ASH
Chapter 2
I never realized that I had fallen asleep until Lord of the Flies toppled off my face to the floor, allowing the bright morning sunlight of King's Bay to stream in through the bedroom window. I sat up and rubbed the irritating sleep out of my eyes. Then, I fixed up my messy hair since it always looks like I came out of the 70's with tufts of black sticking up all over the place. My mouth produced a huge yawn, and it was not till then I noticed how tired I actually was from arriving to the shore house so late the night before.
The shore house! That's right, it was the first day of summer vacation!
Renewed energy bubbled inside of me. I sprang off my thin blanket, and scurried up the step ladder to Jase's platform.
I yelled, "Dude, it's summer vacation!" I hopped on to the bed, but miscalculated my landing, and made the mistake of landing on his up-ward-facing feet...
Oops.
"GAH!" Jase yelled in pain as he shot up from under the covers, a wild look in his now open eyes, knowing that his feet were in pain. He sat up so quickly he forgot about the section of low ceiling directly above him, and his head made a thwack noise as it smashed against it. "AGH!"
"Sorry," I said a bit sheepishly, "but it's your fault for sleeping in such a weird position." Jase rubbed the spot where his head had met the ceiling, a snarl of anger making its way across his mouth.
"I am so gonna kill you!" He hissed through clenched teeth. I knew what was coming, and from instinct, knew to get out A.S.A.P.. I jumped straight from the top of the platform, making a thud against the wooden floor, and slid my way through the hall and raced down the creaking wooden steps, Jase right on my tail. I made it to the kitchen to find my mom sitting quietly at the small old breakfast table, drinking coffee. Jase slid in behind me, but heeled when he saw mom.
"'Morning boys," she said with a tired smile. "what's with all the excitement?"
"Jase had a bit of a run in with the ceiling. Literally."
"Ash jumped on my feet while I was still asleep and made me bang my head against the ceiling!" He ranted. Of course, I thought, rolling my eyes, you always find a way to make things sound worse.
Mom said with that are-you-going-to-live? concern in her voice, "Aw, Jase sweetie, are you going to be okay?" She got up and reached to rub the swollen spot on his forehead.
"Yeah, I guess so," Jase mumbled, moving her hand away from his head.
She gestured to the table where we found two plates piled with waffles, syrup, and the brown sugar capsule front and center in the middle of the table.
Man, Jacklyn Davis is the best. We both took our seats along the little cushion-covered bench along the wall, and dug in. Ahhh, warmth, gooey-ness, sugar: paradise for your mouth.
We both finished at practically the speed of light, having had no time for dinner when we arrived yesterday. Mom took another swig from her coffee mug, and I could smell the coffee beans and the creamer she put in. The scent of evil. I hated coffee.
"How can you stand to drink that stuff," I questioned, indicating the steaming mug with my fork, "when you're surrounded by it all day?" implying her job at Starbucks.
She shrugged off the question. "So, what are you boys planning on doing today?" She asked through her mug.
I hadn't given that much thought. The idea that it was summer vacation was enough to overwhelm my brain, I had been so twitchy since waking up to warm sunshine and not having to go to school for two and a half months, I didn't even plan what I would spend my first day doing. Then again, I'm more the kind of person who plays things by ear.
