Beautiful Curse

Chapter 2

        I awaken to the sound of a knock. Almost instantaneously Dad bursts in with the phone held in his hand.

        "Dad! What the hell!" I screech, covering my messy head with a blanket. "You can't just open my door!" Who does he think he is, walking in on me without my permission? I huddle under the blanket while Dad mutters an apology to the person on the other side of the phone.

        I peek at him through the sheets and watch as he covers the phone-mic with his fingers. "Watch that mouth, (Name)," he warns. "Plus, I knocked first." My eyes narrow at him and I quietly mumble about "waiting for permission" to come in after knocking. Just opening the door defeats the purpose, Dad. Sighing, I uncover my head and stare daggers into the man's eyes. He just ignores me and approaches with the phone. "It's your cousin." I am handed the phone and Dad leaves my room.

        Putting the speaker to my ear I hear a fruity, "Sup, (Nickname)?" I groan into the mic for about a minute, taking no time to stop for breath. "Okay, okay. Sorry for waking you up," (Cousin) sarcastically says. I can imagine his eyes rolling as he does so. "Just wondering if we can hang out today? I finally have the weekend off work." Unlike me, my cousin actually has time to juggle a "job" between his spread-out college classes. Well...I suppose that isn't exactly true, seeing I have so much time after school to run around in the forest. Whatever. Who needs work? I can survive off the land anytime!

        "Wouldn't call 'lawn care' a real job anyway," I whisper without realizing.

        "Hey! It's a huge lawn and there are many, many flowers to water!" (Cousin) yells in defense, causing me to flinch away from the phone. "Oh yeah, I'm on my way to (Hometown) now, so you really have no choice!" I hear a low chuckle on the other end of the line and my (eye color) eyes roll to the ceiling.

        "Don't talk while driving." I hang up.

        A couple hours later I'm fully awake and ready for the day. I have just finished breakfast when the doorbell rings. Knowing who it is, I call out to my parents that I'll get the door, and I race to greet my cousin. As the door is opening I am attacked in a big hug. (Cousin) twirls me around with an arm across my collarbone, giving me a painful noogie. A playful growl leaves my throat, and I struggle free from the older boy's grip. I land my own noogie against his head, but this time, even harder. My cousin squeals and whines, attempting to get out of my unbreakable grasp.

        Dad walks by and sees (Cousin)'s bloodshot eyes. "Break it up, break it up!" With a disappointed sigh I release my cousin and watch as he massages his head painfully. My dad rubs his eyes with one hand and grumbles to himself. He then looks up at me with an amused expression and I crack a smile. Dad can never be angry at me for too long. "Daddy's little girl," some would say.

        Mom comes into the room and stops, glancing around in confusion at the silence. The three of us shrug and she doesn't comment. She grabs a set of keys from the coatrack and tosses them into my father's outstretched hands. "Dad and I will be out for the day, (Name). We need to stop by the bank and go shopping for a few items," she explains. "Have fun you two!"

        She and Dad open the front door and leave the house. A few moments later a car engine starts and soon the sound is rumbling off in the distance.

        My cousin and I exchange glances before heading out the door as well. A beautiful, dark blue Subaru is parked in the driveway. How (Cousin) is able to pay for this car with his lawn care "job" is beyond my knowledge. He gets in the driver's seat and I the passenger's. While he starts up the car I turn on the radio and set it to my favorite station. We both bob our heads to the beat of the music as the car rolls out of the driveway. (Cousin) and I have pretty similar interests, which allows us to get along like the best of friends.