Player's Escapades

Jennie and Quinn

I woke up to the sound of pots and pans banging around in the kitchen, and I even surprised myself when I thought I was glad that Christopher was home. I mean, at least he knew how to cook. I snickered when I remember the first night he tried to cook spaghetti and meatballs. He had ended up in almost burning the house down by forgetting to stop the fire after he dumped the noodles out of the pot. Mom and Dad got so mad, but commended him on his attempt.

Groggily, I unplugged my phone and headed downstairs. Turning the screen on with one hand and holding on to the railing with the other, I saw that Eric had answered me back with a "night" around 3 in the morning. I checked the clock above my phone and was relieved, to say the least, that I still had a good hour and a half before I had to be at school. That was enough time to eat, do my makeup, and take a shower even.

I strolled into the kitchen and sat down to a plate already made with blueberry pancakes and apple wood smoked bacon. My stomach grumbled as the scent hit my nose, and I instantly began to dig in. Christopher finished making a plate for himself and came to sit down next to me. Our four-seater table seemed to be made even smaller than what I already thought that it was.

"I'll drive you to school. Don't worry about catching the bus." He took another bite.

I paused in eating, setting my fork down and looked at him. "Why the sudden change of attitude? What happened to my bully of a brother?" He kept on eating, almost as if ignoring my words. I rolled my eyes and grabbed my fork again, bringing another bite to my mouth.

"Cora, it's in the past. You need to move on."

"Easy for you to say. Thanks for breakfast by the way." I stood, my pancakes half gone, and placed my plate in the fridge. No sense in wasting good food, yet I needed to use the remaining half hour to get ready for school. Christopher said nothing to me as I walked past him and headed upstairs to my room. I closed the door and opened Pandora, getting into my morning vibes.

--

After I had finished the last touches of my makeup, I ran downstairs with my earbuds in and grabbed the keys to the car. I unlocked it and waited for Christopher to come out. A couple of minutes later, after he had realized I had already exited the house, his stupid face appeared. He wore a beanie and a flannel, almost like he was prepared to go to some kind of hipster reunion. I laughed to myself in my head, quite pleased with myself for something semi-funny this early in the morning.

He got in and pulled out, turning left and eventually led out of the neighborhood. The radio was turned off, allowing for silence to bang around in the car. I looked out the window as I watched cars speed past us as well as a couple of trees. I didn't feel much for talking, so I turned my music up as loud as it would go without disturbing my older brother seated next to me. He could try to talk to me, but I was too tired to deal with it. Eventually, I faced forward as we pulled off of the highway. I paused my music just in time for his phone to start ringing. I looked down to see it was someone by the name of Jennie.

Christopher took one look at the phone and picked it up hurriedly, holding it to his ear. "Yeah?" I sat there quietly, straining my ears to listen.

"Is she okay?" Worry was beginning to lace his voice, and I could now hear some crying as well as someone screaming in the background. "Put her on."

A muffled sound came as who I assumed was Jennie handed off the phone. Christopher put it on speaker, allowing me to hear a toddler crying into the phone.

"Baby girl, what's wrong? Are you giving mommy a hard time?" Mommy? The fuck? I wasn't even trying to play cool anymore and show any disinterest, now I was full on shocked as I looked at my older brother. I better not have a niece!