Flinging my still-damp hair out of my eyes and zipping my hoodie up to my chin, I bolted out of my car to the front door before any of my neighbors could catch a glance at ridiculous appearance. Maddie had called from a friend’s house that morning, insisting that I picked her up ASAP. I’d just jumped out of the shower, and being the oh-so gracious older sister I am, I threw on the first dress I saw and left instantly.
Now, Madeline stood by the front door, arms folded against her chest and her face twisted in irritation. “Heather, the door’’s locked.”
I froze. “What?”
“Did you forget to turn off the fire-lock when you left the house?” She rolled her eyes.
“I didn’t even know the fire-lock was on!” I said, following her as she made her way to the garage and punched in the code. As the garage door rolled open, I shook my head. “Um, this way won”t work. All the doors are locked.”
“What do you mean all the doors are locked? We never lock any of the side doors! We never even lock the front door!” Madeline said, eyes wide.
“I lock the doors! Especially with just Grant and I home… I wanted us to be SAFE!”
She shook her head. “So, we’re locked out, and Grant’s probably still asleep…”
We both froze at the realization that our getting inside rested in the hands of our sneaky and evil little thirteen-year-old brother. Stepping out of the garage, we looked up at his bedroom window. The shutters were closed shut.
“GRANT!” I screamed. “GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANT! We’re locked out! LET US IN!”
The shutters remained shut. Muttering under my breath, I pulled my giant coin-filled wallet out of my bag. The first time I chucked it, the wallet merely hit the top of the garage. The second time it hit his window with a loud bang, and then landed on the window sill.
“Brilliant, Heather.” Maddie chuckled. “Real brilliant.”
“Oh, no…” I said, eyes wide, as the shutters slowly flipped open.
Then, still hiding his face from view, Grant slid the window up. Much to my horror, his long arm gradually snuck out from his room and snatched my wallet from the sill. And then, in one quick second, the window slammed down and the shutters shut.
“GRAAAAAAAAAAANT!” I bellowed, ignoring the glares from the two plastic OC women walking past my house. “If you take anything out of my wallet, you WILL be in MASSIVE TROUBLE!”
Hands on her hips, Maddie sighed. “Now what?”
“Um,” I paused. “Well, um… Fine! We’re going to STARBUCKS, Grant! Without you! BYE!”
Madeline and I ran back into the car, speeding to the little Albertson’s Starbucks. After moaning about our bedhead appearances and finding a bit of change in the glove department, we rushed inside. We returned to the car with three drinks. I was certain that a mocha frappuccino would earn our way back into the house.
It did, eventually. After waving the frothy cup up at the window and then making a show of Madeline pretending to drink it, he rushed down the stairs and threw open the front door. Despite his attempts to grab the drink and keep us outside, I managed to push my way in. Oh, yes, so sweet it was to be back inside.
“Granty, Granty,” I drew in a sip of my hot black coffee, my eyes sharp on Grant’s. “Oh, dear little boy, how foolish you are. After the whole scare-Heather fest, I was going to go easy on you… But now… Oh, goodness… Now, I will revenge. BIG TIME, MISTER!”"
He laughed, dancing with his frappuccino. “Ha, whatever.” And then he skipped away, as I laughed my evil laugh.
That’s another kink we’re trying to straighten out.
