They're Driving Me Crazy!

Thanksgiving pt.2

I avoided the slew of relatives that decided to talk to me even though I barely even knew them. I usually stood next to one of my brothers or went to find one of my cousins to talk to.

After about an hour and a half of waiting on everyone to get there, we started eating. I was holding on to Cerberus's leash and trying to carry my plate and cup so it was kind of hard to deal with them both. I managed though.

I sat down in the middle of Coby and Hayden, Zack sat next to Coby. Cerberus lay at my feet, hoping for some scraps to hit the ground. One of our cousins sat in front of us and he always liked picking on me. I don't know why, I've never done anything to him.

"Hey Madison, why do you get to bring a dog in here and we don't? Using your privileges of being the baby of the family to get what you want?" He teased.

"No Austin. I'm not." I rolled my eyes and started eating. I didn't have a lot on my plate because I wasn't that hungry and not a lot of it looked appetizing.

He took that as another opportunity to mess with me. It was always me he bullied. "Why aren't you eating a lot? Feel like you're getting too big?"

I didn't say anything. My brothers stopped talking and looked at him then at me. I just kept eating. I was gonna make it my mission this year to not let him get to me. My brothers saw that it wasn't upsetting me like usual so they just gave him a warning look.

Austin decided he'd give up for the time being. Once everyone was done eating, I helped clean up while everyone else talked. I was just trying to wash dishes and Austin walked in. He was older than me by two years which meant he was taller. I hated it.

Austin walked over and leaned against the counter to torture me again. "You know I don't mean any of the stuff I say right?" He asked.

Maybe he wasn't here to torment me again. "What?"

"The stuff I say when I tease you. I don't mean any of it. I feel bad about it after I've said it. I guess I've just always been jealous about what you and your brothers have and I don't have any siblings."

"Well there are better ways of doing it. You didn't have to mess with me for ten years just because you were jealous." I said as I continued to wash dishes.

"I know. I wanna start over. Can we do that?" He asked.

It wasn't even that much of an apology but I guess he tried. "Fine. But no more teasing." I said.

"You got it." He said and held his hand up for a high five.

I smirked and slapped my hand on his and water and some soap suds went everywhere. "Ugh!" He yelled.

I laughed and kept washing dishes. He smirked and decided to hug me then. He got my shirt wet from the water and soap suds I slapped onto him. He started messing around and peppered my cheek with kisses like a parent or sibling would do when they're being a doting parental figure or being a nice sibling.

I tried to move away but it didn't work and I ended up getting water all over him before the dishes were even washed. When they were finished I grabbed my phone and started texting my friends and playing games because socializing wasn't really my strong suit.

"What are you doing?" Austin asked.

"I'm being antisocial like normal." I said sarcastically.

"But our family is out there."

"I know but I don't like talking to people. I have my phone and my dog. I'm good for a while." I said.

"That's not gonna fly. Come on." Austin said and kneeled down. I was confused for a second but realized why he did it. I climbed onto his back and he stood up. Cerberus's leash was long enough that I wasn't hurting her while I was being carried.

Austin gave me a piggyback ride around the halls and we actually talked. Everyone who saw us thought it was cute or that we had finally made up and we're getting close. My brothers thought it was weird and that something might be up.

Hayden was the first to say something. "Weren't they just arguing an hour ago?"

"Yeah but it looks like they've made up." Zack said.

"They can't just make up after so many years of messing with each other." Coby added.

"Maybe they can." Zack said.

Austin and I went outside just to walk Cerberus around. We continued to talk about some stuff we actually had in common.

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Another hour passed and it was finally time for everyone to leave. When they did, we had to wait for everyone to leave before we were able to start cleaning up. I took Cerberus off the leash again so she could roam around.

I helped Hayden put the tables away while Zack and Coby helped our parents clean up the leftover food. Once the tables were put up and all the food was gone, I put Cerberus back on her leash and my brothers and I got in the car after saying goodbye to our parents. We went home and Coby started getting the stuff he would need for Cerberus to become a service dog. I went to the living room and took her leash off so we could lay on the couch together and watch cartoons.