Can't Afford Mistakes.

Chapter Eleven

A/N: ^ Welcome to one of two of the Archer Mansions.
&
s/o to my grandma for reading this, forcing me to update faster, & basically sending this book to my entire extended family, so if y'all are reading , lol hi & I'm sorry for the profanity & stuffs 😂

Arabella.

I toss and turn in my bed as pictures of my parents dead bodies flash behind my eyelids. I shoot upright in my bed, my breathing sporadic, sweat falling from my forehead. I rub my eyes with the backs of my hands as I try to push the images out of my head. A loud crash pulls me out of my half sleeping state. I leap to my feet, running to the balcony door.

Before I push open the French doors of my balcony, I grab my wooden baseball bat from the corner. As my bare feet come in contact with the sun warmed wood, I tighten my grip on my bat. Another loud crash comes from the backyard followed by a splash.

I peer over the edge to see my younger sister Camila and youngest brother Zach doubled over laughing, holding their stomachs. My brother Mateo in the pool, swimming sure two metal trash can lids. I giggle at the sight of Mateo's arms frantically reaching for the trash can lids as they float farther away with each splash.

"You know, if you stop struggling so much, you could actually just reach up and grab those," I call out to Mateo causing my other two siblings to fall to the ground in fits of laughter.

Mateo sends me a scornful glare before shouting, "This is the point where you use your freaky powers to help me."

"Yeah, yeah I'm on it," I say throwing my bat aside. I close my eyes and focus on Mateo's energy.  I feel my eyes burn bright as I expose them to the light. I imagine Mateo swimming strong even strokes, reaching for the trashcan lids as his strokes come to an end, and leaving backwards, kicking towards the swallow part of the pool.

Just as I had imagined, Mateo swims to the lids with ease before moving to the shallow end. I brace myself against the railing of the balcony as I force my eyelids shut. Coolness floods my irises as I open my eyes to see Camila and Mateo looking at me with concern.

"Mateo, Mateo! Did you drowned," Zach repeats, tugging on Mateo's shorts.

"Are you okay Bells," Mateo ask gently.

"All good," I say more to convince myself than them. "Now, for the love of Christ & all things holy in the world, will you tell me what your doing out here?"

"We're trying to catch the frog," Zach screams excitedly. Camila groans as Mateo stands silently looking at me.

I close my eyes again, hearing the familiar crook of a frog. "Well, you guy aren't going to find him out here, he's under Dad's Audi," I yell to them.

"Can we go get it? Please? Come on let's go get it," Zach pleads, this time tugging on Camila's arm. 

"Give us a minute," Mateo says handing Zach the trashcan lids, "you try to catch the other one over there." Mateo points in the direction of the hedges on the edge of the property; Zach runs away, little feet scrambling under his body.

"He's here," Mateo says blankly, fist forming at his sides.

"Yeah, I know," I laugh nervously rubbing the back of my neck, "I kind of choked him out before you guys came home."

Camila scoffs, "Why would you try to kill someone as good looking as him?" She brings her hands to her hips, shifting her weight to get right foot.

Wow, she really is her mother's child, I think to myself.

"Mateo," Zach whines in the background, "I can't find the frog!"

"It's there, you're just not looking hard enough," Mateo yells in response, never breaking eye contact with me as he raises his hand behind Camila's head. A loud thud echoes through the yard as Camila clutches her head.