3000 Miles for the Boys [completed]

Chapter 5

I entered the house, running after Keaton. I had been chasing him after he threatened to leave me on the streets alone. When I stepped through the door I was greeted by William running around with a half eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Lydia was right behind him holding a small towel trying to clean his face up. "Looks like you two are having fun," she said to me and Keaton.

I looked at Keaton, "Yeah totally. I feel right at home with them." I grabbed Keaton and rubbed his head with my knuckles.

"Easy, easy. Don't mess up the flow," Keaton said. He replaced his hat on his, now messy hair and ran upstairs.

Lydia had finally gotten ahold of William and was wiping peanut butter off of his cheeks. "Ellie, I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute. I wanted to talk about school." She walked into the kitchen and threw the towel in the sink. She sat down on a chair at the dining room table and gestured for me to take a seat next to her.

I pulled the chair out and sat down. "I contacted the police station in Oregon and they gave me your school files." Hearing Oregon I tensed up and stared blankly at the table. "They told me the classes that you had signed up for and told me that you excel in art classes. I sent those classes to the school here and they have signed you up for those classes. There is an amazing art curriculum here. If you wanted to, I could sign you up for private art lessons." She looked at me, wearing a huge smile. She paused so I could process everything she just told me. "How are you fitting in with the boys. I know it's only been a day, but I just wanted to make sure everything was going alright." When I didn't answer she suspected something was wrong. "Are they being nice to you?"

"Oh yes. They are all very nice." At the realization that I had been blanking out I sat up straight and tried to stay in tune with the conversation. "Yeah everything is great. Me, Chase, and William played a game this morning and then me and Keaton went to the skate park."

"That's good. I'm glad you're all getting along well. How about Logan and Oliver? Have they done anything terrible yet? I know they can be quite the trouble makers."

I smiled at the thought of what happened this morning. "They haven't done anything really bad. There was a little mix up with my clothes this morning, that's all."

"Oh, taking your clothes while you were in the shower?" I nodded. "Classic Oliver prank. Yeah let me know if they do bother you and I will take care of it. I want you to feel comfortable." She looked around as if she were making sure the coast was clear. "Between me and you, I give you permission to pull some pranks on them as well." She held my hand for a moment. "If you ever want to talk to me you can. About anything, okay?"

I nodded once again. "Okay. School starts in about two weeks. If you would like I can get you a car that you could drive, if you would like, or you can get a ride with one of the boys. What would you prefer?"

I shook my head. "I can't have you get me a car. I don't even have my license. I will be fine getting a ride."

She reached out for my hand and held it. "Ellie. I don't mean to be so blunt about this but, in this house it works a certain way. The kids do chores and keep the house looking good. If you do a good job by the end of the week then Jeff and I buy you all a special treat. If that special treat ends up being a car one day, then you will have earned it." She said and kind of nervously laughed.

"Okay."

I walked upstiars to my room and sat on my bed. I looked at my phone. It's crazy. I leave home for two days and not one person texts me. What is up with that? I placed my phone on the table and layed down on my bed. Again I noticed the latch in the ceiling. What was that?

I got off of my bed and reached for it. Oh yeah, I'm too short, I thought as I remembered my experience this morning. "Ugh," I yelled in frustration. Ethan and Keaton popped their heads in my doorway wondering what all of the comotion was.

"Hey Ellie, is everything all right?" Ethan asked looking a little scared.

"Uh, yeah," I said stepping back a little bit. "I'm just trying to get up there." I pointed up towards the latch.

"What for?" Keaton asked as he came into my room and sat on my bed. Ethan followed but stayed standing.

I jumped again and failed to grab the latch. "I don't know. I was just curious. I want to know what's up there."

Keaton and Ethan watched me struggle and I shot them glares every once in a while. I jumped one more time almost reaching it but not quite. "Why are you so short?" Keaton asked.

"Hey," I walked over to him and got right in his face, "I'm taller than you." I poked him in the chest adding emphasis.

"Not by much," Keaton shot back with a saticfied grin on his face.

"Well I am."

"You should be, your three years older than me."

I turned back around and walked back to the bed. "Well then it's a good thing I am."

Keaton had a look of confusion on his face. "Yeah," he said unsure of himself.

I smile at him and we started laughing at the thought of the conversation that just passed. Ethan on the other hand was completely confused.

I walked out of my room and into the hallway looking back and forth. I walked into the bathroom and searched for a stool or chair to stand on. Luckily there was a stool the seemed very sturdy. I picked it up and walked back to my room.

I placed it on my bed. I got on top of my bed and stood on the stool. I started to tip over a little bit but Ethan quickly ran to my side. He reached out for my hand and I thankfully gave him it. Without him I probably would have been face down on the ground by now.

I smiled down at him and before it could get even more awkward I looked up towards the latch. I pulled a little bit more and it finally came loose.

A ton of dust fell down, on top of me. I coughed and waved it away with my free hand. From the latch came a set of pull down stairs. I pulled the stairs down and they rested on the floor. I slowly climbed up and my hands rested on the roughly cut hole in the ceiling.

Ethan and Keaton came towards the stairs and followed me. I popped my head through the hole and saw flickering lights. There was the light of a flash light shining about ten feet away from me. I could hear whispering and the shuffling of feet.

I ducked my head a little bit lower so only the top of my head was showing from above the stairs. "Guys," I whispered, "come look at this."

I got off of the ladder and let Ethan go up. When he saw what was up there his jaw dropped. "What the hell is this stuff?" Ethan asked.

Keaton climbed up the ladder and looked up. "I don't know, you tell me. You guys have been living here, not me," I said in my defense.

There was a bang and me and Ethan's heads shot up. We were staring at Keaton who had knocked over a box of silly string that was close to the ladder. From on the ground I could hear foot steps and whispers. Ethan pulled Keaton down from the ladder and folded the stairs back into the ceiling.

I sat on my bed, Keaton just stood in front of me with his hand over his mouth, and Ethan finished putting the ladder back in the ceiling, not missing a beat to smack Keaton in the back of the head. 

"Dude, what was that for?" Keaton asked throwing his hands up in front of him so Ethan couldn't hit him again.

"Way to be clumsy. You knocked over that box. Whoever was up there almost found us." Ethan sat down on my bed next to me.

I looked at him and then at Keaton. "Who was that up there? Have you ever seen that room before?" They shook their heads in unison. I gazed back up at the latch. "I don't want to sleep in here anymore."