In Need of Earl Grey

Chapter One

Pops' car didn't seem big enough for the four of us. Not with you're little brother sleeping and leaning on you from one side, and your sister nudging you while she's drawing on the other. I would've sat in the front seat if only I could. The front seat had broken ages ago, shortly after mom's funeral, it was an accident, honestly!

Seth and I had been arguing on who got to use the front seat when Hannah came along
and plopped herself in the seat, which made Seth fume. He's a bit of a hot head that way.

He flicked his dark brown hair out of his eyes and said in his 12-year-old-trying-to-be-scary
voice:

"Hannah move! I called dibs!" His freckled face was red with fury.

"No you didn't." Hannah said slyly. She flickered her long blonde curls in an act of defiance.

Now if you knew Hannah you'd know that since she is the youngest and the only girl she often gets what she wants just because, but that day Seth and I weren't having it.

I rubbed the freshly buzzed side of my head, and combed my fingers through the longish
dark hair on top.

"Hannah, I'm warning you. I'll do the Torture Swing." I said calmly. The Torture Swing is where I'd pick one of my siblings up and hang them upside down until they were purple
and promised to do whatever I said.

"Oh no you won't!" She said buckling herself in. Seth pulled the lever to adjust the seat's
incline and pushed it all the way in, pancaking Hannah in the middle. She eventually slid out and began beating him with her fist and I tried to get the seat back up so I could steal it in all the chaos but it was permanently stuck. Dad was mad when he found out, but never went to get it fixed.

    Seth jerked his head up and asked how close we were to the new house.
    "About ten minutes." Dad replied scratching his dark brown beard.
    I turned to look out the window and couldn't see a thing but fog, pouring rain, and lightning. We moved before Thanksgiving break because dad's job need him to move 6 hours away from our home to some small town called Hillisville. From the tiny amount of research I did Hillisville was always rainy, always cold, and always boring. I didn't know anyone there and I'd be starting eighth  grade at a new school in the middle of the year. Seth is in fifth, and Hannah is in fourth.
    We haven't even seen the house. Dad found it online without consulting us! For all we know we might pull up to a shack. I pull my black hoodie tight and ignore everyone while listening to music through my headphones. I must've dozed off because when I woke up we were in a driveway. Everyone was getting out and grabbing bags from the trunk. I got out and stared at the house.
    "It's very blue." Hannah so keenly observed. It was nonetheless bright baby blue with grey shutters. It looked sort of like beach house meats ranch, but most of all it was blue. Bright, bright blue.
    "C'mon, wait till you see inside!" Dad said running onto the wrap around porch. We reluctantly followed. All of our furniture had been brought up a few days before and still had plastic protectant sheets over them. The house wasn't so bad on the inside, a little old, a little dark, but not so bad.
Once you walk in there's a short foyer, with plain white walls, that leads to the living room. Light tiger wood bamboo ran through the living room and halls. The living room had high ceilings and a brick fireplace with the TV mounted to it.
    "Nice! Right? Right?" Dad said excitedly. He blinks, he loses some of his excitement at our silence.
    "Yeah dad, it's great." I say. That reenergizes him. He leads us through the rest of the house with gusto. Though the modern kitchen with dark granite countertops and white glass faced cabinets, to the finished basement with our air hockey and pool table and a empty bar, then back upstairs for the bed rooms. The first and smallest was Hannah's. Lavender walls with her white furniture and purple rug.
    "Dad! I love it!" Hannah said dropping her bags in the middle of the room. She flopped on the bed and stared at the ceiling fan. Next was Seth. His black loft bed, black rug, and desk all there with light grey walls.
    "Sweet!" He went to his desk and started emptying all his drawings on the desk to pin up on the wall.
    The last room in the hall was Dad's he didn't let us in to see it.
    "Um. Where do I sleep?" I ask.
    "Oh!" He sounded surprised, "The house doesn't have enough rooms so you're sleeping in a shack in the backyard temporarily." He said blank faced.
    "What!"
    Seth and Hannah poked their heads out of their rooms to laugh at me.
    "I'm kidding!" Dad said laughing at my expression. Which now that I look back on it was probably hilarious, at the time I was terrified.
    "I'm just kidding." He said wiping away laughter tears, "C'mon." He lead us back to the living room, up a white metal spiral stair case and into my room. It was huge! The whole upper story full of all of my stuff. My bed, my desk, dresser, everything. With beams running horizontal across the ceiling and two ceiling fans to light the enormous room.
    "Oh my god!" I drop my bag and my jaw.
    "What!" Seth yells, "Dad, not fair!"
    "Seth, what are you complaining about? You have your own room now too. Drew is a growing boy who needs his space. Can you be happy for him?"
    "Yeah, fine." Seth flicked his hair out of his eyes and went back to his room. Hannah followed.
    "Dad, um, thanks." I say still shocked at my fortune.
    "No problem. I just thought, since you're older... Well son, as a boy grows he needs his own space to, uh, experiment,"
    No no no no no no no! You've got to be kidding me! Not this, not now!
    "You know what I'm saying, son."
    "No. Dad please stop."
    "Yeah. Okay. I'll let you pack we can talk later."
    I could feel myself turning beet red as he left the room.
    Why did he think I knew what he meant? Did he know my little secret? Did Seth tell?
    I pick up my bag and start stacking my various chargers and electronics on the bookshelf with my books.