"Ester Harlow, last warning. Get up, or im getting the spray bottle."
I groan, rolling over and reaching for my glasses before shakily sliding them onto my face. "Okay, okay, im up! See!"
Mom crosses her arms over her chest, careful not to wrinkle her scrubs "Ten minutes, Essie. I'm not playing. Your brother's already dressed."
"Of courth he is", I mutter under my breath, my retainer causing an involuntary lisp. I waddle toward the bathroom, my legs still sore from early morning soccer practices and brush my teeth, throwing a random hoodie over my head and squeezing some jeans on.
"I'm ready." I announce, trudging down the stairs. Mom congratulates before smoothing down my bedhead, wishing that I'd take a little more pride in my appearance before taking one of her scrunchies and pulling it into a tight ponytail on the top of my head.
"Ow!" I wince, shaking away from her grasp. "Don't worry, hair will be one less thing to worry about when I'm bald."
"Watch your mouth, girl." Mom warns, popping the back of my neck with the brush. She dares me to say something else as I rub the hot skin, silently debating whether my life is worth it or not.
"Hey string bean." Dad smiles sympathetically, handing me a bowl of cut up fruit. Sometimes I wonder just what I inherited from my father since It wasn't my color nor temperment. "Go out and change the world, ok?"
"Ok." I reply unconvincingly, slinging my backpack over my shoulder. I smack Kaleb in the back, snatch the keys from his hands and run towards the garage.
"I'm driving!"
"Hey! No running!" Mom calls, but is cut off by the door.
Kaleb is many things, but athletic is not one. I had to put up with his mouth the whole way to school, but that's a small price to pay to slam the breaks at random and watch him fold in on himself like a ragdoll.
I make it into AP Physics early and sit in my usual spot on at my lab station, pulling out my cell phone. I hadn't spoken to Ashton since our little outing Saturday, after his lady friend had to show up and ruin it everything. After she kissed him, I realized that I felt the same way when Kaleb ditched me to work with Joquin. I was jealous, and I had absolutely no reason to be. I didn't have a crush on Ashton, hell, before last Thursday I hadn't talked to him since we were eight and he accidentally busted my bedroom window with his soccer ball.
I ignore his messages and check my email to look busy while my classmates flood through the door, among them, my brother, looking disheveled as he plopped down at the lab table beside me.
"Just wait til we get home." He growls, smoothing his curls down under his baseball cap.
"Bite me."
"Did someone say bite?" Joquin purrs, winking at me as he plops down at the seat across from Kaleb. He slaps his brief case on the table and pulls out blueprints to a robot he'd been working on, when a familiar voice catches me off guard.
"Is this seat taken?"
Joquin's nose snares up at the tall blonde boy, and I think it clicks at the same time in both our heads.
"Of course!" I interject, Kaleb shooting me a strange look as I smile at the boy, something I rarely did to anyone.
"Hey, I know you! Essie right?" Luke exclaims after his electric blue eyes land on me. He then turns towards Joquin, his bright smile fading a bit more. "And you're that creep who kept staring at her."
"Wait a minute! What's going on?" Kaleb asks, shaking his head in confusion. "Essie, do you know this dude?"
"Kinda sorta?" I murmur, scanning my brain for a legible lie to tell.
