After Everything

Chapter Twelve: New Kicker

Chaos was the right word to describe the Mendez household that Sunday morning.

There was no such thing as sleep after nine in the morning. Trevor's workout music blasted through the speaker in the backyard, making the house vibrate at every beat. To add to the ruckus, the shrieking sound of Crystal's blender was coming from the kitchen.

Cassie groaned into her pillow, still half asleep as she tried to block out the noise. As it persisted, she came to terms with herself that it would be impossible to fall back asleep. It was as if it was mid-summer before her other three siblings went back to college. The volume of noise was crazy to her for only having four other people in the house. She angrily stepped out of bed, ripping the sheets off her body before stomping out of her room and down the staircase.

The ear-piercing noise of the blender became even louder as Cassie walked into the kitchen. Her sister was shaking her derrière to Trevor's music as she happily watched her strawberry and mango smoothie mix in the blender.

Cassie was not nearly as happy as her sister, already off to a bad start that morning after being rudely awoken. She opened the fridge with force, grabbing a bottled water. She eyed her sister as she walked past her and over to the scones. The sight of the pasty was the first thing to make her happy.

She sat down at the table, taking a bite of her scone. Delicious, she thought to herself. Just what I needed.

Trevor interrupted her swooning by entering the house noisily. He continued to blast music from his speaker as he sang and jumped, his blond hair bouncing with his movements. Crystal joined his singing, clapping her hands together. Cassie tried her hardest to stay calm as the blender, the music, their off-pitched singing, and Crystal's clapping shattered her eardrums.

"Hey! Hey!" Coach Mendez shouted over the noise as he walked into the kitchen. He raised his hands as he shook his head in disapproval. "Turn that off right now!"

Trevor listened to his father's command as he turned off the music. To Cassie's liking, Crystal's blender had been turned off as well. She watched as her sister poured the smoothie into the cup on the counter. And for the first time since the clock struck nine, the house was quiet.

"Good morning, dad," Crystal greeted before taking a sip from her peach colored smoothie.

He smiled at his daughter. "Good morning, baby," he greeted back. He then turned to Trevor, who danced to his own beat as he eyed the scones. "It seems like you two are in a good mood this morning."

"Crys and I are always on the same wavelength," Trevor told his father as he pulled a scone out from the container. "It's a twin thing."

Crystal turned around to look at her younger sister, who quietly ate her scone. "Yeah, sorry, Cassandra," she hissed, judgment in her glare. "It's too bad you can't have fun with us. It's a twin thing that you're not apart of."

Cassie chose to stay silent even though she had rage building up inside of her. She missed Emilia, who was now in college. She never hesitated to make a snarky comment back to Crystal.

"Don't make her mad," Trevor joked, just adding to the madness. Cassie clenched her fists in anger, trying to forget he said that. "She might snap at you."

Crystal rolled her eyes. "What's she doing to do? Call Jordan over to defend her?" She questioned as Cassie dropped her scone angrily. "She's too choked up in tears to say anything right now."

"You're a fucking bitch!" Cassie yelled across the table, making her sister burst out laughing.

"Hey!" Their father yelled, turning to his youngest daughter as he shook his head in disappointment. "Don't use that word, Cassandra. That's not appropriate in this house."