Standing By

Order in the Court

(Tim)

"Ummm, guys?" I heard a voice call to us.

Feeling dead to the world, I flipped over onto my stomach.

"Guys!" the voice called out, a little louder.

Beside me, Chance pulled the comforter up over his head, siding with me on the matter of morning.

"Guys, you gotta get up!" he insisted, flipping lights on and making Austin burrow further in his blanket and pillow nest.

"Turn that off!" I ordered crossly, spreading a hand over my eyes.

Footsteps fell behind our human alarm. "I'm packing them up their breakfasts."

"Thank you, Rachel, you're a lifesaver," she was thanked as we were ordered again to get up.

"Shu'p," Austin muttered from under a blanket.

" 'm workin' on it," Chance groaned, not moving a muscle.

"Not fast enough!" he yelped as another person—sounded like Rob, maybe?—commented that we were worse than him for once.

"Get up, get up, get up!" Chris barked.

"Chill," I groaned, rubbing at my eyes. God. They felt like sandpaper. And they did not want to be open. I let them fall back shut.

"Each of us take one of 'em. We don't have much time," Adam orchestrated.

"Nobody touch me," Austin ordered sleepily.

His orders apparently ignored, I heard Rob stomp his way over to him. Arms fell on me and someone started shaking my shoulders.

"Leave us alooone," Chance whined, trying to push Adam away.

Still shaking on me, Chris dropped his watch in front of my face. "Can you read that?"

Sighing, I squinted at it. "Yeah. Little after 9:00."

"And your hearing is at...," he prompted.

"I dunno," I grunted, not quite comprehending the rude awakening.

"Your hearing is at Tim, ten," Adam informed us, trying to rouse Chance rather unsuccessfully.

"Ten," Chris corrected him.

"That's what I said," Adam stated, starting to shake Chance's shoulders, Chance stubbornly resisting his efforts.

"You said his hearing was at Tim and addressed Tim here..." Chris lifted my head slightly. "As ten."

"Huh?" Adam asked.

Austin suddenly leapt up, Rob having had better luck with him than Chris and Adam were having with me and Chance.

"Shit, guys!" he shrieked. "Tim's hearing is in 45 minutes!"

I sat straight up, nearly knocking the top of my head on Chris' chin. "Shit—45 minutes? It's a twenty minute drive!"

"Then you have 25 minutes to get ready!" Chris informed me, Chance finally stirring to my right.

"Dress!" Austin yelped, grabbing a shirt that was twice his size off the back of the chair. He darted to the dresser and grabbed his hairbrush. "Brush!" He yanked his toothbrush from the chest of drawers. "Teeth!" Adding a washcloth to his armful, he cried out, "Clean up!" He hooked his medicine bottle in the crook of his elbow. "Medicine!" He then proceeded to actually run in circles frantically, yelling out what all we needed to do in a very short amount of time.