A Family Podcast (english)

Chapter 19

Aden

ACHOO! Groaning, I tilted my head back and leaned against the backrest of the couch. I had been feeling tired all day, and my body felt heavy and numb.

"You okay?" Liam glanced briefly at me before grabbing the tissue pack from the table and tossing it to me.

"Just great" I grumbled, blowing my nose. Liam grinned and turned back to the TV, where he was playing Grand Theft.

"Don't you dare smirk. Tomorrow at the latest, you'll be down too" I joked, knowing that it would probably happen exactly like that. Whenever one of us got sick, it didn't take long for the other to follow suit. It had always been that way.

Suddenly, the door was slammed open, and Coulder stormed in. He sat on the armrest and flopped backward onto the couch.

"Are you guys playing something with me? I'm boooored" he exclaimed.

"No time" Liam replied without taking his eyes off the TV.

"Can I join the game?" Coulder sat up and climbed over me to get to Liam.

"No, you always wreck all the cars, get caught by the police, and make me lose all my money" Liam listed, and Coulder glared at him.

"You're so mean. That's not true at all" he said, then turned to me. "Will you play with me?"

I lifted my head and groaned at the headache. Then I let my head fall back again.

"No" I answered in a suffering tone. Today, I would just lie here and do nothing.

"He's sick. Go ask someone else" Liam added, and Coulder looked at me thoughtfully. Then he climbed over to my side and settled on my lap. Even that hurt.

"Coulder" I groaned, but he ignored me and placed his hands on my forehead. "You're really warm" he observed and hugged me. My body protested with a painful ache, but I couldn't bring myself to push him away.

"Thanks, buddy, but I don't want to get you sick, so..." I slowly pushed him back, and Coulder finally let go of me.

"I'll get you some milk and honey" he said "so you'll be healthy again by the day after tomorrow when the National Youth Athletics Games are" He disappeared into the kitchen.

"The games are the day after tomorrow?" Liam looked at me wide-eyed, and I grimaced.

Every year, our school held this competition where we had to participate in various events like sprinting, endurance, long jump, or shot put. We hated this event, and it didn't surprise me that we had completely forgotten it was coming up again. Noah and Jackson loved this day because classes were canceled, and they could show off, but for us, it only made things worse.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when Liam suddenly leaned against me, pressing his cheek against mine.

"What are you doing?" I tried to move away from him, and Liam grinned.

"I'm definitely not going without you. So, I'm going to get sick now too" he declared, squeezing against me.

"Stop that, you idiot." Half laughing, half groaning, I pushed him off me. Liam finally left me alone but stayed sitting beside me.

At that moment, the front door opened, and Taylor and Susan walked in. Susan clung to Taylor's hand, making it difficult for him to take off his jacket and shoes.

After finally managing to remove not only his but also Susan's things, he lifted her up and collapsed onto the couch with a groan. Apparently, his day hadn't been the best either.