Heart and Land

Those Glorious Mornings and Debates

Song- One Minute More by Capital Cities

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"GABRIEL ALEC HYLAND! GET YOUR SORRY BUTT DOWN HERE!"

"Oh Trent, have you seen my skinny jeans? I swear I left them in the guest bathroom!"

"LARK! WHERE IS YOUR DEVIL OF A BROTHER?"

And that's how I woke up on a not-so-unusual Sunday morning. My family screaming at each other like a camp of banshees. Groaning, I reluctantly rolled my sorry butt out of bed and into the hallway, slipping on my frog slippers.

Rubbing my eyes, I walked into the crowded living room, barely managing to process the craziness.

My twin step-brothers were sitting on our gigantic lounge couch in their Transformers pajamas, innocently playing video games but still having that devilish twinkle in their eyes. Being identical twins, both had shaggy black hair and matching blue eyes. The only way you could tell them apart was that Gabe had an unusual streak of natural white hair and Gavin had all black hair. They were the ultimate pranksters despite their 'innocence' facade.

"What did you two do now?" I grumbled, eyeing the two devils. Gabe was the one who spoke up.

"We only played around with dad's shower, that's all," he snickered, high-fiving his twin. Just as I was about to ask how he messed with dad's shower, the man himself came down.

Now, my step-dad is a nice guy. He has that friendly appearance, with black hair just like the boys but more tamed, and bright hazel eyes that were always happy. He loved going hunting and fishing, anything outdoors really. So, he decided to become a Fish and Game Warden for the state of Maryland. Nothing could ever phase him, and he was a very cool and collected type of person. Except when my step-brothers played pranks.

"Boys.." he literally steamed, "care to explain my sticky hair?" Pointing up at his head, I almost choked on air.

His head was covered in sticky candy. It was definitely Life Savers candy, with that fruity smell and glossy sheen, it couldn't be anything else. No doubt, that would take a couple of long showers to get out.

This time, Gavin spoke up.

"Dad, it wasn't meant for you if that makes you feel better. It was actually for Lark, but she wasn't up yet,"he shrugged.

"Thanks guys, feeling the love." I deadpanned. However, dad was still fuming.

"That doesn't make any of this better, boys! If you feel like taking away my time, then how about I take away your advanced sciences kit and your kinetic physics labs?"he threatened. That made both boys freeze up, before they started to complain even more.

To explain my brothers' rather odd choice of hobbies, both of my step brothers are certified geniuses. Back when they were only six, their elementary class took the SAT's as a 'mock test' with all the real questions, and they got a perfect score. PERFECT twenty four hundred. They had the test administrators reeling, one teacher fainted, and several colleges including Yale and MIT were knocking on our door just for a chance to meet them.

So taking away their science? Sacrilege.

"Sorry boys, but you pushed this way to far," my dad scolded over all the complaints. Both boys pouted, before grumbling an apology. Giving a firm nod, dad started heading back up the stairs, mumbling something about "maybe I can rock a spiked green and red hairdo".

Shaking my head, I lazily headed back upstairs, leaving my brothers sulking on the couch. About to enter my room again, I suddenly felt something push into me, causing me to stumble.