As a punishment for an escalated fight with her childhood rival, Ayden Kapoor, Emerson has no choice but to babysit his siblings. While in the middle of a game of hide-and-seek, Emerson stumbles upon a dusty old book hidden in the depths of the Kapo...
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"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE THROWING that shit," Ayden grumbled.
I flicked a mushy piece of banana at the back of his shirt, conveniently missing the garbage bin beside him. "Oops."
He shot me a glare. "We'd be done a whole lot faster if you grew up."
I gawked at him. "We wouldn't be in this mess had you grown up, to begin with!"
"Now, now, Sonny," he started. I didn't even let Ayden finish when I threw my cleaning rag at him. "Why are you so violent?"
"Why are you so annoying?" I fired back.
He raised his eyebrows. "It's no fun if you keep mimicking me."
"And it's no fun if you..." My voice trailed off when I realized I was proving his point. "Let's just hurry up so I can go home. Thanks to you I couldn't hang out with my friends."
"Friend," he corrected in an obnoxious tone. "Thanks to you I'm missing soccer practice."
"You started it," I pointed out.
"And if you were so mature you wouldn't have continued it," he replied with a shrug before continuing to mop the floor. I felt my right eye twitch out of annoyance as I watched him clean. How could one be this infuriating?
We worked in silence for about two whole minutes before Ayden aggressively bumped me out of the way, which resulted in me losing balance and tumbling forward. It wouldn't have been so bad except for when I face-planted into the bucket of dirty soapy water. I let out a gasp for air as I bobbed my head up, glaring at Ayden who burst into laughter.
"That's a good look on you," he said with a snicker. My fingers curled around the dustpan nearby, and just as I was about to launch it at his stupid laughing face the cafeteria doors opened.
"This is all you kids got done in the last hour?" said Mr. Jenkins, our school's custodian. He furrowed his eyebrows when he saw me drenched in the mop water. "Go home, I'll do it myself." Ayden and I locked eyes, both of us shrugging and leaving the cafeteria before Mr. Jenkins could change his mind.
"I think you left your phone in the cafeteria," I told Ayden as we walked down the hall.
He cocked an eyebrow. "Nice try, it's in..." He patted himself down in search of his cell phone before whipping it out, a triumphant look on his face. His grin soon disappeared and his eyes widened. "Shit, I forgot my keys." Honestly, I was bullshitting in hopes he'd leave, but I was glad I knew this idiot well enough to know just how irresponsible he was. "Stay here," Ayden said as he jogged back to the cafeteria. The second he was out of my sight, I sprinted out the doors and to my car.
I whistled a jolly tune as I stepped inside the house, trying to be as inconspicuous as I could. All eyes were on me when I entered the dining room, and judging by the looks on my parents' faces it wasn't a good sign.
