“I’m not really an animal person,” I said as the floorboards outside my room creaked. “Especially not snakes.”
The door banged open. “Corn snakes aren’t dangerous,” Jordan said as he barged in. His double, Jack, followed behind him with a video camera in hand, and a green flashing light let me know that he was recording.
Jack nodded his head. “We wanted a python, but Mom won’t let us get one.”
“Yeah, my friend’s older brother Nick has a python,” Jordan said excitedly. “He told me this one time, the tank broke. Snakes are ectothermic, and he needed to keep it warm, so at night Nick put the python in his bed and used his body heat. Instead of curling up like it normally did, the python straightened itself out on the bed. It wouldn’t eat either, so Nick thought something was wrong with it. He brought the python into the vet, and they said it was stretching itself out so it could eat him! How awesome is that?”
I gaped at the twins in horror. Apparently my definition of “terrifying” was equivalent to Jordan’s for “awesome.”
“If I had a snake,” Cole started, “I’d probably let it eat you, Jo. You obviously don’t know anything about knocking.”
“Dad sent us up here to tell you that if any of us are alone in a room with Jackie, the door has to stay open. Therefore no knocking is required, dickwad,” Jordan replied, crossing his arms over his chest in defiance.
“Fine. That doesn’t explain why you’re still here. You told us about Dad’s stupid rule. Now leave.”
“I wasn’t done. We also came up to inform Jackie that she’s our new subject.”
“Subject?” I asked.
Cole rolled his eyes. “These two morons think they’re going to be film directors one day. They’re always trying to find interesting subjects for what they think will be the documentary of the century.”
“It will be award winning,” Jack added, turning to me. “Jordan and I realized at dinner that you’d be perfect. Too bad I didn’t have our camera then. We were hoping we could reenact the scene.”
“Fat chance that will happen. What will you say? ‘Hey, Mom, do you mind if we destroy the kitchen again? We promise we’ll clean up all the spaghetti sauce.’”
Ignoring Cole, I responded to the twins. “I’d prefer if you didn’t film me at all. I don’t really care to be your next film subject.”
“But you don’t understand,” Jordan said. “You’re the first female in the Walter house. This is monumental.”
“You do remember that you have a mother and a little sister, right?” Cole pointed out.
“Mom doesn’t count because she’s, well, our mother. And Parker doesn’t even have boobs yet.”
A knock on the door interrupted the conversation. One of the older boys was standing outside the bedroom as if he was afraid to come in. “Um, Cole?” he asked, barely looking at me.
“Yeah, what’s up, Danny?”
When Cole said his brother’s name, it clicked. Now I remember, I thought, as I looked him over and noticed the facial hair. Danny was Cole’s fraternal twin.
“Erin is here for you,” he mumbled, “waiting at the front door.” When he finished delivering his message, Danny spun on his heels and left.
“That’s my cue.” Cole stood up from the bed. “Come on, you two,” he said, pushing his younger brothers toward the door. “Leave Jackie alone for now. She’s had a long day.”
“Fine,” Jack grumbled. “We can discuss your contract in the morning, Jackie. Jordan and I have been pooling our allowances for a while now, and we can pay you handsomely.” Without another word, the pair ran off, leaving me alone with Cole.
“I really don’t want to be in their movie,” I repeated with a sigh.
“If you ignore them long enough, they’ll move on to something else.”
“I guess, but your family is really overwhelming, and I just want everyone to forget about dinner.”
“Tomorrow will be easier, okay? I’ll see you in the morning before school.”
“Oh, great,” I moaned and flopped back onto my pillow. “School.” I was so caught up in the dinner disaster that I almost forgot that I would be going to a public school for the first time in my life.
“Don’t worry,” he said with a yawn. Griping his elbow, Cole stretched his arm out over his head and I quickly looked away from his rippling muscles. “It will be a breeze.”
“Easy for you to say,” I said, tugging my mother’s locket back and forth across the chain. “I’ve gone to the same boarding school since I was eleven. The thought of a public school scares me.”
“I promise you’ll do fine.” Cole chuckled as he stepped out into the hall. “Night, Jackie.”
“Good night, Cole,” I responded. Suddenly, a thought ran through my head.
“Wait,” I called just as he was about to shut the door. “Who’s Erin?”
Cole paused before responding. “Just a friend.”
When he shut the door, I held my breath and listened to him leave. A few seconds later, I heard his feet pound down the stairs.
Then, “Hey, Erin.”