Like the stars

TWO

I awoke to the alarm blaring in my ear. Groaning loudly, my eyes focused after reluctantly opening but everything was dark. The shut curtains blocked the setting sun from my view and darkened the room I shared with Carter.

"Logan! Get your ass down here and start cooking!"

Rubbing a hand down my face, I groggily leave my bed and make my way to the kitchen. It was mine and Carter's turn to cook and Zoey's and Lauren's turn to wash the dishes.

Since Zoey was born, we had a strict routine when it came to chores. We had to help my dad out at home as much as we could since my mom wasn't with us. Neglecting our chores meant grounding and taking away of possessions.

It was annoying but it worked.

Lauren, Zoey and our dad sat at the kitchen table and Carter smirked at me, holding out a spatula. I snatched it off him with a chuckle and the two of us started on the spaghetti bolognese.

Lauren was the oldest at twenty one and had the most knowledge and memory of our mom. She worked at a diner while she did online courses for a teaching degree. She had acted like a mom to us since I could remember; she helped dad out the most. Carter was nineteen and had a scholarship at the University of Colarado and a weekend job as a waiter at a restaurant. He was playing soccer and was studying economics. Zoey was fifteen and was a Sophomore in the same school I was a senior at.

Our mom died after giving birth to Zoey, leaving the four of us alone and my dad to raise us. Being a widow, raising four kids by himself and working a full time job, he did a pretty good job at raising us and we all loved him for it. Now that we're older, we try and make it easier for him. We do our chores without verbal complaints and we try not to argue, knowing it stresses and angers our dad.

"How was practice?" Carter asked as we started on the sauce.

He was the captain of the team before he graduated but unlike me, he loved the popularity he had from the position and he didn't understand my disliking of it.

As a family we were all athletic in school and we all maintained our shape from regular gym sessions our dad held. We were a sporting family.

"Fine." I shrugged. "Coach was harsh since we lost our game last week."

"How many laps?" He chuckled.

A smile broke through my blank facade. Carter knew how horrible the soccer coach was. Whenever we lost a game he doubled our training intensity and it often left us grumbling and glaring when he turned his back. "Thirty."

He grimaced with a laugh. "I had to run forty. He's getting soft."

"I think it's because he started dating the English teacher." I laughed. "The old man is happy."

"That old man is a legend at Denver Hill so watch what you're saying." Our dad points at us with a smirk.

"That old man is horrible." Zoey mocked, scrunching her nose up. "He watched our softball training after you left and shouted at me when I missed the ball."

Lauren laughed airily. "He did the same to me when I was there. I don't know how you can stand him Log."

"He likes Logan because he's captain." Zoey complained, sending me a playful dirty look. I smirked and stuck my tongue out at her. "I thought he would go easy on me because I'm his stars little sister and Carter's sister but nope."

Carter, Lauren and I all shook our heads at the same time, scoffing a laugh. "No way."

The coach had been working at Denver Hill High for at least thirty years. He was there when my parents were there -when my mom was softball captain and my dad was soccer captain. Every one of my siblings had to deal with him and now it was mine and Zoey's turn.