Midnight Disaster ~FINALIST Watty Awards 2012~

Chapter 7 (Revised 4/6/2019)

"Are you finally ready to go?" he asked hopefully as I looked at the clock.

I yawned again. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"That's good enough for me," he said and turned to lead the way out of my room.

I didn't move, staring at my bed longingly. So close yet so far.

Cameron looked over his shoulder. "Come on."

"I'm coming, I'm coming," I mumbled and dragged my feet all the way to the hallway.

Cameron smiled, flashing pearl white teeth as he led the way to the kitchen. He kept going to the door, but I skewed away from him as I moved to the nearest cabinet. He paused, watching me as I pulled a bag of coffee out. I dug out a spoon and took a bite of the grounds, forcing myself to swallow it. Gagging on the strong taste, I put the spoon back in the sink and the container back into the cabinet. It didn't help me much, but it made the day seem much more tolerable.

"That's better," I said.

Cameron grimaced. "That looked horrible, but if it helps you get a move on then okay."

"Let's just get going," I said to him.

He nodded and moved to open the door when faint knocking sounded on the other side. With a confused twist of his face, Cameron opened it. A girl with copper-colored hair stood on the porch, her pink shirt ruffled and dusty. She leaned to one side, her face exhausted.

It was Cameron's sister, Fiona. I had only talked to her a handful of times, and I was pretty sure she still didn't know my name so it surprised me she could find my address so easily.

"Fiona, what are you doing here?" he asked after a second of silence.

"Mom sent me to find you; she wanted to know where you went because you never came home last night," she replied.

"I went to the fireworks show with Maya and Clarissa, and then I spent the night here," he replied shrugging. "So what? No damage done."

Cameron made a point of not mentioning Cory, and I respected him for it. Fiona and Cory had dated at one time in the past, but like all the girlfriends past, Cory had cheated on her. Fiona had ended the relationship immediately, and like the kind older brother he was, Cameron had done what he could to comfort her and make the situation better.

"So you forgot to tell Mom. She was worried something bad happened to you," she said.

"I meant to," Cameron offered.

"But you didn't. Anyways she wants you to come home to help us rearrange the furniture in the living room," Fiona told him. "We can't move all of it on our own, and you promised to help."

He groaned. "I know I did, but I got stuff to do; can't it wait until later, when I'm bored?"

She shook her head. "Mom says now. It'll only take a few minutes for you, and when it's done you can come back and stay as long as you like."

Cameron sighed, caught between the eagerness for our adventure and his duties to his family. "Alright," he said finally and turned to me. "You should head out there anyways, Maya and I'll catch up to you."

Fiona looked past him, seeing me the first time since her arrival. "Hi, Maya, good morning."

I nodded, not really agreeing it was a 'good morning' but glad to see her anyways. "It's good to see you again, Fiona."

"I'm sorry to rip Cameron away from you like this, but you know how moms get," she said shrugging.

I didn't comment because I didn't know how moms could be.

Fiona must've realized her mistake because she added, "I promise he'll be back before too long."

"Yeah, it's okay really. He's annoying in the morning," I laughed.

Fiona smiled. "You got that right, sister, okay come on, Cameron," she said turning to leave.

Cameron waited until Fiona stood on the sidewalk beside the street before he turned to look at me. "Well, this sucks," he said, pushing a lock of his long hair out of his face.

I bobbed my head, and he ran after his sister. "Be back in a flash!" he called over his shoulder.

Cameron bolted down the street, and Fiona let out a frustrated sigh as he passed her by. "Cameron! Wait!" she called, running after him.

I smiled as I watched them go before turning my attention to the horizon. Orange was beginning to push up the pink band that was already there. If I wasted anymore time, the park would be full of government officials.

If I wanted to do this, I'd have to hurry to get to the park.

On the horizon, orange was starting to push up at the pink band that had already been there. I knew that meant there wasn't much time until the reporters would be swarming the area. It wouldn't be long until the sun would be visible over the horizon line and that meant I needed to hurry to get to the park. Problem was, I still wasn't convinced this was a good idea in any aspect.