In The End (On Hold)

s e v e n

a/n:
•cover at the top is by me. It was made when I was trying to make my own cover for the book, there's more I'll be featuring
  •so sorry for the long wait
∘⚬∘⚬∘⚬

s e v e n

December 22, 2014

"Come with me to the mall," I demanded. Truth be told, I had no idea what to get Athena for Christmas. What? You thought I would invite her and not get her a present? It was the least I could do. But I had not known her for that long to know where her interests stood, hence inviting her to the mall with me. If we walk around for a while, she's bound to have her attention caught by something.

Her voice sounded through the speaker of the phone because I was just too lazy to hold it to my ear, what made that sound even lazier was that I was lying in bed at one in the afternoon. "What?" Her voice was a mixture of confusion and surprise.

"Come to the mall with me," I repeated, monotonously.

"How exactly are we—Cassie! Annika! Stop!" she interrupted. She took a deep breath, as if to calm herself down. "Sorry," she huffed, "but being the oldest of seven kids is quite troubling at times." She hummed, as the shutting of a door sounded. "Anywho, how are going to get there?" she asked.

"I have a car." I chuckled. "Being the oldest of two has its perks." I heard her scoff. Not my fault my parents spoil me. "So whadya say? Is one of those six old enough to take care of five kids on their one?"

"Um . . . I'll have to call my mom, because I'm the designated caretaker when she's not here."

I shrugged even if she couldn't see me. "I was fourteen when I first took care of Tommy."

"Then pick me up!"

⋆⋆⋆

"Destination to your right," the robotic female voice said before I turned the GPS and ignition off and got out of the car. I took in the house before me. Peach, one-story, un-watered lawn so the grass was turning yellow (I'm guessing, who has the time to care for a garden with seven kids) but the home was still inviting and nice.

I trudged up the lawn because it was slightly uphill, gulping when I looked at one of those windows—a bay window—and saw about four little faces peering at me through the window. They were obviously trying to be incognito but failed, because with their faces pressed against the glass and telling each other "shhh, he'll hear, you kumquat" wasn't on the road to helping them.

I'll admit, I was a little intimidated by these five and seven-year-olds. I reached the door and before I could knock, one of the little kids that was watching me through the window opened the door and welcomed me in.

"Come in," he said, purposefully imitating Dracula's voice, and gesturing to come in with a sweep of his arm.

I furrowed my eyebrows because—didn't this kid know not to open the door to strangers? My plan was to knock and hope Athena was waiting for me by the door so she could just open it and leave and we'd be on our way. I shook my head. "Okay if I just wait for your sister here?" I asked, wondering if he knew what sister I was talking about.

He nodded before swiftly turning on his heel and cupping both hands around his mouth. Out and erupted from his little form: "JACKIE! YOUR FRIEND'S HERE!" As if that was a signal, two more kids came rushing to the front room, slowed down to a walk to get a look at me and then stalked away quickly to the kitchen.