Life with 6 brothers *ON HOLD*

Chapter 1

Date: Friday, August 13th

"ALEXIS ARE YOU GOING TO WAKE UP SOMETIME TODAY?" My twin brother yells at me while walking into my room. I look over at the clock to see that it's 11 am.

"Seriously Hunter? It's only 11 am. You know I like to sleep in until 11:30 am during the summer."

"Yeah but you know we start school in 3 days and you are going to need to start getting up earlier," He says.

I sit up in my bed and say, "Ugh don't remind me."

He gives me a funny look and walks over to sit next to me. He then says, "Come on, we are going to be freshmen in high school. It's exciting."

No, it's not exciting for me. My older brothers, Grayson, Tyler, and Jake are popular and I hate having attention on me, but since I'm their younger sister, everyone will notice me and know who I am.

I also have ADHD. I struggled so much in 6th grade. My brothers didn't even notice that I was struggling until the middle of the school year when my teachers decided to call Bryce and tell him that my grades were horrible. I got in trouble at first because they just thought it was because I wasn't trying hard enough and being lazy. That was until the school counselor said that I most likely had ADHD and I needed to officially be diagnosed. So my brothers took me to a psychologist that officially diagnosed me with ADHD. I take medication which helps but I still struggle.

Like for example, last year in 8th grade I didn't do too well in school but I didn't want to bother my brothers and ask for help so I struggled until I started failing my classes. Again, my teachers called Bryce and my brothers got me a tutor and helped me when they could.

My twin on the other hand is super smart. Actually, all of my brothers are super smart. I'm not saying that I'm not smart I'm just slower at understanding things which makes it harder for me to do well in school especially on days where I just can't seem to focus no matter what I do.

Anyway, I'm scared that since high school is more important since it decides if you can get into a good college and I've heard it's harder than middle school I feel like I'm going to struggle even more. However, I'm not going to tell Hunter about how I'm scared that I might struggle. He will just tell my other brothers and they will suffocate me. Even though I may actually need that suffocation of them making sure I'm understanding everything so that I am able to succeed I don't want it at least not right now because I need to be able to do it myself. I won't always have my brothers around to help me.

" I mean I guess but it's just school so I don't really care that much."

That was definitely a lie since I care a lot. I usually don't lie to Hunter. I always tell him everything but I don't want him to worry about me so it's ok that I lie to him just this once. Right?

"Ok then. Let's go downstairs and get some breakfast. Grayson made pancakes."

I jump up excited and say "Yes Grayson makes the best pancakes!"

Hunter just laughs at me.

We walk downstairs into the kitchen to see Tyler and Grayson in the kitchen. I know that Bryce isn't home since he had to leave at 5 am this morning for his shift at the hospital but I wonder where Evan and Jake are.

"Oh look, the sleeping beauty is finally awake."

That was most definitely Tyler. He is always teasing me.

I roll my eyes, "Shut up Tyler. Where are Evan and Jake?"

Grayson hands me a plate of pancakes and says, "Jake is at football practice and Evan had to take him to practice. Idk where he is right now. What are you planning on doing today?"

"Well, I have nothing planned. Probably just going to watch tv and enjoy my last few days off before school starts. What are you doing?" I say and take a bite of my pancakes.

"Well, Tyler and I are going to hang out with a few of our friends. We won't be home until around 6 pm."

"When's Bryce supposed to be home?"

"He has a 12-hour shift so around 5 pm and Jake should be home around 2 pm so it will just be you and hunter for a few hours. Oh and don't forget that Evan is leaving tonight around 7pm," Grayson says.

I hate that he has to leave. I'm close to him and he always helps me when my anxiety gets really bad and if I have really bad days with my ADHD. He's probably the best at it since he is studying to be a psychologist. Normally it would be annoying to have a brother who knows how the brain works but it's actually very helpful since he knows how anxiety and ADHD affect me. Bryce understands it as well since he took a few psychology classes when he was in medical school. Though It does getting annoying sometimes because they both suffocate me but I know they only do it because they care about me.

"Alexis!"

I get snapped out of my thoughts by Grayson saying my name.

"Yes?"

"Are you ok? You zoned out for a few minutes."

"Oh yeah. I'm good. I just don't want Evan to leave. I'm going to miss him."

"I know but he will only be gone until November and then he will be home until he goes back for his last semester in January. You can always call and text him if you need him," Grayson says.

7pm

Everyone is home now and Evan is about to leave. Everyone was hugging Evan and I'm just standing here waiting. I will not cry like I did last year. It won't be that long. It's only for a few months. Evan then stands in front of me and I feel a lump in my throat. Are you kidding me? I said I wasn't going to cry. Just hold it in Alexis.

I wrap him in a big hug and we stay like that for a few seconds. He pulls away and that's when the tears start flowing. Damn it. Evan looks at me and immediately gives me a soft expression.

"I'm going to miss you Evan."

"I'm going to miss you too, L. It's going to be fine. I'm only going to be gone for a few months. I will be back before you know it. If you need me just remember that I'm only a text or phone call away. But L remember if you need to talk to me please don't hesitate to reach out. I will answer you as soon as I can. I love you so much," He says to me and pulls me into another hug.

"I love you so much too Evan," I say back. We hugged for about a minute and then he pulled away. He wipes away my tears and then picks up his suitcase. Jake opens the door for him. As Evan walks out the door he says bye one more time and then Jake shuts the door.

Remember Alexis it's only a few months. You will be fine without him. Plus you need to grow up and stop relying on your brothers for everything. You are a freshman in high school. You need to start acting like it. But can I? I mean I'm not normal. I have ADHD and struggle in school so I do need to rely on people for help if I need it. No I need to at least try and do things on my own and if I absolutely can't do it then I will rely on them.