3 Stepbrothers

Talking It Out

"Blake, the cake." I sang while jumping the rope. "Had nothing to bake." Blake took that as a cue and jumped into his rope. We were facing each other while bouncing trying to make sure the rope wouldn't get caught on our legs. He and I started to sing together. "So he cried. And cried till he formed a lake." I grinned and kept my jumping at the rhythm of the song. "Blake, the snake. Wanted some steak, but cried and cried when he got a rake."

He grinned at me when he didn't trip over the rope. Last round he had lost his footing and face planted into the grass. "I got it down now." He said.

I smirked making the rope move faster. My feet kept coming off and on the ground as if they had a mind of their own. "So what's this about scouting?" I asked him.

"Huh?" Blake stared at my jittering feet trying to get at the same pace. It was quiet entertaining watching him trying to jump rope. When we were kids he was scrawny. So it didn't really effect him. But now, he broad shoulders were getting in the way.

I rolled my eyes. "Scouting? I heard Cole say something about scouts."

"Oh..." Blake took a moment to think, almost losing his footing as he did so. He finally took his eyes off my feet. "Well coach showed some colleges my soccer abilities over the years. In a couple months a scout is going to come by and see if I'm worth it. If I am, I'll get a scholarship."

I smiled. "That's awesome."

He smiled back, "Yeah. If they think I'm good enough."

"Well obviously." I rolled my eyes. "You're a Parris."

That's when we heard a scream. The loudest scream I had ever heard in my life. It came from inside the house, I was sure people on the other side of the globe would be able to hear it. It was louder than Suzie's shrieks, Shawn's cries, or even the screams from horror movies.

Blake and I lost balance, dropping the ropes before running into the house. The neighbors would probably ask if we were ok but at the moment I didn't know what was going on. It was later in the day and everyone was at home. Dad was watching TV  with Suzie while mom was cooking dinner. But after the scream everyone was on their feet.

Shawn came racing down the stairs with his foam sword. "Where's the ninja!? I'll kill it!" He waved the sword around. "Who screamed?"

The scream came again only this time laughter fell behind it. It was coming from upstairs and moments later Cole was running down the steps. He practically jumped on mom squishing her in a hug while laughs kept coming.

"What is going on?" Blake asked.

"Cole are you ok?" Suzie asked.

Cole eye's turned to Suzie and he ran to her. He picked her up and threw her in the air making sure she wouldn't hit the ceiling. "I'm fantastic!" He said placing her down.

"What's the cause of all the excitement?" I asked. Before I had time to move Cole picked me up and twirled me in the air kissing my cheek before placing me down. "And screaming?" I asked when he set me down.

"This!" He placed a paper in front of my face. "Read it!"

"Do they have ninjas?" Shawn asked looking over my shoulder to the paper.

I held the paper in front of me. It felt stiff and had nice decorations of swirls and leaves on the side. There were three folds from where it was placed in a letter. I started reading aloud, my eyes growing wider as I did so. "We are glad to inform Cole Oscar Parris that we received you're application. Looking at you're school records, academic scores, and extra curricular classes/camps we are proud to announce that you have been accepted to attend Harvard University. We are hoping to see you on campus next year!" I shouted the last part re-reading the words over and over.