Life and Death

Chapter 6

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Alex...um...Eden," A low, raspy voice calls out. The door opens a little.

I open my eyes just enough so I can peek through my eyelashes.

"What," Alex groans still half asleep.

"It's time to wake up." Seishi opens the door a little more and walks into the room.

"No. Go back to sleep you rat."

"Wow I didn't realize you could be this mean in the morning, Alex. What did I do to deserve the name of rat?"

"You woke me up early in the morning."

"Dude, don't you have school?"

"Your point?"

Seishi purses his lips and cocks his head to the side. He shakes it.

"I will never be able to understand you. Anyways Mom told me to tell you that she will be in the office a lot this week."

"So, that means she's gonna be going in to work really early?"

"Yeah, she said around 5:30 am. But she also said that she'll be back home at about 5:00 pm. Oh, and she also wanted me to tell you she made pancakes before she left." Seishi says while leaning on the door frame.

"WHAT!" Alex shot up, "But she never makes pancakes!"

"You can thank Eden for her generous cooking. Don't forget to wake her up so she can get some pancakes before you inhale everything."

"BeFoRe YoU iNhAlE eVeRyThInG. Shut up I don't inhale food, that's ridiculous." Alex tilts their chin up to the ceiling and crosses their arms. "I simply swallow it whole," they say in a matter-of-fact tone.

I inhale deeply through my nose trying not to laugh.

"I see you, Eden. You're peeking at us through your lashes." Alex says while chuckling.

Damnit, they caught me.

I raise my head, "I guess you caught me in the act." I can feel the blush slowly creeping onto my face.

"So, she was up, I thought I heard a little chuckle come from you when Alex mocked me. Hmph," the older brother pretended to sound like he was hurt by my actions.

"Oh, no it wasn't like that."

"No, no. It's fine. I see how it is," Seishi squints his eyes at me suspiciously.

I chuckle again while Seishi grins at me.

"Alright now get out you pain-in-the-ass so that we can get ready." Alex says while stretching.

"Alright, don't take too long." With that Seishi turns around and exits the room, closing the door behind him.

Alex stops stretching and gives me a side glance, arching their eyebrows and smiling. "Well, well, well. Look whose all cozy with my brother already." They say in a teasing tone. "Good thing he doesn't have a girlfriend."

"Wait how did you find out so fast."

"Oh, I checked all his socials and found nothing about a girl."

"Oh ok." I say a little relieved.

"By the way, you were beet red the whole time you talked to him this morning," they say in a

I gasp, "WAS I REALLY?" I look at them with wide eyes.

"Y-yeah, but I don't think my brother noticed," they say in a calming tone, trying to stop my frantic mood.

I exhale. I need to be more careful next time.

→→Time skip→→

Alex and I make our way downstairs with our backpacks slung on over our shoulders and our skateboards in our hands. Alex and I go into the backyard to put our skateboards down, we don't want to get the floors in the house dirty. After entering the house, we walk toward the kitchen.

Upon entering the kitchen, I see Seishi. He has a cup of coffee in his hand.

He turns around, "Oh Eden, I made a cup of coffee if you want it. It's on the counter," He nods to a cup filled with dark liquid. "The sugar is right next to it and the creamer and milk are in the fridge."

"Ah, thank you." I go into the fridge to get the creamer.

"Wha-why the hell didn't you make a cup of coffee for me?" Alex whines.

"Because you've always hated coffee and preferred tea. You even said that to my face," Seishi responds to the hurt sibling.

"Oh yeah," their mood instantly changes, and they go on with their day as if nothing happened.

"How do you do it?"

I turn to Seishi, "What do you mean?"

"How do you deal with Alex all day?" Seishi says in a playful manner.

"I don't even know myself," I chuckle. "I actually think that their actions are quite funny, especially if I'm having an awful day," I say under my breath.

"Is that so?" Seishi replies. I guess he heard me.

"Oh, Seishi, can I ask you to do a favor for us?"

Us?

"Shoot it."

"Can we go out with you today. Now before you say anything- "

"No."

"Like I was saying let me explain first. The reason that we- "

"We?" I question.

"Yes we. The reason that we want to go with you is because it's Eden's eighteenth birthday. And what better way to celebrate it than by going out to a club?" Alex says in a confident tone.

"A CLUB?" I say bewildered.

"Like I said, no."

"Please, we'll do anything," Alex whines.

"WE?" I question again.

"YES WE."

"Fine...I'll let you go with me, only if I hear it from Eden's mouth though." Seishi looks at me, "I need to know that you want to do this without Alex answering for you."

I look at Alex. Didn't they say I should loosen up a bit? And who know, maybe it will be fun. It might get me out of my comfort zone.

I turn to Seishi, "Yeah, I want to go."

"YES!" Alex shouts.

"Ok then." Seishi looks at the ground.

"Do we need fake ID's or something like that?" I ask.

"No, the club owner is a friend of mine, that's why I was going to the club in the first place. I'm sure he'll understand our situation and let us in for your birthday," Seishi says looking up.

"You were also going to the club to pick up girls, right?" Alex says teasingly.

Seishi rolls his eyes and turns around, pouring himself another cup of coffee.

"Hey, Eden, it's almost time to go," Alex calls to me.

"Shit," I curse under my breath, being snapped out of the daze I was in. I down the rest of the coffee, putting it into the sink.

I don't know if I was imagining things, but I swear I heard Seishi laughing at me.

AN: Thank you for reading this much of my crappy story, it means a lot. If there are any grammar mistakes or things like that let me know. (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞

-Jayden