Anger Issues

twenty three

Jessica

Nikki and I woke up to the shuffling of all the people downstairs. "Oh my gosh," I groaned, throwing the blanket over my head.

Nikki sighed out, wrapping a pillow around her head. "They're so loud," her muffled voice spoke.

"What the hell are they doing?" She asked after a few seconds, growing irritated at the noise.

"I don't know," I said, refusing to open my eyes. I felt a phone vibrate against my bed but I couldn't tell who's it was.

"Oh what the hell," Nikki said, sitting up. "What?" I asked. "It's 1 in the afternoon," she said.

"Really?" I asked. "Yeah," she said. I didn't move. "It's still too early."

I felt her collapse next to me again, as we both fell back asleep.

--

"Nikki, Jess, wake up," I heard Noah call. "No," I groaned. "Fine, don't blame me if there's no pancakes left."
I sighed and pushed myself up. "We'll be down in a bit."

I sat with my eyes remaining closed, until I was ready to open them. Looking out the window, the white puffy clouds in the sky released light snow, only piling on to what was already there.

"Get up," I said to Nikki, hitting her head with a pillow. "I'm awake," she mumbled.

I stood up and pulled on a hoodie, freshening up in the bathroom before going back to my room.

"Austin called you," Nikki said. "Did you answer?" I asked. "No. I'm too tired to ruin your life," she stood up.

I called Austin back, holding my phone to my ear as I made my way downstairs. The aroma of the sweet pancakes filled the air immediately.

"Look who finally woke up," Aunt Maria said. "Yeah, good morning," I replied unenthusiastically.

"Hey," Austin finally answered. "Hey, you called?" I asked. "Yeah, I'll actually call you back in a little, I'm eating breakfast," he said.

"Okay, same. Bye." I hung up and slipped my phone into the pocket of my (Austin's) hoodie, taking a seat.

"Who was that?" Aunt Maria asked with a smirk. "Austin, probably," mom smiled.

I rested my head in my hands as the seconds of my family gossipping passed.

"Did I miss anything?" Nikki asked, as she finally came down. "Nope," I shook my head.

As we all started eating breakfast, I assumed that the adults were offended by Nikki, Noah, Nick and me using our phones.

"Put the phones down," dad's voice boomed. We all looked up in sync. "Just get through breakfast without your phones, please."

I nodded my head and placed it down, along with the other three.

"When is everyone else coming?" I asked, taking a bite of the pancakes. "Today, and early tomorrow," Uncle Marcus said.

He was the one that kept our families as close as they were. I was beyond grateful for him. He was a great uncle, and he kept us close.

"Do you still go to dance?" Nikki asked, quiet enough for only us to hear. "Yeah, why?" I questioned. She shrugged. "Just curious."

Breakfast was finally over, and everybody returned to doing their usual things. All the adults gathered in the living room, talking about tables or something, as the rest of us went downstairs.

"Put on Netflix," I told Noah, since there was a large TV in the basement. Nikki and I collapsed on to the bean bags beside each other, when Nite ran to us and laid in between us.

"What do you guys want to watch?" Noah asked. "The Grinch," Nikki said. "Nightmare before Christmas," Nick shouted after. I shrugged. "I have my vote on high school musical."

They all let out soft laughs at my suggestions. "My way of solving this type of issue," Noah began. "Is to chose something nobody said."

He went into the horror section of the genres, making us groan. Then, he clicked on The Conjuring.

"Really?" I laughed. Noah looked at me and nodded. "Really."

The movie began but the first few minutes were boring. Nikki and I were already lost on our phones, when Austin texted me.

Austin
Are you still eating?

Me
Nope. Watching a movie but so far it's boring. Wyd

Austin
Basement with Justin and Caleb. More people came and it's too early 😂

Me
Facts 😂 we're still expecting today & tomorrow

Austin
Damn

Me
Yup

After that, Nikki nudged my shoulder. I looked over at her as she showed me her phone.

Angelo
I do like someone but idk how to go on about it

I smiled and grabbed her phone, writing a response.

Tell her. Just go for it, but face to face

Before sending it, I handed Nikki her phone back to make sure it was okay. She gave me an unconvinced look, but I nodded anyway.

The arrow was clicked and the message turned into a bubble.

I wasn't sure what happened after that, but the sound effects of the movie caught our attention. Nikki and I both texted the guys that we'd talk after the movie, so we could watch.

Austin

After Jess and I ended our conversation, Caleb thought of an idea for him, Justin and me.

"We should go paintballing."

A smile appeared on my face, as Justin's head jerked up. "I'm down," I nodded. "Same," Justin said.

"Hold up, go get ready, I'll find a place," Caleb said.

Justin and I made our way upstairs, being discreet before anyone could stop us.

"Have you ever paintballed?" Justin asked. "Nah, you?" I looked at him. "Once. Like, two years ago."

He parted into the guest room when I went to mine. Within a few minutes, we were ready to leave.

"I told Mom and Dad," Caleb said, as we reached the bottom of the stairs. "Back door?" I asked. He nodded.

Today was sunny, finally. The past few days had been snowy and the sun finally came out, but it hadn't done much to the inches of snow on the ground.

"It's an hour away," Caleb said. "Damn," Justin remarked.

Through the car ride, we played music and talked the entire time, until we arrived at the place. That's when the fun began.