[Insert Title Here]

By: Mara

 

Disclaimer: This story and everything in it is MINE! Please ask before borrowing.

 

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To appease the lazy man across from me, I looked up from my book to the clock by the television at the request of Kevin.

 

            “Well, Mara, what time is it,” he demanded.

 

            Overly whiney, I said, “Jez, would you hold on a second, Kevin?! I can’t read roman numerals very well!”

 

            Zekk, sighing heavily, rolled his eyes at us. He always seemed to be pained by our exploits, stupid and dull.

 

            “It’s about 11:30,” he viscously hissed to us all, “about 11:30 am. How is it that the dyslexic here is the only one who can tell time?”

 

Slowly and silently, rising from his chair, Kevin started toward Zekk, who was paying him no regard any longer. Felicia, whom we all called Eah, seated behind me, giggled at the boys’ comical antics, greatly delighted.

 

            “Dear boy,” she whispered to Zekk, “you seem to have picked up a rather bizarre looking stalker who’s coming up behind you to the left.”

 

Zekk jumped up from his seat at lightning speed, just in time to be body-slammed hardcore to the carpeted floor. Weary and nonchalant, to help keep the level of chaos down, I calmly reminded them not to break anything. After all, my mother would have my head on a stick if anything bad happened while she was out of the house. Eah, meanwhile, fell to the floor in a fit of hysteric laughter as the two boys started a fistfight.

 

            “KEVIN,” I hollered, “DON’T BITE ZEKK! I don’t want to have to clean blood out of my carpet like I had to do last time you went freaky!”

 

            Kevin, who had vampire teeth put in some time ago via cosmetic dental surgery, looked up at me, acting as innocent as possible, and timidly said to me, “It was an accident last time, honest.”

 

Disgusted and irritated, muttering a few choice curses under my breath, I picked my book back up and started reading where I had left off. Kevin’s head snapped back up.

 

            “What did you call me,” he challenged.

 

            “Nothing,” I boldly lied.

 

            Zekk, staring intently at the computer screen he was settled in front of, replied, “I think she said something about you being an asshole with no goddamn decency.”

 

Hurdling out of my chair, ready to strangle Zekk, I was surprised when Eah stepped in between us. Diminutive and easy to move around, I sidestepped her, sure as hell not about to let her stop me.  Much to my surprise, to make sure she barred my actions, she shoved me, her strength fully unexpected, back into my chair.

 

            “Guys, come on,” she said, “you two always end up bickering like little children. Grow up! Apologize to each other, hug, and move on.”

 

Zekk was cracking up, probably instant messaging the entire event to one of my friends online. Kevin and I grumbled to ourselves, our eyes on our feet or the floor, wishing Eah would leave us alone so we could start up our fight again.

 

            “I SAID HUG, YOU FREAKS,” roared Eah.

 

Shocked, and a little afraid of her, we both briefly hugged, stammering out “sorry” and “it’s all good”. Satisfied with herself, Eah sat back down, picking up a huge tube of Pringles, munching on them greedily. After all, pregnant women love to eat. And they do eat all the time. Kevin, to finish enacting vengeance on Zekk, proceeded to continue his tussle with the young man. I sighed, giving up, aggravated with their unintelligent antics. Just then, the phone, its ring tone shrill, rang, making me jump.

 

            “Everyone,” I pleaded, “shut your sass holes. It might be my mom.”

 

After they reached utter silence, I answered the phone. It was, in fact, my mom, wondering if I wanted her to bring me home lunch. Happy to know I was going to be fed, I told her yes. A smile, quiet and content, spread across my face as I told her what I wanted, hanging up the phone when I was done.

 

            “We got to go,” asked Zekk disappointedly, “don’t we?”

 

I nodded, and they all picked up lazily after themselves. Ushered out the door by me, knowing they couldn’t be there when my mom returned, they all said goodbye, saying they would meet me online later. After they peeled out of my gravel driveway faster then they should have been going, I returned inside to do a last minute cleaning of the house. To keep my mom from yelling at me, I straightened the pillows on the couch and folded up the blankets they had scattered. Folding the last one, I realized that my sock was sticking uncomfortably to the bottom of my foot. I sat down, looking at the bottom of my foot. A blood spot, tiny and red, turned out to be the culprit. Mortified, I looked down at the carpet where I had stepped. Seeping into the brown carpet, exactly where Kevin and Zekk had been squabbling, were various small blood pools. I growled, the sound frightening my bird in the other room, my anger uncontrollable.

 

“KEVIN! I’LL KILLYOU, I SWEAR TO THE GODS ABOVE!”

 

Ripping off my sock and stalking toward the laundry room, I hoped I would have enough time to bleach my sock and spot remove the blood from the carpet before my mom came home.