"No! Absolutely not! It is hard enough to write my own," replied Tristan, exasperated as Tommy and Shane jump back in surprise.
"Oh? But why? Is it because I put your laundry basket on the roof?" asked Tommy with a sincere look on his face.
Tristan stood with one hand on the door, while covering her face with the other as laughter began to explode from her. Against her greatest wishes, a smile formed across her face as she remembered her school uniform that was drenched unforgivingly after being left outside during a particularly brutal rain storm.
"As much as I hated you that day, this is not about that. You have a brain of your own. You do it," retorted Tristan.
Tommy stared back at her, "I have to think of a thousand words to write about Dad. Do you know how hard that is?"
“Easier than writing a thousand on our mother!” Tristan reminded him.
“Yeah… I’ll give you that…”
Tristan smirked at her older brother and pinched his cheek, "I'm sure you'll manage... and you, Shane! I would love to be able to write an essay on Aunt Bridgette. Give me a break! You better hold some interviews and get your quotes!"
Doing her best impression of Mr. Kendricks, Tristan pushed her nose into the air pompously, and spoke in her best snooty voice, "This is where your inner investigator will come into play!"
Quickly, Tristan turned on her barefoot heel to bid the pair adieu as a boisterous banging sounded from the kitchen, a floor below. A wooden spoon banged against a metal pot, the clattering noise repeating over and over again. As the drumming song ceased, the loud cry of a female’s voice called from the first floor landing.
"Dinner! Get it while it's hot!"
No longer face to face with Tommy and Shane, she watched as their dirty socks left massive smudged on the carpet all the way down the hall. The mess cascaded down two flights of winding steps, the boys remarkably like a herd of elephants stampeding throughout the house.
"I told you she wouldn't do it!" said Shane gruffly to Tommy as they clambered down the steps.
The boy who stood in the shadows looked up and smiled at Tristan. Quietly, he closed the distance between them.
“Hey, Cole…” Tristan said softly.
Cole smiled, his sweet face lighting up every time he saw her. He leaned in to kiss her, but she cut him short, putting her hand on his chest.
“What if my father sees?!”
Cole shrugged.
“You know he’ll go ballistic…”
“I’ll meet you at the lake later, then…” Cole said with a mischevous smile on his face.
“Okay…” Tristan said smiling back.
Then, without warning, Cole kissed her. A quick peck on her lips, and before she could protest, he was retreating down the hall with an amused look on his face.
"Did someone say dinner?" asked Blake as he poked his head out of the bedroom doorway. Tristan was blushing and Blake stared at his sister with a bewildered look on his face.
“What’s up with you?” he asked with one eyebrow raised.
“Nothing… Mind your business!” Tristan said as she made her way down the hallway.
At the sound of the dinner call, Blake's bored expression turned into a look of eagerness. Although he appeared to be just skin and bones, Blake had a notoriously large appetite that could rarely be squelched. Tristan nodded with a smirk on her face as the pair walked down to the dining room together. Hungry members of the household quickly grabbed their places around the long dining room table. A mountain of a man with a gruff manner sat down at the head of the table without saying a word. His faded flannel shirt of red and black squares was covered in dust from working in the fields. A blue trucker hat donned his head, covering up his salt and pepper wavy hair. Beneath the brim of the hat was a weathered, yet handsome face that provided neither smile nor comfort. Jack was not having a good day.
Tristan and Blake were among the last to arrive at the table and were met with a perturbed glare from their father, which prompted them to quickly take their seats. From the kitchen, another obnoxious metallic clattering caused Jack to raise his eyebrow towards the white kitchen door. Wearily, he returned his focus to the children that were sitting at his dining room table, his children, nephew, and the sorely out of place Cole Piedmonte. Jack cleared his throat indicating that he required silence.
In a hoarse voice he spoke, "I received a call from Kendricks today."
From around the table groans sounded from eight voices of varying octaves. Jack stared at his family as he watched the many different reactions to his simple statement and smirked in spite of himself. Tristan rolled her eyes profusely at the sound of her teacher’s name, Tommy and Shane raised their fists in rage. Blake was so overcome with annoyance that he curled his lip up in distaste, as if he smelled something that was truly offensive. Tommy, in an attempt to distract Jack from the task at hand, created a diversion.