Silently, she opened the door. Like the stairs, the door creaked and made her jump five centimetres high. She looked around for the ice cream scoop. And there it was, on top of the desk. She grabbed the scoop and was about to run our of the room. But suddenly the bedroom door creaked and opened wide. To her surprise, she saw Brad with a frozen face which looked more like a zombie. He was wrapped with nothing but his teddy bear-printed boxers and a towel hanging from his shoulders. His hair was totally wet. Dianne could guess that he just stepped out of the shower.
Both Dianne and Brad were standing still and speechless. Brad was surprised to see her in his room. While Dianne was shocked to see him wearing nothing but his boxers. They both were embarrassed. Brad's cheeks turned from pink to a crimson colour. That made him look sweet and cute. Realising that it was her fault, Dianne attempted to apologise.
"Sorry for entering your room. I knew you weren't inside, but... um... I... had to take the ice cream scoop. I'm... I'm so sorry," Dianne said and lowered her head. She went out of the room without looking at Brad or getting a reply from him. As she walked to the kitchen, she thought of nothing but guilt and embarrassment.
She handed the ice cream scoop to Alicia when she entered the kitchen. Alicia noticed the strange look on her face, but she didn't ask Dianne what the matter was. The blush on her cheeks were still there. The question 'why did it all happen?' kept on repeating in her mind. If she was at home, she'd jump as high as she could and kick the walls until her feet hurt. She'd throw her pillows and pull the bedcover from her bed. She'd punch a figure of herself in the mirror. In Alicia's house, she was eager to throw the furnitures to the ceiling and pull the tablecloth from the dining table. But she knew the good side in her would prevent her from doing those things.
"Are you okay?" Alicia finally asked. Dianne nodded to conceal the truth. "Can you stay here for a moment? I have to take this recipe book to my mom's room."
"Sure," Dianne said. She sat on a stool and rested her head on a table. That was she could make herself feel better.
"Alicia!" Brad yelled from his room. His crimson cheeks had already turned normal.
"Huh?" Alicia popped into the room. She saw her brother fully dressed. His hair was still wet, though it started to dry naturally. She was grinning when she came into the room. But the grin on her face disappeared as she saw a monstrous look on Brad's face. He seemed as if his head was going to explode.
"You didn't tell me Dianne was coming to our house!" Brad shouted uncontrollably. Uh-oh... not another one of his bad days, Alicia thought.
"There's nothing wrong with not telling you that a friend of mine was coming!" She yelled back, trying to defend herself. "Well, why are you mad at me like this?" She lowered the tone in her voice.
"I just had a shower when she was in my room!" Brad said, still shouting at his one and only sister.
"What's wrong with that? Did she see you naked?" Alicia threw a cheeky grin at him.
"No! Worse than that! She saw me with my TEDDY BEAR BOXERS!!"
Alicia burst out laughing. She laughed so loud that Dianne could hear her from downstairs. "Stop it! I'm serious! Dianne must think I'm childish!" Brad shook her shoulders, although that wasn't good enough to stop her crazy laughter. He became sick of his silly sister. He punched her playfully in the stomach before he could kick her out of his room.
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Dianne, Alicia, Andy, and Brad were finally sitting on the dining table. Dianne sat beside Andy. She wanted to sit beside Alicia, but Brad took the seat before her. There she was in another imaginary moment with Andy. Except that it was real, not imaginary. The table was set neatly and properly just like in restaurants. The food gave them a lingering aroma. Alicia made Italian style spaghetti. She cooked some French fries to eat with the sandwiches. As for dessert, a delicious-looking apple pie and some ice cream were ready to fill their stomach after the meal.
"Now here's a sandwich for each of you. Dianne bought them for us," Alicia told her brothers. Then she gave each of them a sandwich.
"So that's why you were in the supermarket," Andy said. Dianne was waiting for him to say 'thank you', but those words didn't come out of his mouth.
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