Battle of the Captains

rules of the game

Fighting for popularity was becoming old and boring. It was about time for a new set of rules.

-

The buzzing from my phone on my bedside table woke me from my deep sleep and it wouldn't stop until I paid attention to it.

I couldn't open my eyes. I tried but failed so I stretched my arm out to the side, tapping the table to feel for my phone, which vibrated against my fingers. I answered not bothering to check the caller I.D.

"Hello?" I sounded like an angry witch, voice hoarse like I hadn't slept for days. I bet that I looked like one too with the mess my dark blonde hair was.

"Where are you?"

I was supposed to be somewhere today; that was the first thing that I had gathered. The second was that I was supposed to be with Austin.

I yawned as I spoke. "Where are you?"

"You're still asleep," he stated. "Why are you still asleep?"

"I'm awake now," I told him.

"But you just woke up. I always pegged you as a morning person," he said and I was tempted to put the phone down because I didn't want to wake up just for small talk. "You're always way too peppy in the morning. I didn't see you drink yesterday."

"I didn't," I said. What time was it? I forced my eyes open and checked the time on my phone, putting it away from my ear momentarily. "I guess I overslept." I sat up lazily on my bed.

"Well, you're supposed to come over, remember?"

"Right," I said. "Let me get ready and I'll meet you at your place soon."

"Okay, I–"

I turned my phone off before he could say anything else. Rude, I know, but I couldn't help it. It was one thing to be a morning person when you woke up early and had your sleep but it was another thing when someone woke you up because you automatically got cranky. Cutting him off was a nice thing on my part, in fact, because I saved him from having to deal with my crankiness.

10 AM– way too early for a Saturday. Someone was excited.

I threw the bed sheets off of my body and started the day, freshening up and eating breakfast.

When I got downstairs, Kyle was watching cartoons while playing some game on his phone and my dad, being the typical one that he was, was having coffee as he read through the newspaper, scanning for the important stuff.

"Morning," I said, walking over to Kyle to mess up his already messy morning hair.

"Stop it," Kyle swatted my hand away and then his game stopped. "Look what you did. You made me lose my high score!" Then he stood up on the cushions of the couch and punched my shoulder.

I smiled sheepishly and jumped away before he could do any actual damage. "Sorry."

The house felt incomplete without my brothers, Kaden, Keith and Kain, who were now enjoying the college life. We were a family of K's, which I didn't find as weird as others made it out to be. Our parents had wanted us to match and have at least one thing in common.

The three boys didn't come home as often as they were supposed to. College wasn't too far that they couldn't come home on weekends but I guessed they were enjoying it so much that they'd forgotten that they had other family members who missed them.

Kyle and I were the somehow spoiled children in the family though I'd never admit it. Me being the only girl and Kyle being the baby of the family, we were bound to getting used to the attention. That way, it was easy for us to not get along but I guess I loved him anyway. Kyle was a brat. No one would ever let me say it aloud but he was. But that was okay because I was sometimes a brat too. Okay, I was a brat half of the time.