Stepbrothers

Chapter 6

  When I said that life kinda sucks, I didn't realize how right I was. I mean, I love having Daniel back, so that's an upside, but my birthday was coming up soon. And if you haven't realized yet, I don't exactly love my birthday. Danny did promise not to let Dad and Claire do anything for my birthday, and he tried his best, but Claire wanted a reason as to why I didn't want anything. Since I thought answering honestly would make things more awkward then they already were, I shrugged. Which only made things worse. Also, school starts soon. Send help.

"Boys, time to go back to school shopping!" Claire's overly perky voice called from downstairs. Shoot, I forgot I was leaving the house today, and in all honesty I was still in my pajamas. I got changed as fast as I could (which wasn't very fast) and made my way downstairs.

"What took you so long?" Josh asked as soon as I got downstairs. I attempted to shrug in response, but Danny was standing there, and he gave me this look like 'Don't even try' so I sighed and explained really quickly while mumbling. No one understood me, so I repeated myself twice more before I gave up and started explaining using the limited Spanish I know. The boys thought that was funny, and I could see Claire stifling a laugh. My dad wasn't so impressed, however. He gave me a small glare, and I smiled sheepishly back. He rolled his eyes jokingly (which meant I was off the hook for that) and someone opened the door for all of us. We all piled out the door and into the car. And yes, I said car singular. It was an interesting dynamic, with my dad driving, Claire in the passenger seat, Daniel in the seat behind Claire, Blake behind my dad, and me squished between Josh and Jacob. So yeah, this was going to be fun. (Sarcasm).

As soon as we got to the store, I was practically clawing at Daniel to open the door. Hey, you try sitting between twins- I was poked and prodded all throughout the car ride. Also, Jake farted. The windows were all open, but the smell was burned into my nose. 

Daniel, knowing that I couldn't wait to get out of the car, took his sweet time opening the car door.

"Bloody bastard..." I muttered. He smirked back at me. Finally the car door was opened, and I unbuckled quickly and practically threw myself out of the car.

"Wow, were we that horrible to sit next to?" Jake asked, a smirk on his face.

"Yes. Yes you were." I responded, entirely serious. Jake and Josh smiled and high-fived each other. I laughed and started walking towards the store with everyone else.

After what felt like a thousand miles (Dad parked really far away), we made it into the store. Danny could've stayed home, but he decided he'd rather embarrass me. Again.

  "So, Noah. Are you excited to start a new school year?" Claire asked, for what felt like the thousandth time. Every time she asked, I gave her the same answer;

  "No." She looked almost disappointed at my response. What- was she expecting another answer?

 "Why's that?" Asked Blake. Well, at least it was a different question. 

  "It's school. And I don't know if you've noticed this..." I leaned closer to him and said, in a quieter voice, "...I'm not exactly a big fan of school." He laughed instead of a response.

  "Now, boys. Noah has never been shopping with you before. Please,  don't kill him."  Claire seemed entirely serious. The twins sighed, like they were planning on murdering me in Walmart.

  "But mom..." Josh pretended to whine. Claire glared and he stopped. 

  "C'mon hobbit!" Jake threw his arm over my shoulder, Josh copying him.

  "We're off to see the wizard!" They sang, very loudly might I add, which caused a lot of people in the store to look at us weirdly as they skipped like idiots.

  "Wrong universe, guys." I murmured.

  "Oh. Is there any songs from 'The Hobbit' we can sing?" Josh asked me.

  "Why would I tell you that?" I asked.

  "Fair point, for a nerd." Josh smirked down at me. 

  We walked [or skipped] randomly around the store. The twins had no idea where they were going, they were mostly just running away from Blake and Danny, who were awkwardly half-walking half-jogging after us, smiling and looking around, embarrassed by the twins and me. I honestly couldn't blame them for being embarrassed by us, actually I was embarrassed too. At least they didn't have to follow us, I was trapped. They followed us around from a distance for a while before they gave up and sprinted after us before dragging us to the school supplies aisle. For some reason they wanted to actually shop here. Losers.

  I do have to admit, as embarrassing as they were, the twins were kinda fun. I was actually enjoying myself, oddly enough. Sadly, the rest of school shopping was boring, mainly because we were actually shopping. I may have died of boredom if the twins weren't idiots. All Blake and Danny wanted to do was what we were supposed to. The twins had other ideas.

  At the moment, I was suspended upside down by my ankles, laughing my ass off as Josh tickled me. I'm not ticklish, but I was having a hell of a time. I lied, I am ticklish, but the twins don't need to know that. Blake was trying to pry them off of me, while my brother was lying on the floor next to the group of us, laughing harder than I was. If people weren't looking at us weird before, they definitely thought we were on a field trip from the mental asylum now. 

  It took us hours to finish shopping. Well, it felt like hours at least. Danny and Blake wouldn't let me stand near the twins, with both of them standing between us to make sure we didn't have any fun. Well, they were really just trying to get done with shopping, but, you know... same thing. 

  "Hey, bud." Danny threw his arm over my shoulders and pulled the piece of paper from my hands. "Damn, you're printing sucks." He laughed at me a little.

  "At least my teachers can read my writing." I jokingly defended myself, a smile tugging on my lips. 

  "Your teachers didn't care enough to actually read your crappy writing." He insulted. I threw my hand over my heart and stumbled back a little, being as dramatic as possible. 

  "Loser." Laughed Blake. I smiled back at him. "Now, hurry up. I'm bored."  

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  Eventually we finished shopping, and so began the fun adventure of attempting to find my dad and Claire in this absolute maze of a store. Danny was giving me a piggy back, mainly because the twins were chasing us, and my brother knew how lazy I was. Blake was trying to get us to stop, but he wasn't doing very well. Blake had just given up on being responsible and was being an idiot with us when we found the adults. 

  "What are you doing?" Claire asked, looking around trying to make sure we didn't embarrass her too much. She grabbed both twins by the ears and started dragging them towards the checkout. 

  "Ow, mom, mom! Why not Blake?" Josh asked, struggling and squirming to get away. 

  "Because I only have two hands, and I assume he was trying to stop you." Claire said, emotionless. The twins both had a look of defeat on their faces, and I could see the check-out girl stifling a laugh. I think this trip was a success.