We're a Family

(38) Adventures in Writing

"Hey!" yells Mal suddenly jerking her body weight forward making Christen almost drop her. "She's fun sized!" she immediately corrects. "Us short people prefer fun sized."

The minute the doors open, Mallory's out Christen's arms and out the door before any of us can blink. We arrive at breakfast a few seconds after Mal. Hope and Carli are sitting at a table across the room toward the back. We walk over. Carli kisses my forehead and I blush wondering if anybody else saw. I don't get to think much of it when Hope says, "You guys need to sit here today. We have to discuss the rules."

"But Alex and I promised Tobin that we'd sit with her," Christen tells her. I nod in agreement. We had told Tobin that we would last night when we got here.

Carli shakes her head no and looks at us unfazed, "Well you're going to have to tell her you can't." We both sigh but nod knowing that arguing will probably get us nowhere. They send us off to get breakfast. Christen and I apologize to Tobin who is gracious and understanding as usual. The six of us sit around the table and start eating. They explain the usual rules; obey, don't curse, be smart about the things you do pre and post game, etc.

I drown out the conversation until something catches my attention. "—and you can't leave the hotel without asking either of us for permission. There won't be a lot of going out of the hotel unless it's for training or games," Hope says taking a bite of her eggs.

We all look at her wide eyed, well except Julie, she seems like she expected it. Mallory bewilderedly states, "I wanted to see Brazil!"

Carli gives her a warning look and says, "You all know about the Zika virus and all of the gangs. We're just taking extra precautions." Mallory pouts and pushes her spinach around with her fork. Her hyperactivity dropping several notches.

"Ridiculous precautions," I mutter to myself.

Carli eyes me sternly. "Alex, as one of the oldest, you have to look out for yourself and others. The virus is a very serious thing and the gangs are a very real threat," she scolds me. "We can't have any of you getting sick or hurt." I nod glumly and look away from her and Hope upset to try to hide my disagreement. I appreciate her looking out for me but I'm not a toddler. "Oh," she adds causing me to glance back at her. "Don't back talk me again."

"Yes ma'am." I mumble playing with my napkin that's resting in my lap. I meet Christen's eyes, then Mal's, then Julie's. I swear there's a mischievous glint in their eyes. Hope and Carli don't seem to catch the way they look at each other so I dismiss it. I must've been imagining it.

After breakfast, Mallory and I go up to our room. I lay on my bed staring at the ceiling. I'm not sure what to do. I never thought that I'd have to travel nine hours to lay on a bed and be bored. "Lexi?" I turn to look at Mallory who is making her way to my bed. She kneels on the edge with an eager grin. "Have I ever told you how amazing you are and what a great player and person you are? Oh! And how I love you a whole lotta?"

I raise my eyebrows. "While I love compliments, what is this really about?" I say cutting to the chase.

She puts her hands on my shoulders and grips them tightly. "Some of the girls wanna go sightseeing and invited us," she says with a pleading look. She squeezes her eyes tight and clasps her hands together shaking them in my face. "Please, please, please, please!"

I bite my lip. I want to go so badly, but I don't want to get Carli and Hope mad. "I don't know," I say hesitantly. I am the older one. If I say no she'd have to stay. But who is stopping her from going off on her own. I might as well go with her and make sure she doesn't get into trouble. Right? "Fine," I finally say standing up. "But we have to keep this a secret Mal." She nods eagerly and hugs me tightly.

When she detaches herself, I debate whether to text Julie and Christen. Hope and Carli couldn't know that we were gone. If they start looking for us we are screwed. I shot them a really vague text saying that if Hope and Carli are looking for us, we are with Kelley. I pocket my phone and follow Mallory out. I just have to track down Kelley and we'll be all set.

Julie's POV

"We're gonna get caught," I say glancing around nervously. "If Mom and Mama find out we're sightseeing, we're dead meat."

"Mmm, protein," she says distractedly. She was focused on the brochures in her hand. She flips one over and skims the text.

I rip it from her hands and throw it on the ground. I ignore her protests and say, "I'm being serious Pressy! They're not gonna be happy."

She rolls her eyes and picks the paper up. "No duh! But we aren't sightseeing remember? We're watching movies with Krieger." She looks up and back down at the brochure. "Wow Jules! Look at this!"

I want to enjoy the buildings and the rich culture around us, but my stomach was doing flips. We aren't supposed to be out here yet we are. I don't think Chris know just how much trouble we're going to get in when we get caught. Mom and Mama know everything so we'll never get away with this. "I'm hungry," I say stiffly. I want to get inside so we aren't in the open. I feel like a criminal.