Dylan pulled into our driveway and turned off the car.
We got out and walked into our house. Immediately, a small body rushed towards us and wrapped his arms around my waist.
"Kenny! You're back! I missed you! Oh, and you too Denny!"
When he was younger, he couldn't pronounce 'Dylan' and since it rhymed with Kenny, the name stuck.
"I missed you too, Naty! How was your first day of school?" I picked him up and carried him on my hip to the kitchen where my mom was cooking.
"It was so cool! I made two new friends and this year I got a blue seat instead of a yellow one!"
"That's amazing, buddy!" Dylan said and hugged our mom.
I gave her a side hug with Nathan still on my hip and said hello.
I walked over to the kitchen island and placed Nathan on it.
"How was your day, guys?" my mom asked while she put some plates of spaghetti in front of us.
I grabbed a water bottle from the fridge while answering. "It was good. The teacher's not that nice but I also made a friend."
"That's great, honey! And how about you Dylan?"
I sat down and opened my water bottle. I drank some water as he answers.
"Mine was good too. I met some people too. I invited two of them over tonight. Their names are Ryder and Blake."
My eyes bulged out of my head and I spat out my drink.
"Kennedy!" my mom scolded while I coughed.
"You're not gonna let them come here on a school night, right?" I asked.
"I don't see why it's a problem. As long as they're gone before 10 o'clock."
Thank for the backup, mom.
Dylan gave me a funny look.
"Can I meet your friends, Denny?" Nathan excitedly asked.
"Sure, buddy."
"Actually," I cut in. "Nate, I was thinking about taking you out for celebratory ice-cream today."
"But can't we eat celebrity ice-cream here? I really want to meet Denny's friends."
I groaned. "Fine."
"Oh, by the way, your father and I will be leaving at around 6 tonight because his partner at work invited us for dinner."
"So you're gonna leave me here with four boys all on my own?" I asked, with my mouth wide open.
"You'll be fine," she reassured and started to clean up.
"Calm down, sis. You haven't even met them yet. Maybe you'll like them."
Yeah, I don't think so.
"Why are you even friend's with them? Aren't they a year below you?"
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean we can't be friends. And besides, they pretty much act like seniors anyway."
Yeah, I doubt that.
I pushed my plate forward and let my head fall onto the table counter. "When are they coming?"
"Like around 5:30pm."
Okay, that was like 2 and a half hours from now.
I let out a deep sigh and stood up. I put Nathan down and held out my hand.
"You wanna help me get ready?"
"Yeah!" he cheered and took my hand.
___________________
I looked at the my clock.
5:29pm.
Nathan and I were laying on my bed and waiting for them to arrive.
The door ball rang.
"They're here!" Nathan shouted and ran out of my room.
I quickly got up and followed him. "Nathan, no! You're not suppose to open the door!"
But it was to late, he had already opened to the door to reveal Ryder and Blake. I froze at the top of the stairs.
"Hello! I'm Nathan, Denny's brother. Are you Ryder and Blake?"
Ryder squatted down so that he was on the same eye level as Nathan.
"Yeah, hi little guy." He reached out his hand and Nathan shook it.
"You can come in. I can go get Denny," Nathan said.
"No need. I'm here." Dylan walked out of the kitchen and went to the door. Ryder stood up and they did that bro hug thing.
The three of them walked into the kitchen once the door was closed. Nathan walked to where I was standing by the stairs.
I'm pretty sure the other two hadn't noticed me yet.
"I like them!" Nathan said.
"Nate, you know you're not allowed to open the door yourself," I reminded him as I picked him up.
"Sorry. I was just really excited."
"It's okay. Just don't do it again," I firmly said.
"Okay!" he agreed and put his hands behind my neck. "Don't you want to meet them?" he asked me as I walked down the stairs.
"Maybe later," I said.
Then I saw the door unlock. My dad walked through the door and put down his briefcase.
"Daddy's home!" Nathan cheered.
I walked to the door and hugged my dad.
"How was your day, sweetie?" he asked me as he hung up his jacket.
"It was good," I said.
"And yours?" my dad asked Nathan.
"So cool!" he threw his arms up and I had to be careful as to not get hit in the face since I was still carrying him. This kid had a lot of energy.
I put him down and saw my mom walking down the stairs.
"You're leaving already?" I ask.
"Yes. We decide we might as well leave early incase there is traffic," she answered.
"Oh, alright," I kissed her on the cheek and opened the door for them.
"Be good and take care of the boys, alright?"
"I'll try," I said and waved as they drove off.
I shut the door and saw Nathan running into the kitchen while Dylan walked out.
"I think they gave him a little to much sugar at school today," he said.
I laughed. "I know."
He also laughed and walked into the bathroom. I went to head up the stairs but stopped when I heard voices coming from the kitchen.
"So you're Dylan's brother, huh?" I heard Blake ask.
"Yes! And Kenny's!" he said.
"Who's Kenny?" I hear Ryder ask him.
Oh no.
"She's my sister! But she's bigger than me," he answered.
"Oh. Is she here or somewhere else?" he asked.
"No, she's here. I can go get her!"
No no no! Don't do that! Don't get me!
"Yeah, that would be great!" Ryder said.
Nooooo!
"Okay!" I heard him run out of the kitchen and past me. He probably thought I was somewhere in the living room.
"So how old do you think Dylan's sister is?" I heard Blake ask.
"I have no idea."
So they didn't know that I was Dylan's sister.
"But I hope she's hot," Ryder finished.
Ugh. Seriously?
"What are you going to do about that Kennedy chick from today?" Blake asked.
"I have no idea but it's gonna be good," Ryder replied.
"You have to admit though, she is pretty hot."
"Yeah, I'm not gonna disagree with that."
"Well, sucks that she hates you!" Blake joked and laughed at him.
Nathan came back and started to shout. "I can't find he--there you are, Kenny! Come on! Byder and Rake want to meet you!"
I chuckled lightly at his mistake.
"Come on!" he shouted and grabbed my hand. He dragged me into the kitchen.
Here goes nothing.
"This is Kenny!" he announced, once we were in the kitchen.
Ryder and Blake turned around and their jaws dropped to the floor. Nathan tugged on my shirt and I looked down at him.
"What's wrong with them?" he asked me.
Before I could answer I heard Dylan shout from the hall.
"Ow! Who left a toy truck in the doorway?!"
"Oops!" Nathan said and ran up the stairs to hide.
Great. Now I was completely alone with them.
"Kennedy?! You're Dylan's sister?" Blake said and smirked.
"Yeah, I think we've established that," I replied. Okay, maybe not the best answer.
"Oh, this is going to be fun," Ryder said and also smirked.
I took a step back cautiously and ran into someone.
"I see you've met Kennedy," my brother said and walked to them.
"Oh yeah, we've met her," Ryder said and smiled mischievously.
Dylan gave us three a weird look but didn't question it. Instead, he looked in the fridge for any food.
"Yeah, um. I'm gonna...you know...uh," I pointed at the stairs with my thumb and ran up to my room. I jumped on my bed and grabbed my phone that was laying there.
"Where is it? Where is it?" I mumbled as I looked for her number. "Ah, there it is!"
I pressed the call button and waited for her to pick up.
"Hello? " Isla answered.
"Hi! It's Kennedy."
"Oh, hey! What's up? "
"Um, I have a small problem."
"What's wrong? "
"You know Ryder and Blake, right?"
"Well, duh."
"Yeah, well they're currently at my house having tea time with my brother."
"WHAT?!"
I yanked my phone from my ear, scared that she would burst my ear drum.
"Yeah..." I said.
"Have they done anything? "
"No, not yet. But I have a feeling that won't last long."
"Oh, you poor thing.."
"Yeah, thanks for the help," I sarcastically said.
She laughed. "I'm sorry. If you want to get out of there I can text you my address?"
"No, it's alright. I have to take care of my brother."
"I'm pretty sure your brother will be fine. He's almost 18."
"No," I said, laughing. "I have another brother. He's 6. And for some reason I don't really trust three teenage boys taking care of him."
"I feel you. Alright then, call me if it gets out of hand."
"Okay, bye!"
"Bye!"
I hung up and slumped on my bed. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. It'll be fine.
Once I opened my eyes, I saw a figure standing in front of me.
"Ahhh!" out of fright, I fell off of my bad and landed on my stomach. "Umph."
The person started laughing and I looked up.
It was Ryder. Figures.
"I...I should have re..recorded that!" he laughed. He was clutching his stomach and tears were running down his face.
"It wasn't that funny," I grumbled and stood up.
Ryder calmed down and looked at me. He didn't say anything and just stood there.
"May I ask why you are in my room?" I asked him and raised an eyebrow.
"Your brother wanted me to get you," he said and started to walk out of my room.
"You couldn't have just called my name?" I called after him.
"Now where would the fun be in that?" he shouted back as he walked down the stairs.
I rolled my eyes.
Idiot.
I fixed my hair and bounded down the steps and into the kitchen.
"What?" I asked as I stood in the doorway. I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the wall.
"The boys and I are going to the store to get some food," Dylan said.
"Why don't you just order pizza?" I asked him.
"They said they needed something from the store," he said and pointed at Ryder and Blake who were smiling very suspiciously.
"Okay..."
"Oh, and we're taking Nathan."
"Please be careful, alright?" I begged.
Screw the other three. I just needed Nathan to be safe.
"We always are," he said and ruffled my hair as he walked past me and to the door.
I scowled and flattened down my hair. He knew how much I hated it when he did that.
Ryder and Blake followed after him.
"Nathan!" Dylan shouted.
He came running down the stairs and stopped in front of the three guys. "Yeah?"
"We're going to the store, you wanna come with us?"
"Okay!" he said and put on his shoes.
I walked over to him and helped him put them on. "Always stay with Dylan, alright?"
He nodded and stood up.
"And don't cause any trouble. Be good," I told him and opened the door.
He skipped out and the boys followed him. Before Dylan went outside I pulled him back by his shirt. "I'm serious. Please be careful," I told him sternly.
"Of course. We'll be back soon," he reassured and gave me a hug.
I waved and then closed the door. Now what will I do with 20 minutes of free time?
___________________
Almost half an hour later, I heard the door open.
"Kenny! We're home!"
I paused the movie I was watching and stood up from the couch. I walked to the door and saw Nathan being carried on Ryder's shoulders.
"Look how tall I am!" he shouted and gave me a big smile.
"I can see," I told him and laughed.
I held out my hands so that I could take him. Ryder bent down a little bit so that I could take Nathan.
I realised that even though Ryder and Blake we're a year younger than Dylan, they still looked about the same age.
Once I'm holding Nathan, I set him on the ground and he took off his shoes.
"What did you guys get?" I asked them.
"I got some pizzas to heat up and I don't know what they got," Dylan answered and nodded at Ryder and Blake.
He walked into the kitchen with the bags and Ryder and Blake smiled at me innocently before following him.
"Do you know what they got?" I asked Nathan.
"Nope!" he responded and shook his head.
Okay then...
__________________
By the way, I changed Nathan's age from 9 to 6. Just so you know.
I hope you're enjoying the book so far!