The Rules My Brothers Made

Chapter 1

“Meghan!  Get down here!  You’re going to be late for school!”

I groaned at the sound of my dad yelling from the kitchen and checked the clock on my night stand.  Sure enough, he was right—I was going to be late.  I was up so late last night sewing a costume for my little brother, I had completely slept through my alarm and was now cutting it close on time.  I would have to rush if I was going to make it before the first bell.  I quickly checked my reflection in the mirror, grabbed my backpack, and skipped down the stairs to join my family in the kitchen.

As usual, the scene I walked into was a war zone.  Cereal cartons were all over the table, there was a puddle of milk on the floor, and everyone was making so much noise I could barely hear myself think.  I quickly grabbed the paper towels and began to clean the spill on the floor, shoving our dog, Shanny, out of the way before he could stick his greedy little snout into it.  I put away all the cereal boxes and put the bowls from the table and sink into the kitchen sink.  I could deal with those later.  Grabbing one of my breakfast bars from the cabinet, I turned to my father, who was attempting to drink his coffee and read the paper amidst the chaos.  Rolling my eyes, I held my bar in between my teeth and reached over to straighten his tie.

“Dad, you’re going to be late yourself if you don’t get out of here.”  I told him, refilling his coffee cup.

He looked up at me with a smile.  “Morning, sweetie.  Are you still able to do the afternoon trips or do you need me to call Savannah?”

“I’ve got it under control.  What do you want for dinner?  I have to go to the grocery store, we are running low on a few things. “

“I want the bunnies mac and cheese!”  My youngest brother, Max, shouted from his spot on the floor where he was happily playing with a toy train.

I scooped him up off the floor and placed him on his feet.  “I will make you bunnies for dinner, but only if you go grab your bag so we can go to school.”  He gave me a big toothless grin and ran off.  I turned back to my father and raised my eyebrows at him.  “I take it that you don’t want mac and cheese for dinner, how does lasagna sound?”  I offered.

“Sure, honey, that sounds great.  Make sure you put the groceries on the black card, okay?”  He put his paper down and stood, taking his travel coffee mug with him.  Picking his briefcase up, he grabbed his keys and headed to the door.  “I’ll be home by 7 tonight, I promise.”  He told me before heading out the door.  “Bye, guys!  Behave at school today!”

I turned to face the kitchen again and sighed.  My younger brother, Mark, was at the kitchen table messily eating his cereal with his headphones on so loudly I could hear the music blasting from them.  My twin, Matt, was sitting next to him finishing up his math homework, undoubtedly because he was at his girlfriend’s house late last night.  Then our older brother, Mike, was standing in front of the refrigerator drinking orange juice straight out of the container.  I shuddered and handed him a glass.  “That’s so gross, Mike!”  I groaned.  “When do you go back to school again?”

He flashed me a cheesy smile as he put the cap back on the OJ and put it back in the fridge.  “I go back on Wednesday, Bucky, so you can relax, but that’s not soon enough if you ask me.  I might go up tonight and just party with the guys before we all move back in.”