“Riley!”Derek called from the kitchen. “Time to get up and get ready for school Marni and Rose are here!” I groaned rolling over and kicking my blankets down to my ankles.
“Coming!” I dragged myself out of bed and over to a mirror in my absurdly over decorated room. I let my eyes sweep over the beanbag chairs, flat screen TV, mini fridge, bay view windows, and then the den with someone of the most expensive gaming systems I’d ever seen. Derek tried, he really did, but we both knew he was way out of his league with the whole raising an orphaned teenage girl. I’d been left with him my dad’s only sibling after my parents had decided to take a vacation in Hawaii, sure it sounds cool and everything until the volcano erupted. I felt tears welling up in my eyes, when Derek knocked on the door.
“Riley,” he called softly from the door. I sucked in a breath and forced the tears back where they belonged. I opened the door to see Derek’s surprised brown eyes, he shifted uneasily. “Marni and Rose are waiting.”
I nodded and looked at the floor before Derek mumbled, “have a good day at school see ya when you get home.”
“Kay,” I shut my door and kicked off my sweatpants and shirt and debated whether I really needed to change my bra or not. “Why not,” shrugged it off and threw on a new one and pulled on a shirt and seashell colored hoodie and jeans.
”Riley” This time I recognized Marni’s demanding voice.
“What?” I threw open my door and moved toward my dresser pulling a brush through my blonde hair before pulling up my hood.
“You’re our ride and your about to make us late,” Marni said loudly while picking through my things. I put in my tiny little white ball earrings and grabbed my keys.
“Come on, then.” I said and led them out of my room, shutting the door after and heading out to my black BMW, I wasn’t kidding when I said Derek got me anything I wanted. I mean I said I wanted this car as a joke and then next day there it was sitting in the driveway. I climbed into the driver seat, with Rose sitting in the back and Marni slamming the passenger door and fiddling with the radio. I pulled out of my driveway carefully, and headed onto the highway. Marni started singing a horrible off-key version of pink, and Rose just sitting in the back her ear buds plugged in and staring out the window.
Rose was quiet compared to Marni even her face was different so you’d never guess they were sisters, much less twins. Her smooth red hair was in gentle waves down to her shoulders, her green eyes were normally dark and there was few times when they were lit up with happiness. Her face was soft where Marni’s was sharp, and she was tall but not like the lanky gawky tall, more like the lean slender tall. I and Marni both agreed she belonged in New York as a model. Marni was loud and outgoing; she had red hair that normally curled around her face and neck. Her green eyes were bright and even had bits of hazel in them; she had a sprinkle of freckles across her face.
I on the other hand was medium height, blonde hair that fell in waves down to my shoulders and few inches lower. Blue eyes which Derek swore sometimes literally glowed; I was tan, which really wasn’t strange living in Florida. Marni sometimes jokingly called me a blond goddess; I knew that I was far from it. But either way we were all sucked into the pretty girls group the second we stepped foot in Jefferson home of the cougars.
I pulled into Jefferson’s parking lot and Marni pulled my hood down and yanked my ponytail holder out. “Not today,” she said when I tried to argue.
“Whatever,” I grumbled and climbed out Rose following. “So what’s going on with you and Brandon?” I bumped into her shoulder and she smiled.
