Her Hazel Eyes on Venice

chapter one.

chapter one

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Lola Marie Benoist hated mornings. She's hated mornings since she could remember. Especially when she was younger and her brothers would dump water on her head to wake her up.

Lola was a triplet and she was born second, right in between her brothers, Levi and Luka. And for the first few years of Lola's life, she was fatherless and depended on entertainment from her brothers' idiotic decisions or stories from her grandmother, whom she was very close with.

Now, this morning in particular wasn't fantastic either. Her four year old brother, Micah had the flu and absolutely never slept anymore, leaving the rest of the family to look like zombies when leaving the house for school and work.

There was a loud knock on Lola's door. "Wake up Lola!" It was Chris, her dad, but not her biological father, which she never knew because he left before she was born. "It's already seven!"

"I'm already awake!" She yelled back, then rolled onto her side, pulling her pillow over her head to cover the sound of Micah's soft cries coming from the other side of the wall. Lola faintly wondered why she hadn't crashed on Levi's bottom bunk of his bunk bed last night. She would remember later.

It felt like no less than two minutes had passed when her mom came into her room. "Lola. Get up. It's seven thirty." She yanked the blankets straight off her oldest daughter and tossed them across the room, leaving Lola to freeze in the thin cloth of her pyjamas.

"Come on, Mom!" Lola sat directly up and gave her mother a death stare. "I've been up all night because of Micah! That kid never sleeps."

Her mom gave her a slight side eye. "I'm sure Micah isn't the only reason."

Lola swung her legs over the side of the bed and rubbed her eyes gently. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"That maybe you shouldn't spend so much time texting that boy." Her mother turned and left Lola's room.

Lola wondered what boy her mom could be talking about. Lola's never had a boyfriend and has certainly never stayed up all night texting one.

Lola looked around her room. The walls were gray, with a few framed pictures of her family. Her and her triplet counterparts. Then her two younger sisters, Isla and Violet.

There was also a Leonardo DiCaprio poster Levi had hung up in her room as a joke. Lola considered taking it down, but she always thought about taking it down and never did.

She stood, her head spinning for a second before she walked across the room to her closet and took a hoodie off a hanger, then grabbed a pair of jeans out of a drawer and pulled them on quickly. She had to leave in less than twenty minutes for school.

She slid down the stairs and ran into the kitchen. Isla and Violet were sitting at the island eating some waffles with syrup on them, while their dad sang as he flipped pancakes and waffles around the kitchen.

He turned and spotted Lola standing there watching. "Hey, Lo, I'll be in the car to drive you to school in a second." She usually drove herself to school, but she guessed Luka and Levi had already taken the two cars she could drive. He handed Lola a waffle and she headed back down the hall to put some shoes on and to get her backpack.

Lola's mom popped up next to her as she was slipping on her shoes. "Hey, Lola, I was just wondering if you could help your brother with his science homework tonight, if you have time."

"Levi or Luka?" said Lola. "Be more specific, Mom." Lola finished putting her shoes on and stood up straight, facing her mother.

"Levi, I want you to help Levi." Her mom, Melissa, looked slightly like she was telling a huge secret that she wasn't supposed to tell, and that she thought Lola already knew.