The Fellowship

Animal House

"Maggie!" I awoke to the sound of my mother calling me from downstairs.

"Wha...?" I grumbled, rolling over on my bed.

"Maggie!" she shouted again, "You up?"

I am now, I thought as I shoved my face into my pillow. I heard the clomp of her feet as she marched up the stairs and across the hall to my room. The door clanged open, revealing my mom in a sky blue T-shirt that read "Save Ferris!" in white block letters and a pair of sweats. People often mistook my mom for my sister; she was in great shape for a forty-seven year old. Either that, or I looked like I was in my forties.

"Honey, get up. We're volunteering at the animal shelter today," she ordered lightly into the room.

"Pffffttttt. Ennnnnngghhh," I groaned into my pillow.

"You'll be ready in an hour? Glad to hear it!" she chirped and left my room. Why did she have to be so goddamn cheerful all the time? I rolled over again, this time making myself fall out of bed with a loud thump.

"Owwwwww!" I squealed, standing up and rubbing my new soon-to-be bruises.

After brushing out my hair, I headed down stairs into my sunlit kitchen. I found my brother, Corey, munching on a bowl of Corn Puffs while glancing over a newspaper, his caramel coloured hair flopping in his eyes as usual. Searching through the fridge for something to eat, I sighted leftover Chinese from the night before. I popped some eggdrop soup in the microwave and poured myself a glass of strawberry milk. Wait, why did I pour myself strawberry milk? I hate strawberry milk!

Ah well, the microwave beeped, causing me to fling open the door and grab a spoon from the drawer behind me. With my newly acquired soup and milk, I plopped myself awkwardly onto a chair next to Corey, nearly falling off of something for the second time that day and spilling soup all over the table.

"Oh, for me? Thank you!" Corey grinned, reaching for my soup. I smacked his hand away lightly.

"Get your own," I snarled playfully.

"Ewww... Chinese food for breakfast?" scorned my sister, Bethany, as she entered the kitchen.

"Yeah, is there a problem with that?" I tried dipping my spoon into the soup, only for it to hit air. Looking down, I realized Corey had taken my soup while I was arguing with Bethany.

"Hey!" I shouted as he took a mouthful of my soup. "Great, now it's contaminated." Corey grinned as he lifted the bowl to his face and drank the rest of the soup.

"Hey Maggot, can I have some more?" he smirked as he licked his lips.

"Go make your own. You can use a microwave," I huffed back at him.

"So can you. Go make me soup!" ordered Corey. I rolled my eyes at him, then snatched a granola bar from the cupboard, running back upstairs to change. What to wear... I rummaged through my mess of a clothes drawer until I found my favourite green shirt with a picture of Kermit the frog holding a guitar and singing. After pulling it over my head, I slipped on a pair of dark blue skinnies and purple high-tops. 

"Magpie! Time to go!" called my mother from across the hall. 

"One sec!" I answered, lacing up my other shoe. I raced downstairs and grabbed my khaki trench-coat from the chair it was lying on, meeting my siblings on the porch. The rain was splashing up against my legs as it plopped against the ground.

"Almost winter," I said matter-of-factly.

"No shit, Sherlock," answered Corey cockily.

Finally, my mom arrived on the porch and we all piled into our car, an old Volkswagon Beetle (named Herbie, nonetheless) with a license plate that read "OUTATIME." In case you haven't figured out by now, my parents were major '80s movie junkies.