The Survivors

Epilogue

I bounce the basketball slowly on the smooth cement court. The warm sun on my back and a soft breeze ruffling my hair. I can see my shadow cast on the court and the ball continues to bounce with a strange echo. I smile softly as I bounce it wondering how normal this would feel for anyone else.

"Aannndddd HE STEALS IT FROM Leylah!" Suddenly, the ball is knocked away from my hands and a blur whisks in front of me. I jerk out of my daze looking back at the stealer. He runs down my court dribbling expertly and leaps up into the air, tossing the ball up and letting it bounce off the glass wall of the basket and it drops through the net with a slight curve.

He whips around wearing a huge grin, "HA! Take that sissy!"

I roll my eyes at him, "Only the loser gets called a girl for the week, the game isn't over yet!" I smirk playfully crossing my arms over my chest, "Adriana."

He grimaces, "Crap, the stakes are high."

I laugh at him and jog after the ball that rolls towards the chain link fence that surrounds my court. I scoop it up and dribble it a couple times, "Especially when we're going to Sammy and Jenny's house today," I add smugly imagining what it would look like when Ayden gets called Adriana the entire visit.

He rolls his eyes, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his hand, "I'm winning this game so I don't have to worry about it."

"In your dreams," I taunt playfully, then take off running towards my basket.

"No fair! False start!" Ayden complains, running after me. I run down my court dribbling fast and then shoot another basket, watching with satisfaction as it goes in at the three-point line. I catch the ball when it comes back down and glance back at Ayden who is standing behind me with a frown on his face.

"It doesn't count," he pouts giving me a look.

I just shrug.

"Boys!"

We both look up at the sound of our mom's voice. Man, that still feels weird. Mom stands at the chain-link door with a soft smile on her face. The Californian sun beaming down on her highlighting her curled brown hair. She wears a nice outfit like always because she claims to like dressing up for all days.

"It's almost five, you should get ready," she shouts to us and then smiles sweetly, "Though I almost didn't want to stop you two. You seemed to be having fun."

Ayden smirks and nods, "Yeah, I am. Leylah's just upset that she's gonna lose."

I suddenly blush and shoot him a look, "Shut up! You didn't even win yet!"

He just smirks mischievously, "I will."

Mom laughs but sounds a bit confused. She looks at me for an explanation. I sigh loudly and throw my head back, running my hand through my sweaty hair, "We made the stakes higher for the game. The loser is going to be called by a girl name for a week. It's embarrassing and weird, it was his idea."

Mom nods but still seems confused. Then she smiles at us, "Well I've always wanted a daughter so it'll be interesting."

I groan.

Ayden starts laughing hysterically.

I look beyond Mom to see our mansion of a house. It stands two stories above our land built with bricks and large, open windows. The crisp brown bricks seem to make the mansion more sharp and modern. A patio made of flat stone stretches out of the back with a sunroof shielding over the crimson cushioned outdoor chairs. A dark stone firepit sits in the middle of the circle of chairs along with a black grill.