that adorable leather jacket

f i v e

I pulled my 'The Office' t-shirt over my black bikini and pulled on some jean shorts. In my beach bag I packed: sunscreen, sunglasses, four water bottles, a huge bag of doritos I had stashed under my bed, my song journal, a mechanical pencil, and a volleyball. Why four water bottles you ask? Because I was taking Carlos too! He seemed bored and he is my brother. I ran down the stairs, slipping at the last step a bit and falling backwards. I caught myself on the railing, letting our a frantic gasp as I regained my balance. 

"Stupid stairs." I grumbled, walking through the kitchen.

My dad was sat at the table, narrowing his eyes at the screen of his computer. I walked behind him, barely noticing how Reggie and Alex were sat at the table with him. At this point, it was just normal to see them around my house constantly. 

"Whatcha doing?" I asked, resting my chin on his shoulder as I stared at the screen.

"Trying to book us a vacation." He smiled, scrolling through the list of airlines.

My eyes lit up and I grinned. "Where are we going? Can we go somewhere cool? Can we go to the mountains?! I wanna stay in a cabin in the mountains!" I bounced on my heels excitedly, my dad chuckling at me and the boys smirking.

"You wanna go to North Carolina? The Smoky Mountains are there and plenty of cabins and activities." He suggested, clicking on an airlines.

"Yes!" I practically screamed, jumping up and down. "When are we going?"

"Uhm, I know this is short notice but...Sunday? For a whole week?"

"Hell yeah!" I shouted, spinning around. 

"Language." He reminded my in a sing song voice, making me giggle. "Alright, Sunday we're going to North Carolina. I'll tell your sister and brother later, go have fun." He pushed me away.

"Okay, love you dad!" I called, walking towards the door. 

Julie led Flynn down the stairs, Carlos bounding behind them. I pointed to my keys which were hanging on a lanyard on our key hooks; Julie grabbing them and tossing them to me. 

"Alright, let's go children." I spun the keys around in my hand, opening the door for them to leave. 

Carlos shoved past Julie and Flynn sprinting towards the car and hopping into the front seat. I laughed, winking as I turned and made eye contact with Reggie. He blushed a bit, smiling as I pulled the door shut. Julie and Flynn climbed into the back seat of my car. I slid into the driver's seat, starting the car and pulling out of the driveway. 

"Alright Carlos, I'm trusting you with DJ privileges." I passed my phone to the small boy seated in the passenger seat, his eyes creasing as he grinned mischievously. 

Suddenly, Shout Out to my Ex by Little mix starts blasting through my speakers, making me laugh and dance around to the music. 

"SHOUT OUT TO MY EX, YOU'RE REALLY QUITE THE MAN! YOU MADE MY HEART BREAK AND THAT MADE ME WHO I AMMMM!" We all screamed along to the lyrics, Julie and I belting the lyrics.

I pulled into the parking lot above the beach, the song coming gradually to an end. I could hear the 'kids' panting in the back, clearly out of breath from singing with so much hype. We all got out of the car, my beach bag slung over Julie's shoulder. I noticed she had my sunglasses on and I narrowed my eyes, marching over to her and snatching them off her face.

"Hey!" She yelped, obviously fighting back a laugh. 

"Buy your own bit--brat!" I caught myself as Carlos stared at me in minor confusion.