Just for This Year

Chapter One

September 1st
Monday

60 Days Before

Lila stared out her window, watching the sun peek out from the red and brown leaves on the trees. She fiddled with the black corduroy dress that sat on top of her long sleeve, burnt orange bodysuit. She wore short black boots, paired with white socks that show just above the boots. Her curly dark brown hair fell to her lower back. She played with her heart locket between her fingers, her mind running with what could happen in the next few months.

"Li, you're doing it again." She turned around to see her twin leaning against the doorframe. Sam was folding the sleeves of his flannel up, buttoning them a few inches below his elbows. "You're gonna make us late if you keep thinking."

"Well, one of us has to do the thinking around here. I'm making up for your slack," Lila commented, snapping out of her trance. She places her notebooks into her backpack, checking to make sure she had all her color coordinated school supplies.

Sam folded his arms across his chest. "Hey, I think sometimes."

"Yeah, about who you're gonna get with that particular week," she teased with a smile. Sam gave her a beseeching look, rolling his eyes as he pushes off her doorframe.

"Ouch," Sam said with a smirk. "This week it's gonna be James Simons."

"Oh god," Lila groaned. "You need to stop playing him. Every time you two break things off, our house mysteriously ends up covered in toilet paper."

Sam let out a laugh, nodding in admittance. "Hey, at least we didn't need to buy any more toilet paper for the month when that happened."

"You are the only one who used that," Lila denied as she pulled on a jacket. "Mom and I decided to splurge that week and get Charmin."

"Yeah, he used the cheap kind. Never really did the trick," Sam admitted sorrowfully, shaking his head. "All right, let's go eat something quick before heading out."

Lila nodded in agreement as she grabbed her heavy bag. She could tell her stomach was about to rumble, hungry to put anything in her stomach and she was in desperate need for coffee. She began to walk out the door with Sam before pausing. Sam noticed his sister no longer following him, and turned to her in question.

"Oh wait, forgot something," Lila murmured before turning back to her room. She ignored Sam telling her to hurry up as she rummaged through her desk draw. She eventually found what she was looking for, turning back to her twin. Sam stared at the black pen she offered him in question.

"You always forget a pen," Lila said, holding it up for him to see. Sam gave her grateful grin, snatching it from her hands and pushing it into his pocket.

The twins ran down the stairs, turning towards the kitchen, both bickering about what to have for breakfast. They both froze momentarily when they see their curly haired older sister pushing eggs around in a pan while flipping bacon. There were ingredients all over the counter, cracked egg shells coating the ground. She didn't spare the twins a look, seeming to be in a bit of a hurry.

"Scarlett? What are you doing here?" Sam asked with his head tilted, pausing at the bottoms of the stairs. Lila passed him, heading into the kitchen to help her sister.

Scarlett let out a bit of a scoff, continuing to push around eggs in a pan. "Nice to see you too, Sam."

"Mom had to go into work early, don't you remember?" Lila said in an obvious tone as she pulled plates and cups out from the cabinets.

"We can drive ourselves to school," Sam pointed out.

"Well, someone had to make sure you two ate and got out the door," Scarlett said as she continued to cook. "You both look really nice, by the way. Love the dress, Li."