Little Lynch

The Night of Disasters

We got the store and walked in. Riker grabbed a cart and I jumped in. We got chicken (yay, we only have this EVERY OTHER NIGHT), mashed potatoes, and corn. Everything was piled on top of me, even though Ross told me to get out a million times.

"Zanni, out. Seriously." I obeyed.

"My legs are tired!" I sulked to Ross, because Riker would tell me his are too.

"Waa, waa. What do you want me to do about it?" he asked.

"Can you carry me?" I asked, giving him my very best puppy dog eyes and pouting my lip. "Pretty please?" I begged.

"Ugh, fine." Ross grabbed my sides and put me on his back. We finished paying and walked out to the car.

"Can you ride in the back with me?" I asked Ross.

"What about me?" Riker asked.

"Do you really want Ross to drive?"

"I see your point."

"Hey, maybe I won't sit with you!"

"Okay, okay, you're the best driver ever!"

"Don't forget brother!" Ross added.

"Fine, brother too." Ross nodded and climbed into the back with me.

We talked about how work was going for the boys, and I had nothing to talk about except surfing. When we pulled into the driveway, Riker and Ross took most of the bags inside, and I had trouble lugging one. Finally, I was able to take it inside and out it on the kitchen island. Rocky and Ryland were home and playing video games. I walked over to them.

"Hey, Zanni!" Ryland said.

"Hey. You wanna do something tomorrow?" I asked. I was so sick of being in this house all day and urged to get out. Even staying in the house and playing Call of Duty with Ry sounded fine, but I really wanted something to do.

"Sorry, I already promised Savannah that I would hang at her place tomorrow."

"Rocky? Please!" I begged.

"I'm going to the skate park with Anna. I think it might be a date, so I can't cancel. It our first!" Rocky answered, smiling.  

"Ugh, fine. Thanks for nothing." I trudged up the hall to my and Rydel's room. I sat on my bed and slowly opened her dresser drawer so no one would hear. I grabbed her MacBook out and started to type. I loved writing, but I had nothing to do it on.  I stole her MacBook whenever I could, but was terrified Rydel would find my stories. Well, I wouldn't call it a story, it's more like a diary. I write things about my family, like right now, I'm writing about how nobody ever has time for me.  

"Zee!" I heard Riker yell.

"Coming!" I quickly saved the document, deleted the tab, signed off of my account, signed back into Rydel's, left it on its home screen like it was before, shut it off, and placed it back in Rydel's sock drawer. I walked down the hall to the kitchen and took my seat.

"Chicken, Ro?" Ross asked, handing me the platter. I put a little on my plate and continued until I had a full dinner. I wasn't really that hungry. I was full from sadness, and thinking about it made it worse. I only ate a little bit before rinsing my plate and placing it in the dishwasher. Right as I was going to take a shower, I heard voices in the garage, approaching the door. Rydel and Ellington walked in. I said hi and went to take a shower.

After my shower, I was wrapped in my towel going to my room to get dressed and I heard people talking about me.

"I feel bad, she's stuck here all day."

"I know, but what are we going to do about it? We're always working, we can't just take off for a while."

"I wish she was still living with mom and dad. I mean, it's their job to watch her. I love her, but we're still kids! How are kids supposed to have more kids? It's so hard."

They wished I still lived with mom and dad? I thought they were happy living with me! Sure, it's hard, but I can do things for myself, too. I'm not one. I walked the rest of the way to my room and put on my pyjamas. I couldn't help but have the conversation play through my head like a movie. They didn't want me. I felt a warm tear run down my face. I quickly put my hair in a braid and walked to the living room where everyone was watching Romeo and Juliet.

"Hi!" said Riker, making room for me next to him on the couch.

"I heard what you said."

"You did?" I nodded.

"All of it. You really don't want me?"

"No, when did we say that?"

"You did and you know it."

"We didn't mean it like that, Zanni. We meant that it might be easier for you to live with mom and dad so that you could go to school and do things you like to do. Mom and Dad would help you better than we ever could."

"I wanna stay here with you!" I cried. "I love you, I couldn't leave you, no matter what."

"I love you too. How about you can go to watch the rehearsals tomorrow. We preform the next day, so it's just a run through. I think that would be pretty cool. And, we could go out to lunch all together. That sound good?" suggested Riker. I nodded and sat down. I was still mad, though.