Eight Boys and a Walker girl

6 | It's just school

mccartney lads above ;)

6 | It's just school

Have you ever tried getting ready for school in a house full of boys?

Well, if you haven't, you're SO lucky.

Getting ready for school on a Monday is generally hard enough. I mean- the weekend has just finished, and that's depressing in itself. It always takes all my resolve- and the thought of the weekend just five days away- to get me out of bed. A shower, forcing a comb through my tangled hair made frizzy by sleep, and dressing in my hideous uniform later, I end up ready for school, and already wishing I'd stayed in bed.

In the mornings, Jamie and I generally stayed out of eachother's way. He had his own bathroom adjoining his room, and lurked in there for hours, gelling his hair and generally 'snazzing' himself up. Jamie was one of the hottest guys in the school, so he didn't even need 'snazzing' up, anyway. If anyone did, it was me. Correction- if anyone does, it's me. I wake up looking like an actual witch.

How can some people wake up looking vogue-worthy, and others, namely me, wake up looking like the monster Rihanna and Eminem were talking about?

But if preparing for hell- sorry, did I say hell? I meant school- is hard with one brother, imagine preparing yourself for school with eight boys. Picture this- being woken by a five-year-old bouncing on your bed, demanding fruit loops for breakfast- before your alarm has even gone off.

Then imagine going downstairs, only to find all the milk and coco-pops have already been used up by the identical twins sat at the table.In our school's ugly uniform, they look even more identical than usual. It's creepy. And they only left those wholegrain bran flakes Mum buys all the time to try an be 'healthy'. They're disgusting. I swear they taste like rabbit food. Not that I've ever tasted rabbit food, but that's how I imagine it to taste like.

And then imagine finally fixing yourself breakfast when the oldest boy, namely Harry, comes downstairs in just his boxers, hair all messed up and scratching his head, looking like a zombie. A very sexy zombie. With an eight-pack.

And- imagine me giving a huge sigh here- imagine a twelve year old, namely Jodi, coming down in his pyjamas and asking Harry, forgetting that there's a girl- me- in the room, "When do guys start getting morning wood?"

I mean- seriously? If it was just him and Harry that's acceptable I guess- but with me? A sixteen-year-old girl? I really don't need to hear about male...genital...issues...at six in the am! Ty, who's fixing himself pancakes and using up all Mum's eggs in the process, snorts loudly, and Jodi glares at him and snaps, "What? It's just nature, Tyler!"

"And you won't be experiencing it for a good few years yet, Josiah!" Ty shoots back, and I have to laugh at Jodi's real name. "Josiah?"

"Shut up," he grumbles, helping himself to some of the strawberries that Ty has ready for his pancakes, "No one calls me that. Except Mum, sometimes, when she was angry."

At the mention of the boys' mother, they all sort of go still, and I try to imagine the pain of losing both your parents in something so horrible and cruel as a fire. I can't ever imagine losing Mum. After Jamie, that would completely break me.

"Hey...where's Julian?" I ask, wanting to break the unsettling silence. At that precise moment, the door opens and Julian enters, already in his uniform, with his earphones in. He makes his way to the kitchen table, slumps into a seat and proceeds to pour himself cornflakes, not acknowledging anyone.

"Glad you didn't appear from behind me again," my attempt at a joke- kind of an indirect 'thank you' for saving me from that dude last night. Julian looks up at me briefly, and a tight smile crosses his lips for a split-second. Then it's gone, just as quickly as it came. "Okay."