The Zachary Donovan Enigma - (( Watty Awards! ))

The Zachary Donovan Enigma - (5)

Chapter Five

(5)

I groaned as the alarm clock blared at me.

Beep, beep, beep.

I flung out my hand and slammed it back down on the snooze button, smiling sleepily into my pillow as the room was returned to its previous peaceful quiet.

Then I realised I was lying in my bed. The last thing I remembered was watching Kim Possible on the couch with Riley. I had no clue how I had ended up in my room.

I peeled open my eyes, but immediately shut them again as a stream of sunlight escaped through the blinds and directly into my face. Groaning again, I rolled reluctantly out of bed and onto the carpet. After a few minutes of regeneration on the floor I struggled back up to my feet and padded sleepily down the hallway to the kitchen.

“Morning Cassie,” chirped my dad, sitting at the head of the dining table, a newspaper in one hand and a coffee in the other.

I fell into the nearest stool and dropped my head on the counter. “Morning,” I mumbled.

I was definitely not a morning person.

I heard the chair scrape back across the floor and my father’s footsteps as he dropped his dirty mug into the sink. “I’ve got to get to work now Cass,” he said, walking back to the counter and kissing the top of my head. “Have a good day at school.”

I mumbled an unintelligible reply and listened for the click of the front door. Both my parents were doctors at the local hospital, and were always working odd hours of the day and night. I hardly ever saw them, and sometimes I even forgot I had parents.

I had nearly drifted back to sleep at the counter when someone slapped me across the back of the head. I grumbled a string of curses at the attacker, rubbing the back of my head.

“Wake up Cass,” sang Riley cheerfully, “Eli will be here soon.”

I lifted my head to scowl at Riley who just grinned cheekily back at me. “When I wake up properly,” I threatened, “I will get you back.”

Riley just shrugged. “Whatever.” He held up a loaf of bread, “You want toast?”

I nodded sleepily and propped my elbow on the table, resting my chin in my palm. I decided now was the time to ask the mystery question. “How did I end up in my bed?” I asked.

Riley placed four slices of toast in the toaster and pulled down the leaver. Three slices for himself, and one for me. “You fell asleep on the couch,” he shrugged, “And you looked too cute asleep, I couldn’t wake you up. So I put you to bed.”

I faintly remembered being carried, but since when was Riley that strong? I put it down to teenage male hormones, and all that time he’d been spending in the gym lately. “Thanks,” I muttered.

“No problem,” he said, “Don’t get used to it tho. You should really go to bed earlier.”

I sighed. “I know, but I always have homework I have to do, and it takes forever.”

 I suddenly jerked up straight as I realised I still had my biology homework sitting untouched in my school bag. Instantly awake, I bolted to the front hall and brought my books and pencil case back to the kitchen counter. I spread out my mess along the length of the bench and opened the text book to the questions we needed to complete.

The toaster popped and Riley tossed a slice of toast onto a plate for me, and then turned to rummage through the fridge. He pulled out a jar of vegemite and one of peanut paste; I wrinkled my nose at him. “Seriously?” I asked; eyeing the spreads he was going to combine.