Rescue

Chapter One: Riley

“What the hell?”

“Watch your language, Jonah.” Mom scolded.

“Have you heard Riley and Astrid talk?” Jonah asked.

            Mom sighed and put her hand up to her head. I watched Dad place his hand on her back and Astrid looked at Jonah. He rolled his eyes and grabbed a box before walking into the house.

“Sorry, Mom.” I said quietly.

            She shook her head and sighed again.

“Don’t worry about it, sweetie. Let’s just finish unpacking.” Mom told me.

            I picked up another box and followed Astrid inside.

“Eighteen years together,” Astrid began. “And we finally get our own rooms.”

            I laughed and followed my twin sister up the stairs. We walked down the small hallway and glanced at each room as we passed.

“Girls,” Dad said, his voice echoing down the hall. “If you turn left, there’s a large room that is double the size of the one you had before. If the two of you would like to share that room then you can.”

“Sounds good to me.” I said.

“We’ll take it!” Astrid yelled back.

            We walked down the other part of the hall and stepped into the large room. The room looked like it could have been a part of dance studio. The floors were light brown and wooden and the walls were painted a light shade of purple. To one side was a big, walk in closet and next to the closet was a full length mirror which extended from the top of the closet door all the way to the floor. A dark brown, wooden desk was sitting against the wall opposite the closet.

 “Dad wasn’t kidding when it said it was double the size.” Astrid said.

            I shook my head as we set the boxes down. Astrid and I went back outside and grabbed the last three boxes that belonged to us.

“Dad, can you grab those boxes?” I asked.

            We passed through the kitchen and walked back upstairs.

“I’ll bring them up shortly.” He said.

“Okay, thanks.” Astrid said.

            We walked upstairs and to our new room. We set the boxes down near the others and took another look around the room.

“What do you think of the paint color?” I asked.

“It’s not too bad,” Astrid said. “Definitely a lot better than pink would have been.”

            I laughed.

“Very true,” I said. “So do you wanna keep it?”

“You’re keeping it.” Dad said as he walked in. “I’m not paying $30 to buy enough paint so the two of you can have another giant craft project.”

            Astrid laughed nervously.

“Yeah, that didn’t go over well.” She mumbled.

            Dad set the boxes down and looked back at us.

“Your beds are downstairs; you can come get them when you’re ready.”

“Okay, thanks.” I said.

            Dad nodded before taking a quick glance around the room and walking out.