Kismet

Chapter Two

   The next two days we got most of our stuff in the boxes put away, but there was a few minor things that Mom was working on putting away right now like curtains or plates. The house surprisingly turned out pretty good. The floor was swept, the windows cleaned, and me and Chris' rooms completed. Before we moved in, Dad spent all day panting our rooms the color we wanted, which I thanked him for a lot.

   I gaze around my beautifully simple bedroom. My walls were a toned purple, my carpet white, and I had darker purple floor-length curtains hanging from my two windows on a single wall. My bed, a white dresser, a bin full of my random things, and my closet all took up the space. Posters filled in.

   It was a dream for me, practically. I had to share a small room with Chris in our old house, because it was so small. But now. . . now, I had my own space and privacy. To complete my dream, a bathroom was only two doors down. Me and Chris had to share it, but we had our plan set out for showers. Me in the morning, and him at night. Everything worked wonderfully out.

   I know what you're thinking. Something along the line of, "Geeze! I wish I had her lucky house!" But there was a catch to this wonderfulness, and I just learned that as I walked down the stairs.

   "Kiara!" Mom shouts, and I groan inwardly.

   "What?" I shout back.

   "Kiara! Don't yell," Mom says as I enter the kitchen. I roll my eyes at her. 

   "What?" I demand. 

   "You're new job is to clean the bathroom every week," Mom says briskly, putting pans into the sink. "I can't do it with all this housework. And clean Shelby's litter box." 

   At the mention of her name, she meows from across the room. I look up at Mom with disbelieving glare. "But I already have to do chores!" 

   "Like what?" she says without looking up.

   "Like. . . I already have to feed and care for Shelby," I tell her.

   "Then cleaning her litter box wouldn't make a difference," Mom tells me, glancing breifly up. "I'm not arguing about this anymore, Kiara! You can start now and save the rest of your week if you want to." I wanted to mutter that I have nothing to do for the whole week anyways, but I knew that she would only give me more chores to do.

    I am just about to turn around and go back upstairs, when Mom quickly adds, "Oh, and our neighbors are coming over tonight for dinner. I want your room cleaned, okay? And don't start, Kiara. You're clothes are already on the floor."

   I stop. "Neighbors? As in, human beings?"

   Mom raises her eyebrow, as if to say, What else? I wonder what goes on in your brain, child.

   "Yeah," she says slowly. "They live a few. . . uh, they live about a quarter mile away from us. Only neighbors in the area, and I don't want to get on their bad side. Please clean your room. Tell your brother that, too!" She calls her last sentence as I start to walk away. 

   Neighbors? Who would've thought that a normal person would live in Ludlow, in the middle of a forest:? Then again, my parents did. I hope that they are a little less crazier than my family.

   Suddenly something hits me hard in the gut, and I gasp out. "Ow!" Groaning, I look down the hallway to a petrified Chris. In his hand he holds his Nerf Unity Power System gun. "Chris! Put that down!" He listens to me, and drops his gun. At the same time he darts out the back door, which is conveniently left open right behind him.

   I start running after him. I jump off the concrete one-step to the grass, and chase him in the yard. I sprint as much as my just-below normal sized legs can go. I finally grasp him by the shoulders, quickly flipping him upside down.