let's light up the sky ☆

Chapter 7

I passed out in my room for a few hours after we came back from the airport. I napped so hard that I'd had a series of immersive and oddly realistic dreams about the last few days. Something about visiting the ice cream stand on my day off with my family? Except Dream Aaron was blonde with a buzzcut and the difference was almost repulsing. For a moment, I'd forgotten where I was and was in a daze trying to come to reality. While I laid in bed scrolling through Instagram, I received a text from Armen downstairs.

Ari, 1:53 PM: You up, nerd? I'm bored.

Me, 1:54 PM: You stole Maggie from me, you don't get to complain.

Ari, 1:55 PM: She wouldn't stop farting in her sleep. It was barely a trade 🥴

Me, 1:55 PM: lmaooooo

Me, 1:56 PM: It's her welcome home gift

Me, 1:57 PM: Anyway, wanna chill at the pool for a bit?

Ari, 1:58 PM: You're gonna show off that you can swim and I can't with this stupid cast?

Me, 1:59 PM: 😝😝

I pretended to be annoying, but I was happy to have him home. After all, being annoying was the job given to me as the little sister. Things had been quiet for the last couple weeks and having him around was already a nice change of pace.

I put my phone back on the charger and started getting ready for the pool. I picked out my one-piece polka dot dress with my white floppy hat and the shades to match.

Mom was preparing dinner for later when she caught me slipping out the back door. "Before you jump in, can you take Maggie out to potty?"

Maggie lifted her head up from where she was relaxing on the couch. At the mention of time outside, she was quick to intercept me at the door. She never has selective hearing until someone mentions outside time or her treats. She sat in front of me, her paws tippy-tapping on the tile floor and her tail crashing with thuds. 

"Okay, okay, I hear you," I laughed. "Mom, can you tell Armen if you see him that I'll be at the pool as soon as I'm done with her?"

Mom silently gave a thumbs-up and continued to chop up a carrot for later. Maggie tried to push the sliding door open before I could even get a good grip on the handle. She ran to the backyard and sprinted to her favorite spot to sniff around the yard. We give her the freedom to roam because of our backyard's fence and thick hedges. I took the chance while she wandered around the yard to drop off my things by the pool.

I took a moment to put on some sunscreen and set up the Bluetooth speaker for some music. With my back turned, I heard an impatient high-pitched whine. Maggie, who'd finished what she needed to do in the yard, was standing at the back door and wanted to go back in the house. She let out a high-pitched whine before barking at me.

"You're being a brat today," I laughed. "Is it because you know Armen won't scold you?" I walked her back to the sliding door and let her slip in right when Armen was coming through it.

"Aww, look at you being nice today!" he cooed as he carefully walked his crutches over the threshold.

I stuck out my tongue at him. "Don't get it twisted, it was for Maggie."

Armen feigned offense at my word choice. "'Twisted'? That's kinda messed up for you to say."

I scrunched up my nose, thinking hard about an even meaner joke to keep our banter going. He walked over to one of our free lounge chairs and plopped himself down, huffing a sigh of relaxation.

The perfect retort came to mind. "Yo Armen, look what I can do!" I got a running start along the patio and dived into the pool with the biggest cannon ball that I could come up with. Some of the water splashed onto the patio, stopping just short of hitting our chairs.