The World Without Adults

p r o l o g u e

《《《《《staircase》》》》》

"So, where are we eating tonight?" I asked my mom as I walked into the kitchen, hopping onto a barstool.

"How about here? I made Mac and Cheese, your favorite." She turned away from the stove and faced me, smiling. She had a silly chef's hat and apron on, which is totally inappropriate for someone who is making Kraft macaroni and cheese.

"Mmmm, delicious. Anything I can help with?" I asked.

"No, not really. Wait, yes. Can you get the others down here?"

"Sure," I answered. I ran to the stairs and jumped two at a time up. Unlike most teenagers, I had a good relationship with my parents. I do for them and they do for me. It's a pretty easy system to follow.

I got to Cameron's door and knocked twice. I heard him invite me in. "What do you want, Camila?" He asked when I stepped in. He was watching some movie on Netflix. His room was (unsurprisingly) super messy. I almost stepped on a bag of chips when I had walked in.

"I don't want anything."

"Then why are you here?"

"Mom wants something."

He looked at me. A beat passed. Then another one. "Well?" What does she want?"

"She wants you to come down and eat."

"We aren't eating out?" He asked, looking puzzled.

"Nope. And it's just Mac and Cheese, how bad could it be?"

Neither Mom nor Dad could cook. One time while they were trying to make two cakes for the twins' birthday, they put too much of everything except for flour, so they both ended up with two large piles of goop.

My older sister, Caroline, could cook, but she didn't live with us. She was already 20. And even if we invited her over, she was at some cooking convention with her boyfriend.

"Alright." He sighed, getting down from his single bed.

"We need to get the others. I'll get Cali and Caden, you get Carl and Cassy."

He agreed and went to get the others.

I knocked Cali's door and she opened it right away. "Hi. Wanna play with my dolls with me?" she asked, so adorably.

"Actually, I'm here to tell you that dinner's ready. So go down stairs and wash up." I smiled as her face lit up.

"Dinner at home? Yay!" She ran past me, racing down the stairs.

I walked over to Caden's door and knocked twice. "Come in!" He shouted from the other side. I opened the door. Unsurprisingly, he was watching someone play Minecraft on YouTube.

"Does Mommy want something?" He asked.

"Ya, she wants us to eat dinner, which is at home. It's Mac and Cheese. Come down." I gave him a thumbs up and started walking toward the staircase.

"Ok!" He shouted. He likes yelling.

I walked down the stairs, making a beeline for the kitchen sink and washing up.

"Hey, monkeys! After dinner let's go laugh at people who think they're cool on the interweb!" My dad came in, shouting. He tries to be cool, but always ends up failing miserably. Although it is pretty funny to see him fail.

"Does that include laughing at you?" I laughed in response.

"No, but it does include you. You're famous on YouTube for that one time when we went skiing at China Peak. Man, that snowball came down faster than the speed of light--" He cut himself off by laughing.