The Cliche Gone Wrong

Chapter Fifteen

"Wake up!" Bug yells into my ear while Bear proceeds with jumping on my bed.

"If both of you don't get out right now I will bury your bodies in the middle of a cemetery so no one will even think to look." I groan, pulling my pillow over my head as I sink further into my mattress.

"But it's 1 o'clock!" Bear whines, his head jamming into my back as he continues to try to pry me out of bed.

"I don't care if its time for the resurrection of Jesus Christ." I roll over to and push him off of me, throwing him to the ground as I get comfortable again. "Get. Out."

"But daddy said we had to wake you up!" Bug pipes in, taking Bear's place as she starts to poke me incessantly.

I groan loudly as I finally open my eyes, pushing Bug off of me as I roll out of bed. I stumble down the hallway into the bathroom, quickly brushing my teeth before I head downstairs, not bothering with any of my other morning routines. I find my dad sitting on the couch, his ankle crossed over his knee as he watches a football game on TV. He looks over at me lazily, smiling broadly as he pats the cushion next to him.

"Well good morning, Sunshine," he laughs.

"Is there a reason you sent the minions to wake me?" I grumble, swaying on my feet.

"You're letting your whole day pass you by!" He exclaims, motioning for me to sit on the couch once more. I finally relent, dropping onto the cushion and leaning heavily into his side, my eyes closing again. He flexes his shoulder, trying to stop me from going to sleep again.

"This is one of my few days off, dad," I huff, my eyes cracking open at the sound of a whistle and muffled cheering. "Shouldn't I be able to do whatever I want with it?"

I feel his laughter reverberate all the way through his arm. "I feel that! This is my first day off in eight days and your mother wanted me to spend it mowing the lawn and cleaning the garage."

"Yet here you are, sitting on the couch and doing none of the above." I mock his laughter as I push up from the couch, walking around to the kitchen as I search through the fridge for something to eat. I start to fix myself a sandwich, slapping it together before I take a large bite out of it and walk back over to the couch. But before I can sit down the doorbell rings. My father and I look at each other with questioning gazes.

"Were you expecting someone?" He asks.

"I would still be asleep if I had a choice," I respond, straightening up as I start to walk to the door. "So that's a hard no."

I peak out the window to see who it is, my eyes locking on some gelled back brown hair as someone sways nervously a foot from the door.

"For the love of all that's holy," I grumble as I open the door, and quickly step outside, pushing Shills backward far enough so I have room on the front porch.

I hear my dad's questioning comments come from inside but I don't respond, hoping that the game is curious enough, and he is lazy enough, that he doesn't get up to see what's happening.

"Okay, you really can't do this." I cross my arms over my chest as I glare at him, my eyes squinting even more because of the bright sun shining down. But he doesn't respond, his wide eyes locked onto my face as he looks at me intently.

"Wow," he whispers. "You look so much different at school."

My entire face relaxes at his comments, my hand automatically coming up to touch the two sloppy French Braids I wrestled my hair into in a pitch-black bathroom at 2 this morning after I was late for my curfew. I look away from him, not sure if I have anything on my face or in my teeth.

"What are you doing here, Shills?" I ask, still refusing to look at him.

"You said I had a standing invitation for dinner?" Confusion is clear in his voice, almost making me look up at him.

"It's 1 in the afternoon." I laugh, finally looking at him.

"I'm a little early," he shrugs.

"Remember how we were discussing boundaries yesterday?" I point from him to me, and then back to my house. "This is a very big boundary that I now feel the need to make perfectly cle—"

I'm interrupted by the door flying open, Bear and Bug appearing in the way as they grin excitedly.

"Did you come back to play with us this time?" Bug asks, stepping forward to grab Shills hand and lead him into the house.

But Bear pushes Bug away, grabbing Shills by the shirt instead. "He doesn't want to play with your stupid dolls, Rowan! He'd rather play with my Nerf guns."

"Dad, Bear called my dolls stupid!" Bug whines, stopping her little foot on the ground as she reaches back out to grasp Shills hand.

He stands there in confusion, looking back and forth between the twins, myself, and now, my very curious father.

"Reagan I've told you multiple times that you need to be nicer to your sister." My dad scolds lightly, although his eyes are locked on Shills. "But I think the question that is begging to be asked is: who are you and why are you in my house?"

I can hear Shills swallow as he looks to me for help, his eyes as wide as saucers. I don't bother to help him out of this situation, hoping that my dad will scare him into never coming back to my house. But Shills gathers himself, that fake smile that is almost permanently on his face at school appearing.

"My name is Jude Shills, sir," Shills walks forward, his hand extending out as he offers a hand to my dad. "It's a pleasure to meet you sir. And might I say, what a beautiful family you have."

My dad looks from Shills hand to his face and then back to his hand, before finally looking over at me. "He's joking, right?"

I burst out laughing as I finally step in. "Dad, this is Shills. We go to school together."

My dad frowns deeper as he continues to stare at Shills hand. "And the second part of my question?"

I shrug, picking a reason off the top of my mind. "He stopped by to thank mom for dinner last night."

My dad's eyebrows pinch as he finally stands up, drawing himself to his full 6 feet 4 inches. He completely dwarfs Shills, and I can almost hear the sound of Shills pissing himself. Dad finally reaches out and grabs Shills hand, gripping it tightly as he pull shim forward slightly, using his other hand to clap him on the shoulder a few times. But I can't hear what my dad says to him, a sudden eruption from the television marring his words, although the paleness of Shills' face makes me know it was some kind of threat. I roll my eyes at his protectiveness, knowing he has no reason to be like that with Shills.

Dad finally releases him, only for Bear and Bug to each grab one of his hands and begin to lead him to the stairs, apparently having come to an agreement while Shills was otherwise occupied.

"We decided that you'll play with us both!" Bug announces, dragging Shills to the storage closet under the stairs that was converted into a play area.

My dad frowns deeper as he watches Shills get dragged further into the house, so I finally intervene, grabbing the back of his shirt to stop the twins from pulling him into their layer.

"Sorry kids," I smile as I pull Shills away from them. "But this kid has other plans."

"That's no fair!" Bug whines, stomping her foot.

"Yeah, we saw him first!" Bear adds in.

"No," I laugh as I push Shills in the direction of the couch, encouraging him to sit next to my father. "No, you didn't."

"I'll be ready in 5 minutes." I direct at him before I run upstairs. This is going to be a long day.