Surviving the McLane Boys ('On Hold Still...')

Chapter 1 - Meet the Boys

Chapter 1

Sunlight streams in through the window. It’s morning. I crack my eyes open a little to see the time. I curse as I’m blinded by the light. I’m not a morning person.

I slowly open my eyes again trying to figure out where my clock could have gotten to when it was supposed to be pretty much next to my head.

As my morning grogginess slowly wears off I realize that I’m on the floor tangled in my bed sheets. Typical.

“Hay-leeeeee?” Dad’s voice booms up the hallway. 

“What?” I yell back sitting up and surveying the mess I’ve made. I’ve managed to strip the bed of all the sheets, one of my pillows is teetering off the corner of my desk, and the other one is crumpled on my window seat. My bean bag chair is lying on top of my bed and some of my sheets are hanging out the window.

It also looks like I felt like making pasta during the middle of the night due to the fact that I’ve got a pot on my bookshelf, tomatoes and onions near the door, bow-tie pasta flung around the room and a kettle of water next to me… Looks like Dad’s ‘tie-yourself-to-the-bed-to-stop-your-sleep-walking’ plan is a go…

“Jenny and I are going now! We’ve left you the contact numbers on the fridge! If there’s anything wrong just call us ok? Get ready and go to school, Melissa will be here to pick up Lily soon and Sarah will come and pick up the boys. They said you can call them too if you need anything…” he pauses “Are you sure you’re going to be ok by yourself? I could always get Nan to come and stay if you want!”

“No!” I yell quickly.

“…. Ok then, be careful ok? We’ll be back next Monday, We love you!”

“Yeh, love you too!” I shout back. I rub my eyes a smile creeping onto my face. Jenny and Dad are leaving to go to Bali for their 12th anniversary. Lily and the twins will be staying at friends houses for the week and Dad convinced Jenny to let me stay at home by myself! Score!

I turn my head around, surveying the room. I look up to the ceiling and my eyes rest on the light fixture.

Yep, there’s the clock.  

I go down a few of the stairs, side-stepping remnants of the twin’s latest dud experiment (Judging from the smell, a mixture of mouth wash, detergent and fertilizer) and then opt for sliding down the banister after seeing the glowing, breathing… thing that takes up half the stairwell.

 I jump off at the end of the banister… and fall gracefully in a heap on the floor. Gravity sucks sometimes.

Jay and Grae poke their heads out of the kitchen “Nice one loser!”

 I glare right at them and they scamper off. I pick myself up off the floor and head over to the kitchen where I can smell remnants of burnt toast, bacon, eggs and… fire extinguisher?

“Lily!”

“Yes my darling sister?” An innocent voice replies.                      

I stomp into the kitchen, “How many times do I have to tell –”

I stop at the sight of the mess. It looks like a shell has hit the damn room. Foam sits in a heap on the kitchen stove, the dishtowels are hanging off the ceiling fan, the cupboards look burnt and the smoke alarm is still going off even though it’s sitting at the bottom of a sink full of water.

“What the hell have you been doing?!” I explode, “Mom and Dad like, left half an hour ago… How’d you manage to demolish the whole kitchen?! Lily! I’m the one who’s staying here this week and I’d appreciate it if I didn’t have to pretty much renovate every room while you’re all gone!”