39Chapter Two
There aren't any official seating arrangements in our family, but we all still have pretty much assigned spots anyway, although by choice. Mom and Dave (the step-father) sit at the head at either end. I sit right to mom's right, with Erin next to me and then Blaine. To her left sits our eight-month-old half sister, Emmaline, then Sara, then Henry. This is specifically designated to keep me and the blonde as far away from each other as possible, seeing as my intense distaste for him isn't some well-kept secret.
It still doesn't help with the awkwardness that's hanging in the air. I think Sara still has yet to get over her initial fear of my elder sister, not that I can really blame her. Erin has had her naturally blonde hair dyed a dark black ever since she was the younger girl's age, which coupled with her face piercings, black clothing, and constant scowl makes for a generally scary appearance. But I'm almost ninety percent sure that's the impression she's been trying for.
"So..." my mom says once we're all about halfway done with our food. "Lenix, dear, you've talked to your work about getting off early tomorrow, right? Because our plane departs at seven."
"Don't worry mom," I offer her a half willed smile. "Jade offered to stay late for me so I'm getting off at five. I'll get home just in time to help finish packing and then tag along to the airport."
"Good," she gives me a smile of her own. "I bought three packages of diapers for Emmaline, but if you end up needing more there's also a little bit of extra money in the case."
"What?" Erin asks, raising one pierced eyebrow.
"Don't worry, Erin. Lenix knows where to look." my mother's dark brown eyes flash over to her.
"But why aren't you telling me?" my older sister presses. "I'm going to be in charge right? I am the oldest, after all."
"Lenix and Henry are both eighteen, so all three of you will be in charge." she's clearly trying to gloss over Erin's initial question. She once confessed to me that although she loves the others to death, I'm the only one she really trusts to know where the emergency stash of money is.
"Wait, so then why don't I get to know where the money is?" Henry suddenly pipes in, causing me to sigh internally. Great. This conversation is about to go from bad to worse.
Luckily, just as panic begins to set into my mother's eyes, Dave opens his mouth and goes in for the save. "We've also payed Kathy in advance for fifty hours of watching Emma, so make sure to have a schedule for her set up."
"Gotcha," Erin cuts in before anyone else has a chance to answer. Then, almost as if to prove that she's just as capable of being responsible as I, adds, "What time does she usually take naps there?"
"Every two hours," Dave responds, "Don't worry about allowing her to sleep beforehand. It'll be okay for a few more months."
"Wait, wait, wait," Blaine suddenly cuts in, waving his hands in front of him. "When you say that the three of them will be in charge, you mean of like, Sara and Emma, right? Because I don't need a babysitter." My mother's eyes harden into a stern look, causing him to whine, "But I'm fifteen years old, mom!"
"And I'm still a child?!" Sara hisses at him, "I'm only five years younger than you!"
"That's a child." Blaine raises his nose before glaring down it at her. "You're not even out of elementary school, yet."
"That's enough." my mother hisses before my step-sister has a chance to respond. "Blaine, yes you do need a babysitter even though your fifteen since it'll be two weeks. Especially after you flooded the toilet with that little experiment of yours."
Blaine juts out his lower lip in a pout before collapsing back into his chair.
Oh yeah, this is going to be great.
MNSBSMFK
I can't thank the gods enough that Starbucks is one of the few places in our town actually open before seven in the morning. I honestly don't know how I would get through my ten hour shifts at the daycare without my daily caffiene intake.
The sharp scent of cinnamon graces my nostrils as I take a deep whiff of my drink and allow a deep sigh of contentment to escape my lips. This is the closest to alive I've felt since my alarm woke me up almost an hour ago. There's nothing quite like a smoking hot, heavily flavored, coffee to truly wake you up.
A loud gasp leaves my throat as someone bumps into me right as I'm lifting it to my mouth, causing a fair amount to splash onto my shirt. My teeth clench in anger as I reel around to confront the person who dared to waste my precious drink, only to freeze in place.
Lovely darkened skin, the shade you can only get when you're born with it coupled with perfectly messy black hair and equally dark eyes, Wyatt Quinn is the one good thing to come out of becoming Henry's step-sister. I've had a crush on him ever since we were in the sixth grade, but until my mom married his best friend's father he didn't even know I exsisted.
The fact that he's also a coffee adict doesn't exactly help with his perfect appearance.
"Oh, shit, Lenix!" he gasped, putting a hand to his chest. "I'm sorry!"
"No, it's okay," I let out a hoarse laugh as I feel my cheeks heat up. "It was my fault. I'm the one who wasn't looking where I was going."
Wyatt raises a dark eyebrow at me as a quizzical look enters his eyes. "You were just standing there."
"Oh," my cheeks grow even hotter, although this time it's from embarrasement, "Well, I mean, I was clearly in your way, or uh... y'know, I was actually in everyone's way since this is where we get our coffee and all, but now you're kinda in the way too, although you don't even have yours, yet-" GAAAAH! SHUT UP LENIX, BEFORE YOU MAKE YOURSELF LOOK EVEN MORE IDIOTIC!
Wyatt laughs as I automatically snap my mouth shut and gaze intently down at my feet. This happens everytime I run into him. Just last week when he was over at our house playing videogames with Henry, I'd somehow managed to trip over nothing while speaking in a language that was probably somewhere between French and Japanese.
"Well," he peeks into my cup, a lingering smirk still on his face. "Looks like you just lost mostly flavoring, so the good stuff should still be there."
I gulp and harden my resolve, before slowly responding, careful to think through every word before I say it. "The flavoring is the good stuff."
He rolls his eyes right as the girl behind the counter calls out his name and hands him his own cup. "What's even the point of getting coffee if you're just going to mask the taste with cinnamon and mint and everything else under the sun?"
"I don't like the bitter stuff." my words come out a little easier this time, and I can even sense a smile that doesn't feel too stupid crossing my face. "The sweetness is what makes the drink."
"Uh huh," Wyatt begins walking toward the exit and I follow. "Sure. That's definitely the Grey in you. So what time are your parents leaving?"
"The plane takes off at seven."
"Sweet. Maybe I'll head over afterwards. We could all hang out."
I draw my arms around myself and do my best not to look too excited. Hang out? All of us? Me included? Hell yeah! I could handle Henry if it means I'd get to spend some quality time with him, even if I run the risk of making a fool out of myself again!
"Sure!" my voice comes out an excited squeak, before I pipe down. "Um," I quickly avert my eyes to my car before slowly beginning to back away. "I'll text y-I-I mean, text Henry. You text him, I mean. Not me. Because ah, well-" great. And now we're back to brainless talk. I swear, he must just be giving me the time of day out of pity or some favor to my step broather. "Bye!"
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