My Older Brothers

50

 Spending four days at the farm was hard, but I became accustomed to the schedule. Breakfast at 6 am, feed the animals at 7 am, lunch at 12, and dinner at 7.

After all the chores were done, it was mostly free time. Sometimes we had to help the grown-ups with other things like painting the fence. The person who seemed to be enjoying himself the most was Kade.

I wish we all had his energy. One day he did cartwheels up and down a hill for 5 hours straight. He only stopped when he was fully unable to walk back up the hill. He was so dizzy that he couldn't stand.

I would have some fun sometimes. There was a lot of land and it was perfect for racing four wheelers on. I hung out with Molly a lot. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We actually got along and I found it way easier to talk to her than I did when I was little.

Something I never got used to was the smell of the farm. Once you stepped out of the house, the horrible smell of animals and poop would hit you. I carried around a small bottle of perfume that I'd spray it every ten minutes when the smell became unbearable.

The horses and goats smelt the worst. The pigs were a close third. None of the animals smelt good. There were five dogs, and they were loud and always running around. They didn't sleep inside. In fact, they weren't allowed inside. I guess they were meant to be wild.

The dog didn't disturb me as much as they did Beck. He absolutely hated them. On our second day that we were there, the dogs chased Beck around the farm for hours. Maybe they were having fun, but Beck looked like he was fighting for his life.

He was squealing like a girl and running like Jack Sparrow. It was quite the sight. Eventually my cousins got the dogs to stop with this weird whistle.

Collin and Kit were laughing while Mollie looked at Beck, concerned.

"Beck, you seem like a city boy." Kit concluded.

Beck scoffed. "You keep those monsters away from me."

"Sure thing Cruella Deville," Collin mocked.

"Beck, you're being dramatic." Miles said.

"Were you the one who almost died? No, I don't think so," Beck said.

"They just wanted to play," Kade said, looking down at the dog sympathetically. "Beck thinks he's too cool to have fun. He likes staying inside and texting girls. Don't worry though, I'll play with you guys," He said patting them on the head.

Just then Beck's phone started to ring, which irritated the dogs. They got up and started growling at Beck. Beck quickly answered the call to stop the ringing and took a couple of steps back.

"Hey." He said into the phone.

Out of curiosity, we all gathered around and tried to listen in. Beck managed to push all of us away except for Kade, whose strategy was to hug Beck and put his ear to the phone.

After listening in to for a bit, Kade rolled his eyes and let go of Beck.

"He's talking to Vicky," Kade said.

That takes away everyone's interest and we all walk away. Beck and Vicky should just date if they're that obsessed with each other. They're basically in a relationship. My brothers and I don't like her a lot, but if Beck's happy, then I guess it's cool.

"I'm going to go ahead and pack," Martin said as he walked away.

We were leaving tomorrow. After today all of us, including my cousins, aunt, and uncle, are going to the water park in the city. It's a two-hour drive from the farm. We're going to spend all day there and then we'll tour around a bit before leaving. My cousins, aunt, and uncle will be heading back to the farm after our time at the water park is over.

I can't wait to get home. When I get home, I going to immediately start back on my training. I practice on the farm a bit, but there's not much I can do. I convinced Cole to let me use him as a punching bag, but he quit after one kick to the groin. I didn't mean to hit him there, it just happened. I tried using trees, but they gave me pretty terrible bruises.

When I wasn't doing chores, helping around, practicing, or playing outside, I was on my phone. The service here was bad but once in a while you could get a signal.

I talked to Katie over the phone sometimes. She told me about how much she missed me and anything else she wanted to talk about. I wished she could have come with me to the farm, but it was Kalani's birthday and she had to be there.

Besides Katie, I found myself talking to Oliver a lot. It became almost a daily thing for us to FaceTime. He was really sweet. He told me that the first thing we were going to do when I get back was go to the store and get fruit snacks. I missed both him and Katie.

Today was a beautiful day on the farm. Very sunny, but with a pleasant breeze, way better than our second day here. The air conditioning broke in the middle of the night on the hottest day ever. We were all sweating like crazy and lots of things in the fridge spoiled. At least I still had my phone that day.

After leaving Beck to talk to his unofficial girlfriend, we all split up into groups. While the adults were shopping, we split up - some went fishing, others played kickball on the farm. Martin was packing his stuff and Cole was inside, probably baking something. We fished for a little before Martin came to join us fishing.

"Have you guys been to the water park place we're going?" Martin asked our cousin.

"It has become a tradition for us to go to the water park every year. It's pretty cool," Kit said as he hooked a worm onto my hook. I didn't want to touch it, so I asked him to.

Martin nods. "We were looking at pictures at it the other day. The water slides look crazy."

Kit laughed. "Yeah, they're the best part."

"After careful consideration, I have reached the decision that it would be best for me to stay in the kitty pool." Miles said, while throwing his rod into the water.

His comment causes Martin and Kit to start mocking him, calling him a baby. Miles hates water slides. He likes swimming though, so maybe I'll stay with him and we can play Marco Polo.

My phone rings and I pull it out of my pocket. Oliver's contact pops up on the screen and I freak out. I lost track of the time and I forgot that this is the time of day that we usually talk.

I look back at the house to see if I have enough time to run inside. Miles sees Oliver's contact and starts laughing.

"Oh no Hazel, your boyfriend's calling." Miles teased.

"We're not dating," I said before shoving my fishing rod in his hands. I grab my water bottle and start sprinting toward the house as fast as I can.

"Make sure to fix your hair!" I heard Martin call out as Miles and Kit laugh along. I ran upstairs quickly, not saying hi to Cole as I see his putting something in the oven.

I get to the room that me and Mollie are sharing and run to sit on the top bunk bed. I'm about to answer the call but then I stop and jump back off the bed in a hurry, running over to the big mirror. I look at my hair to make sure it's alright and then laugh at my stupidness.

There was nothing wrong with my hair. Martin was just messing with me. I go back to the bed and answer the phone with a smile that brightens when I see him.

"Hi Olive Oil."

(Happy St. Patrick's Day!🍀This book is almost finished. Get excited, there are only five chapters left! I hope everyone has a great day/night.)