"Y/N! Wake up, wake up," you heard a voice say, jolting you from your sleep.
You groggily shuffled in your bed and rubbed your eyes before finally opening them to see your little sister, Miah, sitting on the edge of your bed, not so lightly shaking you awake.
"what do you want, Miah?" you said, sitting up and checking the time on your phone. "It's only 6:30, go back to sleep."
"Mom said to wake you up," she replied, rolling her eyes. "She said you have to 'watch me.'"
"Why? Where is she?" you asked, still feeling the grogginess in your voice.
"She said it was a... family emergency," she said, emphasizing the last part with finger quotes, Miah scoffed, clearly unimpressed. You checked your phone again and saw messages from your mom.
Mom: Y/N, your aunt got into a motorcycle accident. I'm going to the hospital to see her, so you have to watch your sister. I'll be back tomorrow.
1 hour ago
Aunt Beth?! What! She's my favorite aunt! She's in Arizona; there's no way she'll get here anytime soon.
You: Mom, I have to go to work.
Read: just now
Mom: Just take her to work with you. It's a kids' place, isn't it?
You: But I have to... work. Nobody's going to be there to watch her.
Read: just now
Mom: Y/N, I'm extremely busy. You're an adult. Figure it out.
"Oh good, she's still mad about that!" you thought, feeling a hint of annoyance as you put your phone in your pocket.
I probably can't tell Miah about Aunt Beth. It would upset her. Better let mom explain it to her.
"Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" you asked, rubbing your eyes again.
"Well... I wanted to make breakfast for you, since it's just the two of us," Miah replied, looking off to the side awkwardly. "So, umm... I made waffles!" She did a little jazz hands motion, looking at you expectantly.
"What? Mom said you're not allowed to use the waffle maker when nobody's around, Miah," you responded, getting out of bed. She stopped you by putting her hand out and standing in front of you.
"Uhh... I didn't put the waffles on the plate yet!" she shouted, running out of your room before poking her head out. "Don't come downstairs!" she yelled and closed your door, dashing downstairs.
What the hell? Nah, she must be crazy to think I'm gonna listen to her.
You opened your door and ran downstairs, hearing a sizzling sound from the kitchen.
"Miahhh!" you yelled, walking into the kitchen. You saw Miah standing over the sink, aggressively scrubbing something. As you got closer, you realized the whole waffle maker was in the sink.
"Miah, what happened?" you asked, turning off the water. She turned to you, her face red and her eyes puffy.
"I tried to make waffles, but the batter stuck to the waffle maker, and it burnt. I tried to wash it off because it was making smoke, and when I put it in the sink, it started sizzling... and..." she tried to hold back tears. You tried to calm her down.
"Hey! It's okay! It's not a big deal, that waffle maker is as old as hell anyway!" You tried to comfort her.
"Well, there's one waffle that turned out good-" She said running over to the table and pulling out a chair for you to sit in. She pushed a burnt-looking waffle in front of you and watched you intently.
