Growing Up A Graham

Chapter 1

Evelyn:

I groaned as I rolled around in my plush bed with nothing more than the thought of just sleeping the day away.

As wonderful as that sounded, I knew my mom would be in here at any second, yelling at me to get started on some stupid chore. So to avoid hearing her annoying voice, I forced myself up and slowly got out of bed. Shuffling towards the bathroom I immediately turned the shower on and took my pajamas off as the water continued to grow hotter.

Once it was at the perfect temperature I stepped in and began washing my hair. This was soothing to me. I could take a shower for hours although that would be a huge waste of water. After cleansing my body and rinsing the conditioner out of my hair I got out and tightly wrapped a towel around my body before heading over to the sink so I could finish up the rest of my daily hygiene routine. I rejected drying my hair since its going to be extremely humid today so I just put it in a bun and then moved on to getting dressed. Deciding on something simple, I put on one of dads old ovo tee shirts and a simple pair of grey shorts.

Grabbing my phone off of the charger, I sighed as I opened up my room door so I could enter the chaos called my household. I could hear the boys playing video games down the hall in Brayden's room and Melanie was down in the living room talking unnecessarily loud on the phone. The only noise missing was Riley running around and screaming. I'm fine with that though.

Making my way downstairs, I spotted Miles in the kitchen putting something in the oven. I could feel my stomach growling so I rushed in there in hopes that what he was making was enough for the both of us.

"What're you cooking?" I took a seat on the counter

"Good morning to you too," he chuckled as he walked to the fridge and pulled a bottle of orange juice out

"Ops, my bad. Morning!"

"I'm making cinnamon rolls, if you must know," he sat a plate down in front of me

"Sounds good," I smiled

Out of all the boys, he was my favorite. He felt like more of a real brother than Brayden did. Honestly, I'd trade the two. He hasn't always been a part of this family though, I was never told the details but his father got into trouble so 10 years ago he moved in with us. I was only 5 at the time so it was no bother to me but he seemed to be very bothered and confused by having a new family. For years he barely spoke to anyone but mom and Aunt Angel but one day we just kind of became friends and it's been like that ever since. He's my protector, mentor, and helped me from becoming a snotty rich kid. I'm already dreading that he'll be off to college in the next few months, I don't know if I can keep my sanity if he's gone.

"Evie!" Riley squealed as she came running towards me, "Mommy is scary!" She reached her arms up so I could pick her up

"Scary how?" I chuckled as I sat her down on my lap

"Riley?!" I heard her yell

She walked into the kitchen with a frustrated look on her face as she approached us. Taking the tiny shirt in her hands, she slipped it onto Riley before letting out a long sigh.

"Why must you be so difficult?" She poked her stomach

"Morning mom."

"Morning babygirl," she smiled as she took Riley off of my lap and sat her down on her hip, "Care to explain why you're sitting on the counter?"

"Oh, well I was just talking to Miles."

"Oh, well, get down," she said sarcastically as she sat Riley in her high chair, "All these damn chairs and you want to sit where we fix our food? You have kitchen duty today."