Amanda sighed, lifting her shovel high into the air, ready to move another lot of snow. It was the start of their second week in their new home, and it had already managed to snow quite heavily.
"We've been de-shoveling this dumb-as driveway forever," Robbie complained, dumping himself onto the snow-covered lawn.
"45 minutes is not forever," Amanda said coldly, stretching out her aching back.
"You look more exhausted than me," he remarked, pulling a face of despair.
"Well at least I'm not complaining as much as you," Amanda muttered under her breath, redirecting her attention back to her work.
Robbie huffed. He couldn't believe he was stuck outside doing this chore. Surely this wasn't something every person in the area had to do each winter. Surely their parents just had no idea what they were doing.
"It's not fair," he objected. "How come we have to do all the work on the driveway?"
Amanda slowly turned around to look at him, her gaze threatening to beat him if he didn't shut up.
"Perhaps," she started slowly, as calmly as she possibly could, "Mum and Dad are working on unpacking the rest of the boxes the truck dropped off last week so we can actually have our things available, and perhaps that might be why they can't help us, and perhaps we should just get on with what we've been asked to do instead of complaining like spoiled brats!" Her voice grew louder as she continued, complete frustration taking over.
"Look Robbie," she said warningly. "I swear if you don't shut up and start working properly, I'm gonna punch you so hard. And believe me, oh believe me when I say you have no idea how much self-control I've had to endure to not have already done it!"
She glared at him, turning back again, satisfied he understood.
He seemed a little gob-smacked by her outburst, but then he realised it was probably because she was still mad from him waking her up at 4 in the morning.
They were huddled in their jackets, trying to block out the cold. Although it had stopped snowing, for now, the temperature felt like it was way below zero... which were not ideal conditions to be working in.
After 2 hours of shoveling the snow from the driveway, Robbie and Amanda stumbled inside, exhausted from the back-breaking work.
There was a wave of heat as they walked toward the kitchen. Their mother was cooking something which possessed a pleasant aroma.
Amanda and Robbie placed their shovels and boots at the front door as they proceeded into the living area.
"Where's Dad?" Amanda asked, taking off her jacket, and dumping it on the couch.
"In the garage. He's just unpacking the last few boxes. Shouldn't be too long", she responded. Then she changed the topic. "Was the driveway hard?"
Robbie groaned. "Talk about it," he muttered. "My back is killing me!"
Amanda glared at him. "It was fine," she said coldly, still dead staring at her brother as he walked up the smooth white stairs, that led to the bedrooms.
The house was incredibly modern. The kitchen, for instance, was enormous, lined with perfect, shining black cupboards. There was also a nicely finished island bench, with a black marble top, whilst overhead were hanging lights of a unique shape and design. There was a huge walk-in pantry as well. The fridge was twice the size of their old one, with an installed ice blender on the door... not that anyone would be using the ice blender at least until summer, but it was still remarkable how huge everything was.
And although it was large and pretty, Amanda felt somewhat overwhelmed by it.
The hallways were already extremely wide, not to mention each bedroom was double the size of an ensuite.
"How on earth did we afford this?" Amanda had wondered the first night she'd walked into the house.
She knew her father's business paid extremely well, but the family had never lived in such exotic conditions before, and it was going to take a lot of getting used to.
"Lunch won't be too long. Can you tell Dad to finish up?" Her mother requested, turning the stove off and turning to finish preparing the rest of the food.
"Sure," Amanda said slowly, turning towards the garage. The air inside was heated and the carpet, warm. However, this was an extremely sudden contrast to the garage.
The moment she opened the door, a wave of freezing cold air hit her in the face.
"Ahh!" She exclaimed, reaching to hug herself.
From further into the garage, her father laughed, before emerging from a pile of boxes.
"Bit cold, eh?" He said, cleaning his hands with a nearby towel.
"You think??" Amanda shot back. Then she sighed. "Mum says lunch is pretty much ready. How much longer are you gonna be?"
He frowned. "Well, I've just been unpacking my tools for the work shed, and after that, I think we've pretty much settled in. Have you unpacked your own boxes yet?"
She shook her head. "Only one of them. The rest are in my wardrobe."
He nodded in acknowledgment. "Well, I suppose we could all do with a break. After all, I hear you two have been working extra hard in the driveway. If you're done, I've already prepared your next list of jobs."
Amanda stood stiff still, not sure if he was serious or not.
There was a moment's silence, as they both stared at each other until her father raised an eyebrow in amusement.
"You actually thought I was serious didn't you?"
A wave of relief washed over her, as she stormed out of the garage, hardly amused, all the while, her dad sniggering behind her as they made their way to lunch.
<><><>
"Spaghetti again?" Robbie complained, sitting down at the dinner table. It was the end of another day, the last day of their second week. This particular Saturday had been rather laid back due to all the packing being completed, but Amanda wasn't happy.
In two days, Robbie and herself would be going to school. She had honestly been dreading every moment as it drew closer and closer to their first day at Harry Ainlay High. The school was massive with roughly three thousand kids attending. This was beyond overwhelming for Amanda. She'd never experienced a school this large in her life.
The last 48 hours were here, and then there would be no escape.
It took a while for Amanda to realise her mother was staring at her before she snapped out of her thoughts.
"Well?" her mother questioned, realising Amanda had finally made eye contact.
Amanda looked at her, puzzled. "Well, what?" She questioned back.
"I asked if you'd finished shopping for school."
Amanda nodded slowly. "Sorry, I wasn't listening. Yeah, I have finished shopping. Why?"
Her mum, dad, and brother all looked at her intently. "Haven't you heard a word I've said this whole meal?" Her mum asked again.
Amanda suddenly realised just how long she'd zoned out. "I'm afraid not, sorry. Mind filling me in?"
Her mother sighed. "You're going to school on Monday, correct?"
Amanda rolled her eyes. "No need to remind me."
Her mother continued: "We have to drive you into school that morning, but I also have an appointment with the Land Lord to fix up a few prices on the house. So if you haven't got everything you need for school, you need to let me know now, so I can go out and get it tonight, cause we won't have time Monday morning."
"Yeah, no worries?" Amanda said shrugging it off, "I bought it all yesterday."
"Good. What about you Robbie?" Their father interjected, leaning over the table to reach the ball of grated cheese.
"What do you mean, 'what about me'?" Robbie remarked, sounding rather irritated. "I think you keep forgetting that just because Amanda can drive, I can too, but I'm still only a learner, so no, I haven't got what I need for school yet... apart from the uniform you bought us last week."
Their mother sighed. "Looks like I'll be busy tonight then."
She looked down at her watch before hurrying to stand. "I'll have to leave now before the store closes." She grabbed her handbag and headed for the garage, where the car was parked. "Bye, see you later," she called before she jumped in the car.
Once she was out of the garage, Amanda turned to glare at her brother. "You know, you could've just asked to come with me when I went yesterday."
He shrugged. Obviously, he couldn't care less. "Sorry, I forgot," he said dryly as he stood to excuse himself from the table.
"Yeah, that's what you always say," she muttered, standing to do the same.
She had always hated his attitude towards everything. He treated the world like it owed him something, and never seemed to be conscious of others. Gaming was pretty much his life, but then again, so was complaining. Amanda swore she had not lived a day without hearing her brother complain.
It was undoubtedly his forte.
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