Bad Luck with Love

Chapter 10: No Funny Business

“Grrrrrr,” I growled, covering my face with the pillow, trying to go back to sleep.

I could hear voices downstairs in the kitchen, and they just wouldn’t shut up. And after several minutes of trying to ignore the voices, I finally gave up and threw my comforter back and began to stomp out of my room, across the hall, down the stairs and all the way into the kitchen where I shouted:

“Tyler! I swear to God if you don’t shut the-” I stopped short. “Mom? Dad?” 

There they were. Mom sitting at the counter and my dad leaning against the other counter, both casually drinking orange juice as if it were any regular day.

Both were in sweats and tee-shirts, and they both looked absolutely exhausted, albeit very happy and very tanned. My dad’s blonde hair was ruffled and sticking up all over the place, and his green eyes were bright and happy. My mom had her brown hair pulled into a bun, and she was makeup less.

“Ivy!” My mom shouted happily, jumping up from her chair to hug me tightly. Then my dad came and gave me an equally tight hug.

“Jeez,” I said, “You guys are so tanned.” Fortunately, they didn’t look like they got one of those retarded tans where they looked orange. This was actually a very nice even tan.

“Well, duh. A whole week in the Florida sun will do that to you,” my dad said, rolling his eyes.

“Wow, I certainly missed your sense of humor."

“I’m sure you did,” my mom said with a snort. “Where’s your brother?”

I grinned wickedly. “He’s still asleep, and so is Jake.”

“Can you go wake them up?” My mom asked, “Jake’s parent’s said they’d be back around noon to get him.”

“My pleasure,” I said, already a plan was forming in my mind.

“Hey, she said wake them up, so no funny business, understood?” My dad said, arching an eyebrow.

I sighed, “You’re no fun.”

“I’m a parent, I’m not supposed to be ‘fun’."

Grumbling to myself, I trudged up the stairs. I opened the door to Tyler’s bedroom without even knocking and the sight I saw was comical.

Tyler, for some reason, was lying on his bed the opposite way than he was supposed to. His head was dangling off the edge of his bed, upside down, and his feet were stretched out on top of his pillow. Jake was lying flat on his back, his arms and legs spread wide like a starfish, and he was muttering something under his breath that I couldn’t quite make out.

I sank to the floor and crawled silently across the floor towards Jake before I put one hand over his swollen lips and sang in his ear, “Jakeyyyyyy.”

He moaned, rolling over onto his side. But as he did, his arm came down on top of me and he wrapped his arm around me, suddenly holding me in a death grip against his chest.

“Jake!” I hissed, “Jacob Lewis I swear if you don’t let go of me this instant there will be dire consequences! Dire, I say, dire!” Every time I said ‘dire’ I pounded as hard as I could on his chest, but considering my arms were folded and pinned between both our chests, it wasn’t very hard at all.

His eyes opened sleepily, and he blinked at me before yawning.

“Ivy?” he murmured, “What are you doing here?”

“Trying to breathe!” I gasped, wriggling as I tried to loosen his tight grip around my ribs.

He loosened his arms and I inhaled deeply. “Sorry, Ivy. I was asleep.”