Even my father has that 'I'm trying not to laugh on the inside but what you said was really funny' look on his face.
"Are you wearing my shirt?" Courtney asks from behind Olivia and me.
"Yes," we both reply at the same time and look at each other in shock but then we both burst out laughing. Quinn giggles from behind us.
"You two are hopeless," Courtney mumbles as she walks to my mom's SUV that were taking to brunch.
"Did anyone notice that the car is boxed in?" Quinn points out looking at the two cars sitting behind my mom's. Mom and the girls walk outside the house and stop also noticing that we're kind of trapped now. Mom catches my eye with a little pout on her lips silently asking me to deal with this. I groan and stomp my foot on the ground like a child, slowly heading to the backyard.
"Wait for me!" Maddie shouts running after me in her baby blue puffy dress. She grabs my hand and pulls me to walk faster, causing me to stumble.
"Woah slow down Munchkin I'm going to trip, I can't run in sandals!" I yell after her trying to tug my hand out of her grip. "If I fall I'm taking you down with me, cute dress and all," I threaten. She lets go of me instantly. Ha!
We slowly make our way to the back of the driveway which turns into the backyard and stand next to dad. Madeline walks over to him and he picks her up telling her how adorable she looks.
"Hey Seb, two of your friend's cars are parked behind mom's car. Please can you ask them to move their cars?" I shout to Sebastian who is in the middle of the yard, he nods his head and starts talking to the guys asking who had parked in the driveway. Out of the crowd of boys I see Nathan and Cole jog to their bags rustling around, for what I assume are their keys, before they start walking towards Maddie and I. Dad puts her down not without giving her an overexaggerated kiss on her cheek, which gets her giggling.
"Have fun girls we'll see you later," dad tells us with a wave.
We start walking back to the driveway, Cole and Nathan trailing behind us.
"Hey Charlotte, I just wanted to apologise again for yesterday," Nathan catches up to Maddie and I.
I look over at him and shrug, "Really not that big of a deal, I'm over it already."
"Okay awesome, thank you," Nathan smiles showing those perfect teeth. He looks at the little girl holding my hand tightly, who is stealing glances at the cute boy walking next to us. "Hey, Maddie, right?" Her eyes widen and she quickly nods her head, releasing her tight grip a little bit. "Well you look like a beautiful princess this morning."
She scrunches her nose, "I don't look like a princess, I look like a dragon," she says like it should be obvious to us as she points to her butterfly wings on her back. It was the only kind Target had in stock that looked anything like dragon wings to her.
"Oh, yeah I can definitely see it now, you look like an awesome dragon," Nathan states nodding his head pretending to assess her outfit. Maddie nods her head proudly with a grin on her face giving him a twirl.
We all pile into my mom's car fully knowing that her car technically only seats seven, with eight of us trying to squeeze in.
"Olivia get your fat ass off me!" Court yells trying to shove Olivia onto the floor of the backseat. This has been going on for the past two minutes, Courtney and Olivia pushing and shoving just to get the window seat. Probably not realizing that there's more than one window seat in this car.
"How dare you, my ass is not fat it's just generous, you pancake!" Olivia retaliates.
Sophie had claimed shotgun when Maddie and I had gotten back to the car, and Maddie has her designated car seat since she's only seven, so it's a push and shove fest for the rest of us.
"Just get in the damn car before I make you two walk to breakfast!" My mother barks from the driver's seat staring with a no nonsense expression. It takes us approximately ten seconds for the rest of us to get in the car, my sister's sitting in the front and first row, with the girls and I sitting in the last row with myself laying across their legs so that we all fit. My mother huffs a quiet 'finally' and we head off to Girls' Brunch.
"Let's hope the cops don't see us breaking the law," Tessa laughs glancing back at us.
"If we do get caught Maddie said it was okay," Olivia says pulling a face at Maddie who looks terrified.
"I did not, you're a liar!" She shouts defending herself. She's such a cutie.
"It's okay Mads, we'll just lock Liv in the trunk if that happens," Sophie pipes up from the front seat.
"Hey, why the hel- frick do I have to get locked in the trunk?" Olivia retorts. I stare at her for a few seconds until she glances at me.
"Really, you say frick instead of hell? How is that any better?" Quinn asks exactly what I was thinking.
"It's the best I could come up with under pressure, okay?" She defends herself.
Tessa and Sophie laugh loudly and my mom just rolls her eyes with a small grin. Sophie starts tapping the screen until music starts flowing through the car, specifically Hold My Hand by Jess Glynne causing all the girls to start singing along to the first verse. My mom laughs at all our dramatic gestures and tone deaf harmonies. This is probably why we only do this once a month, we would probably be dead if she had to deal with this every weekend.