A shriek filled the room and Ellie sat up, drenched in ice cold water.
"Get Back here you punk! I'm gonna kill you!" Ellie screamed, knowing her poor excuse for a brother could hear her.
"Ellie, stop threatening Jacob," called a voice from downstairs, her mom.
"Ugh! Mom, he poured water all over me!"
"You needed to shower this morning anyways."
Why did her mom always have to side with Jacob. It wasn't fair. With a huff she got out of bed, gathering all the wet sheets into a pile. Great, now she had to do more laundry.
"Thanks a lot Jacob," she muttered under her breath.
After a nice, hot shower Ellie got dressed in her favorite jeans and softest t-shirt. Maybe this day wouldn't be too bad. She went downstairs to get some breakfast and found her mom scrambling eggs and frying some heavenly bacon. Oh the smell, mmm! This almost made up for her mom siding with Jacob earlier, almost.
"Hey honey, mind scrubbing some dishes real quick while I finish up breakfast?" her mom asked sweetly.
Like She had a choice but whatever,"Sure."
Ellie slumped over to the sink and began scrubbing. It was mindless work. Soap, scrub, rince, soap, scrub, rince, on and on until the sink was empty. Ok, maybe she was being a bit dramatic but still, boring. To make things worse, she nicked herself with the knife she was cleaning and squealed, a very embarrassing squeal.
Of course that was when her brother decided to drag his sorry butt into the kitchen saying, "Look, I know I'm fabulous but there is no need to scream like a fangirl every time I come into the room."
Ellie just scowled, sucking the wound. He was so full of himself, it got on her nerves. Going to the table Ellie looked at all the houseplants, fake of course, who would be dumb enough to trust her with such a fragile life. She had bought them yesterday for an art project but forgot to put them up. Shoving them away from her spot she sat down realizing too late that she pushed too hard. One of the plants slid all the way across the table, and off. As soon as the plant hit the floor it shattered to a million pieces. She knew that she should have gotten plastic pots.
Ellie looked up hearing Jacob howling with laughter, even her mom was struggling to suppress a smile. Gosh her family was so annoying. She looked up to see her cat, Fiona, gracefully prancing by. If only Ellie had her cat's coordination.
She scarfed down her food, much to her mom's dismay, mumbling a quick goodbye as she ran out the door. Wouldn't want to miss the bus and add to the bad day.
Luckily the bus was at her stop when Ellie arrived. Once she got to school Ellie rushed to her locker and then to class. She glanced around a bit, spotting her friend in the corner. Smiling, Ellie plopped down next to her friend Rin.
"Hey Rin, how has your morning been?" Ellie asked with a grin.
"Fine," was Rin's less than enthusiastic response.
Okay then, she doesn't want to talk right now. That is perfectly fine. Ellie looked down only to see that her jeans were unzipped! Are you kidding me, she thought. At least they were buttoned. She swiftly zipped them back up glancing around. Maybe nobody noticed. Looking to her left, at Rin, Ellie took note on how blank Rin's expression was. She was looking at the teacher but her eyes were glassy, like she was trapped in her own thoughts or some sort of trance.
"Hey, you okay?" Ellie whispered questioningly.
"Fine," Rin said once again.
When class ended Rin was the first out of the room. Gosh, that girl was fast. Ellie hurried after her. Once she got to the hallway she looked all around, catching a glimpse of Rin's familiar fiery red hair.
Attempting to flag her down, Ellie ran after her calling, "Rin! Rin wait up."
But she didn't. Rin ignored her and kept on down the hallway. Just then the warning bell rang out. Sighing Ellie turned around and started making her way to class. She ignored the odd looks everyone was giving her. Ellie had bigger things to worry about, like her friend. What was going on. She was really starting to freak out. Oh well, for now she just needed to get to class. Ellie could talk to Rin at lunch.
It was finally lunch time and Ellie was anxiously searching for her friend. She had barely been able to pay attention in class and was very worried. Just then she spotted Rin lurking in the corner. Rushing over, Ellie grabbed Rins arm and started pulling her out of the cafeteria and to the outdoor seating area so that they would have quiet and privacy.
"What are you doing Ellie?" Rin grumbled.
"Forcing you to tell me what is wrong, now come on."
"You're so annoying."
"I try." Sarah flashed a smirk. They were here.
Settling down in a comfortable position on the ground, Ellie waited for her friend to do the same. With a dramatic sigh Rin plopped down next to her.
"Okay, so what is going on, and don't tell me nothing. I'm smarter than that," Ellie started.
"Umm. Well... Gosh this is hard," Rin grumbled.
"It's okay. Take your time," Ellie reassured her.
"So you know how my brother Aiden joined the military?"
"Yeah."
"Well he got deployed a few weeks back and we haven't heard from him for awhile. My family is really scared and I am just so afraid that he's," her voice faltered at the end as she started crying.
Ellie felt awful. How could she not have known that rin was going through all this. Here she was complaining about her annoying brother and life. At least Ellie knew that Jacob was safe and healthy. Her problems were so trivial compared to Rin's.
"Hey, hey Rin He's gonna be okay. Maybe there's no service where he is or Aiden is really busy. You know how he always had to be Mr. Popular," Ellie teased trying to lighten te mood.
Rin chuckled and cast a genuine smile.
"Thank you," Rin said solemnly.
"Hey, you are my best friend. I am obligated to cheer you up."
"Oh so this isn't because you care about me?" Rin teased
"Of course not!" Ellie said, aghast,"Hey, it's friday, come over to my house tonight. We will drown ourselves in ice cream and watch a bunch of corny chick flicks."
"The legendary Prestige ice cream's famous grandma's apple pie flavor?"
"You know it!"
"How can I refuse such an offer."
"Then it's settled. See you tonight."
"See you."
Ellie was waiting for Jacob to drive them home from school. He always hung back with his friends so it took forever for them to leave. Just then it hit her, the life she had. She was just waiting on her brother to stop talking to his friends while rin was waiting for her brother to get back from a war. Maybe she needed to start appreciating how lucky she was.
When Jacob finally got to the car Ellie said,"I love you, bro."
And while that might not have been so crazy what was crazy was the fact that Jacob said it back.
