Chapter One: Part One - Family and Friends

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  The smell of freshly baked cinnamon raisin toast fills the atmosphere of the Lopez home. The sun rising, now on the edge of the horizon, creates a pretty lighting in the family's house. You can hear the sound of children's footsteps running while dishes are clattering here and there. The scene prevails to be placid until...

Zariah finishes cleaning the tableware she used to make breakfast, before checking the time. "XARIELIZ!", Zariah screams in a frenzy, "ZARA, JOSIAH, ZURI! You're going to be late for school! On your first day?!"

"Sweetheart, calm down, listen-", Xavion, in his navy-blue suit, tries to speak, standing up from his seat and rubbing Zariah's back.

"It is already 7:30! Get down here now!", Zariah takes the kitchen apron off of her black bow-tie dress pants and white button-up blouse, shouts at her children, and impetuously cleans the counters, after brushing Xavion's hand away from her.

Xavion sighs, "Zariah...", and scratches his organically black and white dreaded hair, still making attempts to commute with his delusional wife.

"Oh, my goodness, Mommy!", Lilac and Lavender giggle, wearing their matching purple knee-length ruffle dresses and pastel purple high-top Vans sneakers, halting their miniature tag game in awareness.

"Stop laughing! Go wake up Xarieliz, Zara, Josiah, and Zuri!" Zariah orders the set of twins, boiling red, "There is nothing to laugh about! Tell them to hurry!"

Lilac and Lavender start to exit the kitchen, suppressing their amusement to muffled snickering. Though this is quite difficult for a couple of toddlers, they burst out laughing with tears of joy. This makes their mom furious, but then again confused. Their father only gets worried for their mother's physical well-being.

Zariah stares for a moment at the two, before her brain deletes all sense of composure from her hippocampus, she screams momentarily – picking up and setting down random objects – and shouts, "What is going on!? Why are they laughing!? Xavion! Why aren't you saying anything about this!?"

Xavion stammers, but states, "...Well...I've been trying to tell you that-"

Judith and Judah walk into the room confused in their cuffed jean shorts, looking at their yelling mother. Judith wears a thick-strapped black T-shirt, while Judah wears a short-sleeved black one.

"What's going-", Judith hops downstairs, skipping a few steps.

"On? Why is mom-", Judah continues to his father, expressing an extremely understandable gesture as he invests in the situation, approaching the kitchen's threshold.

"Yelling at Lilac, Lavender, and you?", Judith finishes stating their curiosity, making a pitiful face for her mother.

Xavion sighs in distress before Zariah speaks, "Good morning, Judith. Good morning, Judah," with a misleading smile.

Judith and Judah reply with mixed emotions of discomfort and fear of their mother's silent rage, "Good morning-!"

"Have you seen anyone on your way down?", Zariah asks hurriedly.

"We only seen Abuela.", Judah points upstairs.

"She made us hurry out of the bathroom-", Judith replies.

"So, no one else?!", Zariah states.

"Zariah- ", Xavion shoos the oldest twins away.

"Go with your father to school! He will drop you off!", Zariah leaves for her teenagers.

"Zari they're-", Xavion isn't given any attention, but still tries to transmit.

Judith and Judah know, but can't eye, who their mother is talking about. They look at the dining table and join Lilac and Lavender in the laughing spree.

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