02. Love Sick

"If it is real, it will never be over"

~ Unknown

I am shocked to see who it is.

''Everett?'' I question, unsure of my eyesight all of a sudden. He just stands there, busy munching on my food. He stops for a moment only to give me a big toothy grin, then resumes ravishing my breakfast.

What the!?

''EVERETTTTTT!!'' I cry yell. ''Mom! Dad! Are you guys not going to say something?'' I urge exasperated. They just laugh.

They laugh!

Seriously?

My pancakes are being chomped up by my lunatic of a big brother that I unfortunately have and my parents are laughing!  Can this morning get any worse??

He finishes up the contents of my plate within minutes, he then burps loudly. As if stealing my food was not good enough to rile me up. He puts down the plate on the counter before making his way to me, I glare at him warningly. He ignores my death glares and pulls me into a bear hug. All the anger that I had for him vanishes as quickly as it came, I hug him back with a small smile.

Everett is my older brother, by older, I mean really older. He is 37 years old and I am 18 years old. We are 19 years apart.  Yes, we are real siblings. We even share the same brown hair, I swear Everett is Dad's walking clone, the only difference between them is the hair color and his lack of beard as Dad's. He is even lucky enough to get Dad's tall height. Both of them are walking towers in our home.  But personality-wise speaking, I am the cooler sibling, and I take pride in the fact.

Mom and Dad had Everett when Dad was 19, and Mom was 17. High school love was totally evident if I must say. Mom had some complications during her pregnancy, and after the birth of Everett, the doctors recommended my parents not to try for another baby as it could risk mom's health. Life went on, mom and dad raised Everett. During this time, Mom had two miscarriages, which left her devastated, but she still had a son to keep her sane.

At the age of 18, Everett came home with his pregnant girlfriend Bridget. My parents welcomed her with open arms as they were reminded of their youthful days. Everett and Bridget had a beautiful baby girl whom they named Rose.  Now, here comes the interesting part, during the sixth month of Bridget's' pregnancy, Mom found out that she was pregnant with me!

Surprise.

No one was sure if I was going to make it or not. But lucky me, I survived. Rose is my niece, but she's 8 months older than me. I know my family does not fit the conventional picture, but I couldn't ask for another. We all love each other with our whole hearts. Everett was ecstatic that he finally got the chance to become a big brother. Rose and I get along with each other very well, we don't have that awkward niece-aunt tension between us. We are more like friends as we grew up doing all types of fun adventures together. Everett always says that he has two daughters, Rose and I. I am lucky to have him as my brother and a father figure altogether. He is happily married now. He lives with Bridget in their own home, they also have a 12-year-old son William.

Everett does visit us about 2-3 times a week but rarely in the morning, which is why I was shocked to see him at this time. And by morning I realise that he had just eaten my breakfast!! I push him away, breaking free from his hug and smack his head then glare at him. Brother or not, no one messes with my food. He just chuckles, shaking his head, he says a small ''sorry'', he turns towards our parents and hugs them individually.

''To what do we owe the pleasure of your presence at this time?'' Dad teases with a light laugh.

 ''Come on Dad, can't I visit my family whenever I want?'' He pouts a bit, which looks horrible on him. I scrunch up my face, he must have noticed it because he faces me and pouts a bit more. I cannot help but laugh at his antics and so does he.

''Tina, is your alarm clock dead or alive?'' he questions, making everyone laugh, I look down, embarrassed, they know how much I hate alarm clocks, and I have the record for breaking them the most.

I shrug nonchalantly. ''Alive, for now..'' my words gain more laughter from my family. 

''I have already bought a new one in case you need it, and yes, it does not break easily, I got it especially for you.'' He grins widely. I groan thinking how that was not good. 

I suddenly glance at the clock, '8:50' shoot! My class starts at 9. I am going to be late today. Everett takes notice of my turmoil because he quickly offers me a ride. I don't waste time and barge out of the house but not before bidding goodbye to my parents. I happily hop in his car thanking the lord that I'll make it on time. I reach school at 8:57 am. I thank him and peck him on his cheek, he gives me some lunch money, seeing how he ate my breakfast. I make my way towards my source of education.

I'm nearing the end of high school, and soon, I need to start searching for career options. I walk towards my locker and put in my code. ''Hey beautiful'' a thick voice whispers in my ear.

I instantly smile as I recognize who it is ''Sammyyy!!'' I squeal and turn around to hug my best friend Sam.

''Damn! How do you always know that it's me?'' He asks annoyed which makes me laugh, ''I even changed my voice this time.'' He huffs.

''It doesn't matter how many voices you change, I will always know it's you Sammy.'' He glares at me playfully before ruffling up my hair, I push him away chuckling.

''Hello bitches!" comes the sound of my other best friend Olivia. Sam and I snicker as Olivia comes into our view. She looks tired. Aww, My poor baby must be up all night studying again.

''In which trash can did you sleep last night, Olive?'' Sam jokes, pinching his nose while waving his hand in the air as if she smells. 

Olivia glares in response, ''not funny guys! I've been up all night trying to study for that stupid history test Mr. Thompson assigned us!'' She stomps her feet in annoyance.

''We have a test??'' Sam asks horrified. 

''Don't worry Sammy it's easy, I didn't study either.'' I assure him to make him feel at ease.

''That's not fair Tina! you are the smart one, you’ll pass." He whines like a baby, "Where the hell was I when he assigned the test?'' He asks mostly to himself.

“You were busy flirting with that new transfer student, smart ass.'' Olive reminds him bitterly. 

Well, Olivia here has a little crush on Sam, who is clueless as hell. She has made me promise to not say a word to him. Me, Sam and Olivia have been best friends since we met in 3rd grade. We've been inseparable since then, we've been in a lot of trouble because of our mischief.

Sam is the tallest in our group, he’s got good looks and he is well aware of it, he uses it to his advantage by hooking up with girls. His short blonde hair and blue eyes are a ‘killer combination’ according to girls, he is 5'10, and has a nice body with muscles at the right places. He is the funny and carefree one in our group, joking and pulling pranks all the time. His carefree attitude tends to affect his studies at times but Olive and I take care of that.

Next is Olivia, our Olive. She is shy but with us she is the complete opposite, like a wild bear. Olivia is 5'4 with fiery red hair, her forest green eyes are vibrant, she has the ideal figure not too curvy and not too less. It is sad to witness that Sam doesn’t see her the way she admires him. The sound of the bell ring alerts us for our first period. Olive and I have English together and Sam has Stats.

''My ladies, see you later.'' he salutes us and jogs away towards his guy friends, giving them bro hugs and fist bumps, then walks with them to his class.

''Come on Olive or we will be late.'' I say to her as I hurriedly take out my English book from my locker. When I don't receive any response, I turn towards her to find her looking at the empty corridor where Sam was standing a minute ago. I pinch her upper arm.

''Tina! What was that for??'' she shrieks.

''For standing here like a love sick puppy and not doing anything while other girls are all over your man.'' I semi yell at her.

''He's not my man, an-and if he does not feel the same way? I'm scared of being rejected or worse if he would end our friendship?'' she voices out her doubts getting teary eyed. I feel sorry for her. She has made me promise to stay out of this.

''Olive, you should at least give it a try, who knows maybe things will work out between the two of you?'' I try to cheer her but she sighs.

''I guess, maybe.''

I pinch her once again, ''now what??'' she glares rubbing her arm, making me chuckle.

“We're late because of you lover girl.'' I point out, finally we walk to our class.

The day goes by quite fast with nothing new out of the ordinary, it is soon time for lunch. We go to the cafeteria. I scan around to look for Sammy and find him flirting with one of the cheerleaders, they are sitting way too close. I glance beside me and no doubt Olive has a sad expression on her face. She turns to me sensing my gaze and gives me a fake smile. I grab her hand and pull her with me towards Sam.

''Sam!'' I call him sternly, he glances at us, he smiles moving away from her but not before whispering something in her ear which makes her giggle. She doesn't even know how to giggle, looks like she's choking, I roll my eyes mentally.

''Hi ladies.'' he greets us clapping his hands together and stares at us with an expectant smile. I take a seat opposite to him but notice Olive still standing in front of our table. She glares at him hard then stomps her feet and marches away towards the exit.

''What's wrong with her?'' he asks looking puzzled.

''You tell me?'' I fire back. 

''How the hell am I supposed to know? She's been acting weird lately, have you noticed Tina?'' He asks me confused.

''Sam, I think you know what’s wrong, quit playing around.'' I can't hide the irritation in my voice. Sam acting dumb is now getting on my nerves, like seriously dude the signs are all very clear.

''I don't know what's up with you two these days, I'll go get her.'' He says with an annoyed sigh and stands up, he jogs towards the direction where Olive went just a few moments ago.

Time passes by and the bell for the next period rings. Where are these two?? I sat alone today. I angrily stand up and make my way to search for my so called best friends. I search the library, girl's restroom and some other classrooms but there is no sign of them.

I sigh and decide to give up, I make my way to history class. I was just passing the janitors room when I hear someone whispering. Curiosity gets the best of me, and before I know I find myself opening the door.

My eyes widen in shock at the sight in front of me.

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I know this chapter is long and boring but it is to show Tina's social life and how normal her life was before the havoc comes.