Asleep

3 Meet Charlie

Charlie~~

Dad's last message replays in my head, the last thing I remember before I fell asleep. I cringe, shutting his image out of my mind. Still his image stays. Condescending as ever.

I mumble into my pillow for the image to go away.

"Charlie?"

Rolling onto my back, I groan at the lights shining through my eyelids. "Not now, Kyle."

"Weren't you supposed to be up half an hour ago?"

My neck's stiff as I look at the date on my clock. April Sixth. 9:25 AM. Five minutes before I'm supposed to meet Dad.

Swearing, I push back my comforter only to find my sheet twisted at the end of my mattress, my feet tangled in it. I kick it off and stumble out of bed.

Kyle's snort stops me before I reach our door. "You might want to put on some clothes. It's just a suggestion."

I grab the first pair of jeans in my drawer and tug them on over my briefs before grabbing a shirt from my closet.

Even running behind, my sheet and comforter hanging off the end of the bed mock me as I rush out the door with socks and shoes in hand. In the dream, I'd just make the bed with a simple thought, but I can't do that here.

I hurry down the hallway, past the doors that lead to my siblings' rooms, and round the corner at the end.

I slam into a hard chest.

Stefan, my eldest sibling at twenty-six years old and one of the blessed quadruplets, stares down at me looking as amused as our nine siblings do who stand behind him.

Stefan places his hands on my arms to steady me. "You all right?" His curly caramel-brown hair is neater than my reddish-bronze that never likes to lie flat. I'd need gel to tame it, but I refuse to put goo in my hair.

"I'm fine."

He takes in my bare feet and the shoes in my hand. "Where are you off to?"

All of them wait for my answer. I can see it in the way they tilt their heads, in how they lean forward. They don't see me awake that much so this is a rare sighting for them, one I'm sure the rest of the favored twenty-three siblings will be hearing about only minutes after I'm gone. But my other three siblings will never hear about it.

"I have a meeting with Dad." It's explanation enough.

Something in Stefan's eyes sparks, and he steps aside. "Don't let me keep you then."

I throw hasty murmurs of morning greetings to my brothers and sisters as I pass by them. They do the same.

In a minute, I'm passing through the kitchen, and one of my stepmoms calls after me asking if I want breakfast.

My stomach grumbles, smelling the apple oatmeal on the stove. It's been too long since I've had real food, and not the serum that's pumped into me through an IV that Dad calls a meal.

I'm already in the hall by the time I yell, "Dad" by way of explanation.

One of my older sisters, Mei, her black curls shining with hairspray, leans against the wall, an apple in hand. "Where are you rushing off to?"

"I'm late to meet Dad."

With her foot, she pushes off the wall. "Breathe. Put your shoes on. Dad's not going to kill you if you're late." I wish I could be sure that's true.