My Crazy Family

Secrets

I wake up and the bright sunlight shines in my eyes. I groan and rub my eyes. I look over at my alarm and it says 9:28. I sit up and stretch my arms. I stand up off my bed and walk to my door. I make our way to the kitchen. On the steps, the smell of coffee and french toast hits my face. I walk into the kitchen and see Adam at the kitchen table wearing a sweater and sweatpants. I walk into the kitchen wear Nick is and I see he's wearing sweatpants and no shirt.

 "I hate those shorts," Nick says looking at my shorts.

"Good morning to you, too," I say smiling. I climb onto the counter and watch him cook. Adam comes into the kitchen and grabs plates and cups. He spreads them across the table. 

"I smell french toast," Max says walking into the kitchen.

"No shit, Sherlock," Nick says smiling.

"Yeah, Watson, it's not shit, its french toast," I say. Nick smile. Even though I'm not allowed to swear, sometimes my brothers let it slide because its funny.

"Funny," Max says walking into the kitchen.

"Funnier than you."

"You look funny."

"We're related." I giggle. The only difference between us is Max's dirty blonde hair and my light brown hair. Everything else is the same. We have the same noses, ears, blue-green eyes, everything.

"I know who got the looks," he says.

"Me, obviously."

"I got the muscle."

"So?"

"So," Max starts and puts his phone in his back pocket and stands up, "I could throw you into the pool." When I was younger, all my brothers, especially Max, would throw me into the pool, and I hated it because it was always freezing. They would throw me in if we made a bet, or they just wanna be mean. I hated it so much and no matter how many time I said to stop, they wouldn't listen.

"Don't you dare," I say putting my hands in front of me. He walks closer and his smile is evil. He picks me up and throws me over his shoulder. "Max! Let me down!" I say hitting his back. He laughs and I see Adam smirking.

"Okay, put her down," Nick says in between laughs. Max puts me down and I hit him, but being small and weak, it doesn't faze him.

"I hate being small," I say sitting at the table. Max sits next to me and kisses my head.

"I love it," he says and takes a piece of french toast Nick just put on the table. Adam and I take a piece. Nick puts the syrup down and I grab it. I'm always the last one to have it. I put it on my pancakes. Then I pass it around. I'm so hungry because I didn't eat that much yesterday that I finish first. I put my plate in the sink and Adam comes up behind me and puts his in.

"Whos doing to dishes?" He asks.

"Max," Nick says.

"I just did it yesterday, it's your turn," Max says.

"Fine," Nick says groaning and standing up. He takes Max's plate and his and puts it in the sink. "Do you wanna help me, Lexi?"

"Nope," I say giggling and following Max into the living room.

"Nick, when does the mail come?" Max asks from the living room.

"Around 12, I think," he says.

"Why?" I ask.

"Nothing," Max says and starts to play on his phone.

"Stop lying to me."

"I'm not." I groan and lay back on the couch and put my feet in Max's lap. Nick comes in about 10 minutes later.

"You look comfortable," he says. 

"I am," I say sitting up so he can sit down. I lay my head on his shoulder and close my eyes. He puts something in my hands and I open my eyes. "My phone!"

"Yeah, it has been a month."

"Yes!" I say smiling.

"But there are rules," Max says.

"Right, " Nick says. "First if anyone texts you about a boy or something along those lines you better tell us. Second, if you bring your phone to school, you cant use it in class. Third, one of us is checking your phone every night before you go to bed."

"Okay!" I say hugging him. He kisses my head. Max looks out the window and the mail truck goes by.

"I'm going to go get the mail," he says rushing to the door and putting his shoes on. He runs out the door to the front of the driveway.

"Why does he want the mail?" I ask.

"I don't know," Nick says. "Why don't you go to your room and see all the texts you got."

"Okay," I say getting up and walking up the steps. But at the top, I sit down behind the railing to see what's going on.

"I'm too scared to open it," Max says walking in and handing the mail to Nick. Nick goes through it and picks out an envelope.

"Here it is," he says.

"What if I didn't get accepted?" What!? Max is going to college. I thought he was going to stay home like Adam. Adam didn't go to college and Nick dropped out. I can't believe they didn't tell me!

"You are still waiting for the other college, right?" Adam asks. Max nods.

"Open it," Max says. Nick slowly opens it and starts to read it. "What does it say?"

"Max, I'm so sorry," Nick says. Max's eyes widen and he grabs the paper out of Nick's hands. I see a tear fall down Max's cheek. "Its okay, you have other colleges, don't worry." Nick hugs Max.

"I'm okay," Max says trying to breathe. "I'm going to go to my room."

"Okay, we're here if you need us," Nick says. Max nods. "Also, Lexi is up there so watch out for her." 

Thanks, Nick.

"I will," Max says walking to the stairs. I stand up and practically sprint to my room. I hear Max walking and then a door shutting. I put my ear to the wall and I hear Max crying. I feel bad. He has always wanted to go to college and be a doctor, that's his dream. When he was younger, he and I would play doctor. I loved playing with him because he is the youngest out of my brothers. Even though there is a 4 year age difference, he is still more fun than all my other brothers. I stand up and open my door. I look over the stairs and see Nick and Adam talking. I slowly walk down the hall to Max's room. I take a big breath and knock on his door.

"Who is it?" He asks. I can hear how hoarse his voice is.

"Lexi," I say.

"Go away."

"Max, please can I come in?" I hear him get up and walk over to the door. He opens it a little.

"What do you want?" He asks. I can see his face and eyes are red.

"A hug." I see him smile a little bit and he opens the door. He picks me up and I wrap my legs around his waist and hug him. He puts his hands under my legs to hold me up. "You're going to get into another college, I know you are."

"You heard everything, didn't you?" He asks sitting down on the bed and wrapping his arms around me.

"Yeah, is that why you, Nick, and Adam keep whispering and winking at each other?"

"You're a smart one." I giggle. He put his chin my head. I close my eyes and listen to the calming sound of his heartbeat. We sit there for about 5 minutes until I look up at him.

"When you leave for college, are you going to visit me?" I ask.

"No, college is too important," he says. I feel my eyes get blurry and a tear falls down my cheek. He laughs. "Don't cry, I'm kidding. I would never leave you with Nick and Adam. I'm going to visit almost every weekend." He wraps his arms around me and I bury my head into his chest. He lays back and I fall back on top of him. I fall to his side but keep my arms wrapped around him. He kisses my head and I close my eyes.