Broken (Brown Eyed Boy book 2)

Can't You See What I See? (Emmett POV)

As usual, Carlos' room door was shut which didn't signal much on whether he was asleep or just inside blocking the rest of the world out. It wasn't until Cassie cracked it open and poked her head inside that we got an answer. “He's still sleeping,” she whispered back to me. “You wake him up.”

            “You're the one who wants him to help paint your room,” I said back to her. “You wake him up.”

            “I always wake him up,” she said stubbornly, turning to look back at me.

            “Because you're his sister and that's what sister's do.”

            “Please, Emmett,” she said, opting for her puppy dog eyes instead of arguing. “Pretty please?”

            “Fine,” I sighed, gently pulling her to the side so I could step into the room. “You go help Jessie start moving the stuff in your room. I'll try and get Carlos to help.”

            “Yay!” she cheered and hugged me. “You're the third best!”

            “Third best?” I asked.

            “Yeah,” Cassie said, looking at me as though it were obvious. “Carlos is first and Jessie is second. Duh.” She rolled her eyes like only a kid could, and then disappeared into her room where I could faintly hear her and Jessie deciding where to move her stuff. I turned back to Carlos' room and walked quietly inside, trying to decide how to wake him up. He was asleep on one side of his bed, close to the edge, and while it occurred to me that I could probably wake him up kindly, I got the urge to do otherwise. An amused smile crossed my face as I quietly walked over to his bed and leaned close to his face. Taking a deep breath, I opened my mouth and screamed into his ear.

            Carlos' response was immediate; he screamed too, as he pushed himself up off the bed but instead of sitting himself up he ended up pushing himself to the floor. I backed away laughing as he fell to the floor with a thud and looked up to glare at me. “What the hell was that?” he complained, getting up from the floor.

            “That,” I said, still laughing. “Was your morning wake up call. And I have to say, it was very entertaining.”

            “Why are you here?” he asked, ignoring my obvious amusement.

            “Cassie asked me to help her paint her room,” I answered, leaning against his desk and watching him sit himself back on his bed.

            “Which explains why you are in my house,” Carlos grumbled. “Not why you're in my room harassing me.”

            “One, I'm not harassing you,” I answered. “And two, Cassie also asked me to wake you up so you can help us with the moving of her stuff and actually painting her room.”

            “I told her I might not help,” he said, getting up and walking to his bathroom.

            “And would that have anything to do with the fact that Jessie is involved with this project?” I asked. Carlos stopped where he was and gave me a look that said I was right and he didn't like it. “Dude, you can't stop being there for Cassie just because Jessie might be there. She's your sister.”

            “I know.”

            “Then stop being a wuss, and get dressed to help your sister,” I replied. He stared at me with a blank look and I couldn't help but get the feeling that he hadn't heard what I said. I shook my head without another word and walked back to his room door, closing it behind me. Stepping into the hall, I almost ran into Cassie who was carrying out some of her stuffed animals.