A Pinch Of Crazy

Chapter 10

Copyright © 2015 Casey Lee

A   P I N C H   O F   C R A Z Y

CHAPTER 10 | 1 TABLESPOON OF SURPRISE

When I returned home I was greeted by a thoroughly confused Eric, who was in the middle of what appeared to be a very intense dance party. Hannah Montana played on the TV speakers and he was using a wooden spoon as a makeshift microphone. I walked through the the door as he was halfway through "See You Again" and observed him without his knowledge for more than 30 seconds before he finally noticed me.

The spoon clattered to the floor and he leaned against the wall and rubbed the back of his neck. "The music started playing, I'm assuming it's your CD, and I couldn't figure it out how to turn it off. It's been annoying me all day." He said hurriedly, doing his best to cover up.

"I already got it all on video and sent it to the family group chat. I even got the twerking bit in the video." I said, the second part a joke. Luckily I hadn't been subjected to the sight of Eric twerking or else I'm pretty sure I would have to douse my eyes in bleach.

"Don't be ridiculous Spencer I could never twerk to See You Again. Those dance moves only made an appearance in Rockstar." He responded, completely straightfaced, and for some reason I was 100% sure he was telling the truth.

"Well thanks so much for tainting that song for me forever. There goes my childhood!" I said brightly.

"Why are you even home anyways? It's only like 11:30." Eric questioned as I plopped down into a stool, leaning my crutches against the island counter.

"Ditching." I replied.

"Oh, to be young and carefree again." Eric said, ruffling my hair. I swatted him away as he continued. "I remember back in my days as a rebellious youth, my buddies and I would leave school and take the truck out for a spin around the old stomping grounds..." He said before I cut him off.

"A) Cut it out, you sound like grandpa. B) You're still a rebellious youth. You don't have a job remember?" I teased, poking his side.

"Au contraire, mon amie!" Eric exclaimed with an exaggerated French accent. "You are looking at a fully employed and semi-functioning adult."

"And here I thought you would live at home until your mid-forties. Congrats on being a normal twenty-something." I said dryly, giving him a mock round of applause.

"Sometimes you can be very hurtful." Eric sniffed, clearly miffed, as he moped out of the room.

"Proud of you big bro!" I yelled after him, laughing to myself.

I sat at the counter and, with the whole day ahead of me, I pondered what I would do. The usual suspects ran through my mind: Netflix, nap, Netflix, cooking, Netflix, or homework. Still feeling relatively motivated at 11:45, I decided to get through all my homework that had been assigned. I had gotten all my homework from my teachers when they found out I was going to be on the field trip and not keen on falling behind, I knew I could get it done if I cracked down. So like your average goody two shoes, I pulled out my binders and plugged away, racing through worksheets and problem sets. My motivation got so high that I even got work done from the next day, shuffling through what was on teachers' websites and getting ahead in my schoolwork. It took nearly all afternoon but I was left with the feeling of profound satisfaction. Still in a chipper mood, the kiss replaying in my mind and letting me daydream as I hopped gracelessly off of my stool, I plugged my headphones in and started collecting ingredients for the night's dinner. Feeling generous, I decided to make Turner's favorite: spaghetti and meatballs. I threw the sauce together, chopping tomatoes and combining spices, and boiled the water. I already had meatballs in the freezer from last time I made the meal so I defrosted them and threw them in with the sauce, letting the flavors blend in the way they always did. My music was blasting (at this point I'd pretty much accepted the fact that I was going to be deaf by the time I was 45) and I was too involved in my cooking to see Turner and Ryder come in through the front door from basketball practice. I did notice the smell though as Turner came up behind me and wrapped me in a bear hug, ripping out my headphones as he swung me around in what would be a dangerous manner even if I wasn't injured.