Addicted

EARTHQUAKE

The weekend usually consists of mom, Melanie, and me just watching TV and eating. I wouldn't change this for the world. Sometimes, we just turn off the TV and just talk for hours. But this Sunday, we're bored out of our minds.

"I'm bored," Melanie groaned. 

"Um...we could ride our bikes across the neighborhood?" Mom asks. I stare at my mom for a short minute. "What?" 

"I'm pretty sure Melanie was like three and I was like...a really young age when we got our bikes. There's no way our ass could fit in those," I say without doing any math.

"Hey, language! Um, we can go to Church?" Mom tries again.

"I don't even remember what religion we are," I admit. "The last time we did anything remotely close to church was trying to build that Jesus statue Aunt Sally got us last Christmas. It was harder to assemble than Ikea furniture. Where did that thing go anyway?" I ask.

"I broke it," Melanie says casually.

"I believe tha-"

"I'm bored," Mom groans this time before letting me finish my sentence. Comfortable silence is the only sound existing in our home now. 

"Ew, there's school tomorrow," I think out loud. I chuckle to myself and say, "Why don't we write letters to the President and ask them to officially cancel school on Mondays?"

"I like that idea," Melanie responds.

"I was kidding." All of the sudden, mom gets up and comes back with paper and pencils.

"Anything to keep you guys busy," Mom says. Melanie and I look at each other for a minute before getting to work.

-

I lift my face up from the table. I feel a yawn coming. I look around. Rub my eyes a little. And see Melanie sleeping too. I shake the table gently and say,

"EARTHQUAKE! MELANIE, HELP ME! EARTHQUAKE!" Melanie wakes up quickly and her first mood of the day is shock and fear. Then she realizes that I'm joking. She giggles tiredly. "What? Are you hallucinating?" I tease.

"No, your pencil is stuck to your face," She says. I try to look down at my face and pull it off my face and lightly throw it at her while saying,

"Well, you drooled on your paper so ha!" We both turn in the same direction as if we're possessed. "Do you hear that?" I whisper.

"Yeah. I think mom's snoring again," She whispers back. We get up slowly and I gesture her to follow behind me which she does. We get a view of mom sleeping on the couch. 

"Get me a sharpie," I whisper to Melanie. She nods. When she comes back, the fun starts. We draw all over mom's face. 

"This is a classic old prank, but the real prank is that we ran out of soap and paper towels. This is what mom gets for using both of them up so much," I say.

"Oh. Now is probably a good time to tell you that I use up all the soap and paper towels," Melanie admits.

"What do you do with them?" I conflictedly ask.

"I create bubbles! At this rate, I think I'm a few more short from having a lifetime supply of them," She excitedly informs me. I give her a glare, giving her a five-second head start to run. I move to run after her but accidentally trip over mom's feet. Melanie hears my body fall to the ground and turns around slowly. Mom moves slightly and I back away gradually. She wakes up. Melanie and I stare at each other then burst out in laughter. 

"What are you guys laughing at?" Mom said with tried all over her voice.

"She looks even funnier when she's awake," I say to Melanie, still laughing. Melanie nods. She couldn't get any words out of her mouth; she was laughing too hard. Mom stares blankly at us. Then she gets up to go to the bathroom. After laughing for a few more minutes, we realize that she'll see herself in the mirror. We're in trouble. We get up immediately to stop her but it was too late. We hear a scream.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY FACE?" Mom freaks.

"Hey, we did anything to keep us busy," Melanie shrugs. I'm too scared to say anything. 

"Bring me soap and some towels. Then expect some serious punishment," She says in a lowered voice which just makes her even scarier. 

"We can't. Melanie used them all to make a lifetime supply of bubbles," I say quickly and point at her as if I wasn't a part of the prank. She takes a deep breath and grabs the car keys.

"Here. Drive. Get me soap. Take Melanie. Then get ready for school," She says. 

"I'm broke," I remind her.

"That's your problem," She says and walks away. 

"Get ready for school right now so we don't have to get ready when we get back from the store," I say to Melanie. She nods and walks away. Meanwhile, I quickly get ready and steal money from Melanie's piggy bank. What are sisters for?