Because of Haven Beach

4 | resfeber

resfeber (n.)

the tangled feelings of fear and excitement before a journey begins

* * *

THE next morning, I was woken bright and early by glass shattering in the kitchen. My room was directly under it, so I was privy to every syllable of the following screaming match.

Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I got out of bed and dragged my feet upstairs.

When I got to the kitchen, I noticed shattered glass—hm, I was right after all—milk and Lucky Charms all over the floor. Ethan, Ella, and Uncle Ricky were sitting at the table, ignoring the mess.

It was almost like this was a normal Friday morning in the Hanson household.

"What happened here?" I asked, sidestepping the spillage and grabbing a bowl.

"Efan di it," Ella said, her mouth foaming with milk and Lucky Charms.

"Um, try again," Ethan scoffed. "You're the dumb bitch who threw a bowl at me."

"Well, I wouldn't have thrown it if you didn't throw a cereal box at me," she retorted.

I silently slipped into the seat next to Ella and started eating my Cheerios. I watched Uncle Ricky, waiting to see what he would say.

He just sat there, sipping his coffee and not even batting an eye.

"Does this happen a lot?" I asked Ricky, gesturing to their glaring contest with my spoon.

"Yep," he sipped his coffee. "It's part of growing up with a sibling. Your mom and I used to do this all the time."

I slowly asked, "Are they gonna clean it up?" Why were they sitting there and acting like it was no big deal to have glass everywhere?

One time, I was making strawberry jello and got startled. I spilled the blood-red liquid everywhere, staining and denting my mom's previously pristine floors. She almost killed me for it, and I wasn't even allowed in the kitchen for days after the accident.

"Someone will," he shrugged indifferently. "It's not my job or my problem. I just live here."

"And that someone is Ella," Ethan clarified.

"I think you meant to say Ethan." Ella smiled sweetly and flung a spoonful of cereal into his dirty blond hair.

"What the hell happened in here?" Aunt Kelli shrieked as she walked in.

Now, that was the reaction I was expecting from a parental figure. I started to get the feeling that Aunt Kelli was the type-A parent and Ricky was the laid-back one. They seemed to make it work, unlike my parents.

Ella and Ethan simultaneously responded.

"Ella did it."

"Ethan did it."

Kelli looked at Ricky in askance. He was so engrossed in his phone, he didn't even acknowledge her, much to her growing annoyance. "You two are so lucky that nobody cut their foot."

* * *

After quickly finishing breakfast and getting changed, we were on our way out the door.

"So, is there anything I should know beforehand?" I asked, picking at the chipped green nail polish on my nails. I literally had no clue what I was getting myself into. For all I knew, their school had gangs and was ridden with drugs.