The Life Of A Crazy Girl And Her 10 Brothers

Crash Landing

Striding around the corner, we barely managed to keep it together.

Ember was the first to break. "I can't believe they fell for that!" she said, exploding with laughter.

We all burst into laughter, clutching at our stomachs.

When the laughter quieted, I turned to Calix. "Sweetness? Really?"

He shrugged. "I couldn't think of anything else. And you weren't any better!" he sputtered. "Pumpkin?Really?"

I shook my head, chuckling. "Corey was sitting with us and the Three Musketeers were sitting so close to us. I almost blew our cover when I heard you."

"Y'all really hammed it up," Ember said, wrapping an arm around Calix's waist.

Milo shrugged. "We had to make it believable."

"You still could've told us when you were coming," she grumped.

"That would've spoiled the surprise." Calix wrapped an arm around her shoulder, tugging her close.

The scene in the cafeteria was fake on multiple levels. Ember and I had been seeing Calix and Milo at least once every two weeks without the knowledge of my brothers, who would've dragged us to the buffet and back if they found out. So when they told us they were coming back, we had to make it like we'd hadn't seen them in forever. But they didn't tell us when they were coming back.

"I can't believe that the Three Musketeers are still like that." Milo shook his head, disbelief written all over his face, gripping my hand.

I squeezed his hand back. "I would say that I feel your pain, except mine is worse. Who has to live with them?"

Calix patted my head in sympathy. "Don't worry, we're gonna get you out of there as much as we can."

I sighed. "They're going to kill me when they see me again."

"They'll be fine in two days. You're already sleeping over, you'll be good," Ember said.

Milo perked up. "You guys are having a sleepover?"

We nodded, knowing his question already. "Yeah, you can come."

He spun me in a circle, grinning. "Yay!" he cheered.

"Are your schedules still the same?" Ember asked Calix, who nodded in response.

All of us shared classes with each other, but only one classes had the four of us in the same room.

"Let's get out of here?" Calix suggested.

"Let's go!" I cheered and he ran down the hallway to the main entrance, when Ember yanked us to a stop.

"What is it?" Milo asked, frowning.

"My car," she pouted.

I groaned.

Milo and Calix shared a look and frowned at us. "What's wrong your car?"

Ember explained this morning's situation to them and the outcome, watching their faces fall. "Caleb isn't giving my keys back until the end of the day," she finished.

Calix licked his lips, thinking. "Well, I guess we'll just wait at your house after school." Turning to Milo, he asked, "You still have your keys to Ember's?"

He nodded.

"So it's settled then. How long is this sleepover going to be?"

We turned back the way we came, making our way back to the cafeteria as Ember said, "Two days."

"We'll stop by our houses and pack, then go to your house," Calix said, dragging his hand across the lockers.

Sounds of agreement came from all of us and we walked the rest of the way to the cafeteria in comfortable silence.

When we arrived, Milo peeked in cautiously. "They're still there," he reported, "and they look angry."

"Surprise, surprise," I muttered, before speaking up. "We can just walk in there."

Ember raised an eyebrow. "No plan? Just go in?"

I nodded. "We just walk in, without making a scene or anything," I looked pointedly at Milo, who held his hands up in innocence, "and they probably won't notice us."

Ember shrugged. "Alright, let's do it."

I turned to the boys. "You guys go first—"

"Why do we have to be the sacrifices?" Milo protested.

I grinned. "Ember and I are more important than you two."

Calix rolled his eyes. "You wish." Gripping Milo's arm, he nudged the door open with his hip, Ember and I following closely behind.

Nobody spared us a second glance as we headed towards a mostly empty table in the back.

"So far so good," I whispered to the group.

Ember rushed ahead slightly and discreetly threw something in the trash can and Milo turned back to me with a thumbs up and that's when everything went wrong in slow motion.

Milo stumbled as he turned back around, tripping over his own feet, into Calix, who stumbled forward as well and I moved to Calix's side to avoid stumbling too. Everything would've been fine then, no harm done, had Ember not been throwing something away, because when she turned to the group again, she walked into Calix who, having been shoved twice, was off balance as he all but fell to the side, his arms windmilling and catching me in the boob. Cursing loudly, I clutched my boob protectively and whirled around, only to catch a stumbling Ember in my arms and we both fell, taking Milo down with us.

We groaned, trying to make sense of what just happened, finding people laughing at us and phones out, once again.

I let out a mixture of a groan, shoving Ember off of me. "Milo, you idiot."

Calix helped Milo up and I did the same with Ember as she grumped, "Do you not know the meaning discreet?"

"It was an accident!" he protested, dusting himself off.

"Accident, my left foot," Calix muttered. "And look, now Dopey and the Three Musketeers are coming over here."

I searched the diminishing crowd and saw them making a beeline towards us.

"We gotta go. Abort mission," Ember said, sharing my panic.

I grabbed my backpack, which had been dropped in the wipeout, and then Corey, aka Dopey, was in front of me.

"We live together; you can't just keep avoiding us," he said, gripping my wrist lightly.

The bell rung, interrupting what would've been a dramatic argument.

I yanked it away. "I can try." I slipped away, dragging Ember, who was in previous engagements with Carter, with me.

"Hey!" Corey yelled after us, "We all have last period together!"

I flipped him off, my crew in tow, laughing with reckless abandon as we darted through people, ignoring protests and curses.