"What movie should we watch?" Carmen asked.
"Pick anything," my dad said.
"How about Bride Wars?" She asked.
"NO!" Dad and I said in unison.
"Fine. We'll pick something else," she put down the CD. I heard her mutter 'babies'. Ray and her mother had a habit of muttering things.
We kept suggesting things that someone or the other didn't like.
"Let's just take a vote. We're not gonna get anywhere with this," Ray said.
"Definitely, Maybe." Dad suggested. He used to watch that movie with his female colleagues from work.
"Who's in it?" Ray asked.
"Ryan Reynolds, Isla Fisher and Elizabeth Banks," I told her.
"I'm okay with that," she said.
"I vote against the motion," Carmen said.
"I'm with her," I said.
"Betrayed by my own son," Dad said.
"Moving on, I suggest Life As We Know It. I've seen it before and it's really cool," Ray said.
"It's a PG-13 movie. I don't remember watching it with you," Carmen eyed her daughter.
"I'm fine with it," I said and nudged dad.
"Count me in." Dad said.
"Two are in favor. Life As We Know It wins." Ray said.
"What about our votes?" Carmen and I asked.
"The movie is decided. We will watch Life As We Know It," Ray said.
"Not fair. We should decide this over a game. Winning team decides the movie. No votes," Carmen said and I agreed.
"So you're a team now?" Dad raised his eyebrows.
"What do you say Zack?" Carmen asked.
That was the moment I realized it was all a big scheme. All this was a sham to make us bond together. I could see the slightest bit of tension on dad's forehead.
"It's on," I grinned.
"We'll decide this over the most difficult game of all time," Ray said. "Stone, Paper, Scissors. I play on behalf of our team."
I grinned devilishly. "I am gonna play on behalf of our team."
"We're doomed," dad said.
I was the master of 'Stone, Paper, Scissors'. It's all about psychology. My ability to over think things helped me in analyzing the psychology of people.
"Stone, Paper, Scissors!" We both yelled.
Both of us brought out stone. Next round we took out paper. I smiled. Just what I was expecting. This was gonna be my easiest win.
Thanks to my unbeatable record and powerful strategic thinking, we both were expected to bring out scissors next which meant that Ray, in an (failed) attempt to defeat me would bring out stone.
"Stone, paper, scissors!" We yelled for the last time.
I brought out paper. She brought stone.
"We win!" Carmen and I high fived each other.
Dad and Ray groaned.
"I told you we were doomed," dad muttered to Ray.
Carmen and I discussed movies and finally came up with a movie.
"We're watching The Hunger Games," she said.
I was in the mood for a horror movie. If the other three wouldn't have been there then I would have watched The Town That Dreaded Sundown.
"How can they eat lizards?" Ray made a face.
"Out of twenty four, only one person survives. You don't see a problem with twenty four people trying to kill each other." I pointed out.
"Sshh. Let me watch the movie." Carmen shushed me.
Ray snickered and I stuck out my tongue at her. We watched the movie till it was late. We were all tired and sleepy by the time the movie ended and went straight to bed.
***
Ms. Green had asked me to go visit the newspaper office and hand out the pamphlets. She knew a writer there named Katherine Lawson who wrote the business section. Ms. Green had already called up Katherine to tell her about the situation. All I had to do was to pass on the pamphlets.
The office was in the heart of the city. It was a five storeyed building, fully owned by the newspaper. I walked into the office and saw the reception. A guy sat at the reception, browsing his phone.
"Hey. I'm looking for Katherine Lawson," I told the guy.
He had an average height about five feet five inches and medium built. He was dark skinned and had messy black hair. He wore black pants and a shirt.
"She's not here yet. She told me it'll take her five more minutes. You can wait if you want," he said.
"It's okay. I just wanted to hand out a few pamphlets?"
"I can do that," he took the pamphlets from me and set them aside.
"I'm Dale Robertson. I'm the receptionist," he said and extended his hand. I shook his hand and introduced myself.
"Okay. She might take a while. Her watch is defective," he said and then muttered something about asking her to replace it.
"I should go. Just pass on the pamphlets to Katherine."
"I'll tell her," he said.
"Okay. Thanks." I turned around and bumped into a girl.
"Sorry," I said.
"It's okay. I shouldn't have sneaked up," she smiled.
She was the same height as Dale and had dirty blonde hair. Her eyes were a few shades lighter than a sapphire but still really beautiful. She wore a white shirt and blue jeans.
"That's Katy," Dale said.
"Are you Katherine Lawson?" I asked the girl.
"Yeah. Sorry but who are you?" She asked.
"I'm Zack Woods." I told her about Ms. Green and the book release.
"Yeah, I talked to her earlier. Tell her I'll get somebody to write a piece about the store," Katherine said after listening to me.
"Thanks Katherine."
I thanked Dale and Katherine then went back to work. There wasn't much to do since Ms. Green was going to discuss details with the author.
Around the evening, Ray and I sat in the living room, watching TV.
"So, how's school going on?" I asked her.
"Everything's cool. People here are a whole lot better than I expected. They're really nice," she answered.
"Like that Skylar guy," I smirked.
"Yes. He offered to help with my homework tomorrow." Ray said.
"So he's coming over?"
"No. He said there's an ice cream parlor near the park which is a good place to complete homework."
"To complete homework," I chuckled.
"What?" She looked at me, confused.
"Are you really that oblivious?" I asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said.
"Forget it. How are you going to the ice cream parlor?"
"Walking, I guess," she shrugged.
"With all your books in hand?" I asked her. "I'll give you a ride."
"What's with the free rides?"
"I am trying to be a brother I think," I said.
"If that's what having a sibling is, then I'm all for it," she smiled.
"I'm told the sibling law says that in order to be a sibling, you have to submit to constant teasing and share secrets."
"I'm okay with that."
"Then it's a deal?" I asked.
"Deal."
Author's Note
Laws of Siblinghood reached 100+ reads! Thank you so so so much guys! This would never have been possible without you guys.
Anyways, how was this chapter? What did you think about the parents' scheme? Don't hesitate from commenting. I love knowing your thoughts. Feel free to correct any typos or grammatical errors. Love you guys.
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