Shinigami Haken High School (Black Butler)

Chapter Twenty Two: Grounded!

The house was in absolute ruins.

Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but it was still pretty horrible.

After opening the doorway to several empty bags of Doritos, I could already tell my mom had gone into she-devil mode. I heard her inhale a deep breathe, trying to keep her anger under control for the time being. She stormed into the living room, which was completely dark, save the light illuminating from the TV. Her arm extended into the room and she flipped on the light switch, revealing a totally trashed room. She gasped, and her eyes went wide from surprise.

The any visible surface was covered in broken Doritos and candy wrappers. One of the ceiling lights was broken, and the lamp was tipped over. Empty cans of Kick Start were strewn across the room. Some of my old Nerf guns lay scattered about and their darts were everywhere. James was half-laying, half-falling off of the couch and unconscious. Ethan sat two inches in front of the TV, his hands clamped on an Xbox controller and his eyes mesmerized by the game. His head flipped over his should to look at the doorway, where my aunt, uncle, dad, furious mom, and I stood. He smiled sheepishly and removed one hand from the controller, waving at us with a nervous expression. "Oh, I see you guys are home. How was your evening?"

Mom inhaled again, her body tensng up. "Ethan, would you mind explaining what on earth happened in here while we were gone?" she seethed, stepping into the living room. Everything was silent, except for the sound of mom's heels clicking against the floor as she walked up to my younger cousin, who looked up at her in fear.

"Well," he started, drawing out his 'l'. I could tell that he was going to attempt stalling, but after one glare from my mom, he got the message that he should stop trying. "Aunt Marta, see, it's all William's fault."

My jaw dropped as soon as the words left his mouth. The little liar! I couldn't believe he was blaming this on me. "Oh?" my mother asked, tilting her head to the side, "How so? Please elaborate, Ethan."

"He left James and I all alone so he and his stupid friend could go to some stupid party so William could meet up with his stupid girlfriend," he started, averting his gaze from my mom's.

"That's not true!" I shouted out, running up behind my mom, "Mom! He's lying, it's not true!"

"Shush, William," my mom commanded, holiding up a finger to my mouth to silence me. She didn't even turn to face me. "Let your cousin give me his side of the story first. Continue, Ethan."

"Then, James and I got hungry, right? Because William forgot to make us supper before he left for the party. Well, we aren't exactly cooking masters, and all we could find were the energy drinks, Doritos, and candy, so we ate that up," Ethan shrugged and gestured over to James, "that's what happened to poor James, sugar crash. Poor guy." 

"How'd that light get broken?" Mom asked, her finger pointing mercilessly up at the broken bulb, "And why is my 1950s vintage lamp knocked over?"

Ethan shook his head, "I suppose that part didn't involve Will, but when James and I were on our sugar high, he thought it'd be a good idea to get Will's nerf guns and have a little war. One of the darts shot into the bulb, and I fell into the lamp." I shrugged to myself and rolled my eyes, that part was probably true. But there was still no way that I'd be able to make my side of the story seem believable after all the lies Ethan told.

Mom turned around and faced me, her lips formed into a fierce frown. "You, young man, are grounded."

"What?!" I shouted, stepping back. "Mom! You haven't even allowed me to give my side of the story yet!"

She shook her head and pointed down at Ethan. "I trust your cousin, do you think he would lie to me?!" she asked. From underneath her arm, I could see that Ethan was smirking up at me. I shook my head at him and shot him a dirty look. Sometimes cousins could be the worst thing ever. She sighed, "William Theodore, you're grounded for two months."