Blue

Chapter 20

The feeling of serenity you get when waking up during the start of a school break is pure bliss. I lucked out on getting somewhat enjoyable classes, but the load of homework is unforgivable.

I toss the quilt off me and hug my phone to the bathroom, letting it belt out Lana Del Rey on the counter while I showered and brushed my teeth. I change into a sweatshirt and a pair of pajama pants. It's way too cold for anything else.

When I reenter my room, I find Hazel spinning slowly back and forth on my desk chair.

"Can I help you?" I asked, displaying a look of confusion on my face. I reached up and began to tie my hair away from my face.

"It's your music," she said. "It's overpowering mine. Turn it down." She gets up and skips out the door.

I rub my forehead as I walked out the hall and down the stairs, thinking about the comparison between my phone's speaker and her giant surround sound ones. When I enter the kitchen, I'm surprised to see Aubree and the rest of the boys lounging around the counter, trying to maneuver around each other while balancing plates stacked with pancakes.

"Good morning, Blue! Haven't seen you in a while, how have you been?" Aubree smiles warmly at me as she reached for a plate to hand me.

"I've been doing alright. Are you and Glenn going to be around the next two weeks?" She hands me the plate and I reach into the cupboard to grab a fork.

"Yes, we have long holidays off. Now would you be a dear and go get Glenn for me before his pancakes become cold? He's upstairs in the bedroom."

I nod and turn away, running down the short corridor and rounding the stairs, taking two steps at a time. I knock twice on the door to the master bedroom before I hear a faint mumble of a "come in". When I twist the knob, Glenn's back is faced towards me, his attention occupied on a computer monitor at a desk in the corner of the room. He spins around when my footsteps leave a creak noise in the floor.

"Um, breakfast is ready," I told him.

He looks back at the computer and saves whatever he was working on before turning it off. He stands up and places a finger on his chin, looking at me longer than necessary.

"Who are you?" He finally said, breaking the silence.

I mentally roll my eyes. He cannot be serious right now.

I decide to play along. "What are you talking about, it's me, Hazel."

"Oh!" His face suddenly light up. "I knew you did something different to your hair!"

Well, my hair is significantly darker than hers.

The light patter of footsteps behind me bring alert to Glenn's perked ears.

"What's going on in here-"

"AH! WHY ARE THERE TWO OF YOU!"

Hazel shifts her weight to her other foot as she let out a huff of air. "Gosh dad, that's Blue."

"Blue?"

"From Maine..."

His gaze shifts downwards as the gears in his head start turning. I think this moment goes to show how little of time he has been hanging out with his own children.

"Ooh, I remember you now!" He blurted out.

Hazel sighs and quickly leaves the room.

-

"Sit down Blue, we've got something to tell you," Aubree chirped. I place my fork into the sink and let the tap water run over the sticky syrup before turning off the water and going to join the family at the table.