rewrite the stars~ Reggie Peters

Chapter 2: Wake up

After setting the table Jade and Julie take their seats next to each other and across from Carlos.

"There we go! Ok. Let's do this." their dad says sitting the reheated spaghetti down.

"Let's do it." Carlos says while they all place their hands together for a prayer.

"Your turn Carlos." Ray says as Jade and Carlos leave one hand empty to the vacant spot.

"Thank you for our leftovers and the power of the mighty microwave. Amen."

"Amen."

"So.. Carlos tells me he found you girls in the studio." their dad states.

"They were out there talking, not to each other, but to themselves." Carlos says calling them out.

"We were rehearsing for a play." Julie says, not paying attention to the fact that neither of them are in theater.

"Hello, hello!" a distant and familiar voice says.

"Oh, busted!" Carlos says as they all scramble to erase the evidence of saving a plate for their mom.

"Yeah, we're in here." their dad calls. "Quick!"

Ray throws the silverware while Julie hides the plate and Carlos and Jade get rid of the napkins.

"Spaghetti. Again?" Jade's tia asks as she enters the dining room.

"Yeah." Ray answers.

"That's too bad. I brought you my pasteles con pollo."

"Yum." Ray says.

"Mm. Thanks, tia. It smells great." Julie says with a mouthful of spaghetti. Jade nods her head in agreement.

"You can have it tomorrow. I can't let you have leftovers every night. My sister would kill me, may she rest in peace." their tia says closing the refrigerator door.

"Oh.. I see things here are going better?" she gestures towards the empty seat.

"Actually... the girls have been cleaning out mom's studio. Hopefully, we can get the house on the market and some offers soon." Ray says to their tia.

"Well, I like the sound of that. Moving from here is only gonna help you move on." their tia answers. As soon as she finishes her sentence, the three boys walk through the door into the girls' house.

"You've got to rip that band-aid off and get the pain over with." their tia continues.

Just then Julie and Jade look up to see the boys make their way over to them.

"Ahh!" Julie and Jade yell, the later almost choking on her spaghetti. The boys stop in their tracks, frozen and their eyes wide.

Everyone at the table turns to look at them in concern.

"Ha.. that's us. Ripping off the band-aid." Julie chuckles awkwardly.

"Aah!" Jade adds as she tries to laugh it off.

They all just laugh at the twins' strange behavior, laughing off their awkwardness as their tia turns to the twins.

"There's my brave girls." she says grabbing their chins with both her hands.

"Hey, I really like what you guys did with the place." Luke says getting close to Julie's face as she turns to face him.

"You shouldn't be here." Julie whisper yelled.

Jade and her dad's eyes widen as their tia gasps.

"Oh, i'm just here to help, mijas." their tia says.