River of Arcadia

Becoming Part 1

I sat on the living room couch, coffee in hand waiting for my cousin, Jim Lake Jr., to wake up for school. My dark blue colored hair was pulled up into a ponytail which contrasted nicely with my orange 'aliens believe in us' shirt. My paint-covered varsity jacket was resting on my lap under my laptop as I read over the submission guidelines for an upcoming art show.

I heard the blare of an alarm accompanied by a thud from upstairs. I set my coffee down, having Jim's bag and mine ready to go, I get up to help him with his morning chores.

"You know, you are the only high schooler I can think of that gets up at an ungodly hour to do chores." I teased him while putting our books away.

"I don't know, my cousin wakes up earlier than I do to do her chores." Jim paused from wiping the table to tease back, knowing I didn't sleep much in general.

"Ah, now she must be insane!" I smirked, "What's on the menu for today chef?"

Jim chuckled, heading into the kitchen, "Meatloaf, can you get the recipe while I make breakfast for mom and us?"

"Got it, Chef!" I gave a mock salute and grabbed my laptop from the coffee table pulling up a recipe from Jim's favorite cooking website. I printed the recipe out and head into the kitchen. "Mom left a note on her door she's sleeping in today before work," I mention as I grab the pans for Jim as he preps the food, working easily around each other until both our breakfast and lunches were ready.

"I'll take her food up. River, can you pack four lunches?" He asked while putting a tray together for mom, quickly heading up the stairs.

I chuckle as he leaves before I can answer, packing the lunches quickly, setting one in the fridge where we always leave mom's food for work. I grabbed Jim's and my school bags, packed lunch into each bag and head into the garage. Jim runs in strapping his helmet on before taking his bag and the extra lunch from me, grabbing his bike. I open the garage door and wave to Toby seeing him waiting for us. Jim groans next to me as he walks out, "Raccoons!" He quickly rushes seeing the trash cans had been torn into overnight, cleaning up quickly. I shook my head following him and helping him clean up.

"Morning Toby," I grin looking up to Toby putting his helmet on as we finish cleaning up.

"Morning River, you're late for school Jimbo!" he teases as he finally gets his helmet strapped before grabbing his bike.

"Sorry, Tobes. Busy with the lunches," Jim says as he throws the last piece of trash away heading towards Toby, "one for me, one for River, one for mom, and..." He trails off handing the bag to Toby.

"Ah!" Toby takes the bag grinning, inhaling the scent of the food, "Balsamic mushrooms, meatloaf, chunky, sun-dried tomatoes" he pauses peeking into the bag.

"And cardamom," Jim notes walking by with his bike.

I chuckle watching the interaction, hopping on my bike. Toby loved Jim's cooking and was always excited to try out new recipes for him.

"Ooh! Taking a chance there, Chef Jim. What do you think River?" He asks before sniffing the bag again.

I shrugged, laughing, "I don't know Tobes, it's good to be adventurous!"

"Exactly, and what's life without a little adventure?" Jim pointed to me with a grin, getting on his bike. We were both waiting on Toby now and his inevitable rejection of the lunch.

He quickly holds the lunch back out to Jim, "I can't eat this. I'm on a diet."

Jim pushes the lunch back to Toby, "You've been on a diet for the past 14 years, Tobes." He pulls back from Toby and the lunch with a shake of his head.