Huntington Avenue | ✓ [PV REWRITE]

Part I: Chapter 4

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Chapter 4 | ❝ You could've killed him! ❞

Saturday, September 8th, 2018 - 9:01 a.m.

❝ZACH!❞ HAYLEIGH SHOUTED mere seconds before practically breaking his bedroom door down with excitement.

The boy in question shot up in bed at the action. It made no difference to his eyesight when the blue-tinted irises flew open to see absolutely nothing. Zach's hair was tousled from a long night of sleep and the dark circles underneath of his eyes were prominent.

Hayleigh seemed to be the exact opposite. The eight-year-old was completely awake and hopping up and down on the carpeted floor. When she noticed her brother still half asleep after a few more seconds, a frown instantly morphed onto her freckled face where a smile once was.

"Oh, I didn't realize you were still asleep," she admitted in a much quieter tone than the one she used before. "Mom told me to wait until nine o'clock to see if you were awake."

Zach immediately thought Hayleigh's procedure of checking to see if people were awake was a complete and total fraud. He could not see Hayleigh's sparkling green eyes filled with anticipation even when her voice was toned down in disappointment and apologeticness. Hayleigh waddled over towards the bed and plopped herself down onto it.

The teenager yawned tiredly before finally replying, "Don't worry about it, Hayleigh. Is something wrong?"

Hayleigh nodded with enthusiasm. "Nothing's wrong!" she beamed, dropping a heavy textbook on the bed. "Would you mind helping me with my math homework, though? It's due Monday and I don't quite understand it."

"Yeah, of course I can," Zach responded. He gently rubbed his fists against his closed eyelids before he continued, "Just give me about ten minutes, okay?"

Once again, Hayleigh nodded. "Yay! I'll be downstairs."

Zach hated choosing between sleeping and his younger sister. Hayleigh would always win in his mind, but sleeping was indefinitely a close second. He would not call himself a night owl, but Zach was not an early bird either. Saturdays were for sleeping in, and as for him, he could sleep forever if he desired to.

Usually on a Saturday, Zach would take his own sweet time to get out of bed and show up downstairs around eleven o'clock on the average, however since Hayleigh required assistance with her homework, Zach prioritized his sister over his sleeping habits.

It took almost no time at all for Zach to take a quick shower, throw on some clothes, and finally emerge from his room. On a typical weekend, no one in Zach's family minded his late sleeping hours, but when Hayleigh needed help, she would want to get it as quickly as she could.