Into My Own

I was happy to wake up on Saturday morning with no traces of a hangover.

The house was quiet and my thundering footsteps down the stairs contrasted strangely. Mom was at the kitchen table doing something on the computer.

"Morning," I called cheerfully, retrieving a cup of coffee.

My mother glanced up but didn't return my greeting--something that wasn't a rare occurrence in my life.

I grabbed a bagel and sat down at the table to stuff my face. The silence was thick.

Eventually, she closed the laptop, removed her reading glasses and cleared her throat.

"So how was last night? You have a good time?" Her accusing tone didn't even bother me. I was used to it.

"Yeah, it was great," I responded through a mouthful, half kidding as the memory of crying myself to sleep hit again.

She cleared her throat one more time.

"You were twenty minutes late."

I didn't say anything.

"Is there a reason for that?" She raised her eyebrows expectantly.

I gulped, not sure how to get out of this one without getting in trouble.

"I wanted to drive safe. And we had to get the cooler together and stuff."

"Hmm. What did I say about missing curfew?" Her voice was measured.

I chose to look innocent instead of responding.

"I told you there would be consequences."

I bit my lip.

"You and Charlie are both grounded for two weeks. That means no going out at nights, or to the river, or anything like that. You can go to work and church, and that's it."

"Okay." I put my dishes away and slunk out of the house with my theoretical tail between my legs.

I poked my head in through the door of the shop where my dad was hunched over a stack of papers. "Did you feed already?"

"Yeah. But if you wanna give the steers a few flakes of hay, that'd be great."

"Okay. Anything else?"

"No, I think you're pretty much free today. Just don't go anywhere." He didn't elaborate, probably assuming mom had already doled out the punishments.

I headed over to the barn, cutting open a bale and giving a chunk to the two steers in the pen.

I saw mom and Charlie through the window and decided to go in from the basement and then proceed to my room. The best plan of action was to avoid the angry parents as long as possible.

Once safely in my bedroom, I opened the door to the small covered balcony coming off of it and settled on my little porch swing.

I spent a good forty minutes just sitting and watching everything happen below me. The swing was comfortable too, and I almost dozed off. I could've gotten a good nap in if Charlie hadn't banged on my door.

"C'mon in." I yawned.

He did just that, sitting next to me on the swing.

"Did mom yell at you?" He asked grimly.

"Yeah, pretty much. I saw her talking to you and came in from downstairs so I wouldn't have to get chewed out twice." I admitted sheepishly.

"Two weeks... Were we seriously that late?"

"We were pretty late. You don't remember?"

"Not really. I definitely wasn't sober."

"Good thing I was," I grinned.

"No kidding. But you drank a little."

"Yeah. Two beers and a ton of water."

"Still over the legal limit," he poked my side.

"As if you care about legalities!"

He shrugged.

"You got a hangover?"

"Nah. I didn't drink that much. It takes a lot to give me a hangover."

"You suck. I wish I wasn't a lightweight sometimes."

"Hey, it could be worse. You could be a one beer drunk!" His attempts at consoling me were in vain.

"Whatever. I can't change it anyway." I muttered.

"Oh don't get mad. Just take a nap or something and maybe we can come up with something to do later. Something that won't get us in trouble."

"Staying out of trouble is always good... And I was almost asleep when you barged in here, completely uninvited," I teased.

"Hey, you said come in!" He retorted.

"Whatever."

"Fine. I'm leaving!" He held his hands up in surrender as he exited my room, closing the door.

I groaned and went back inside to get my phone.

The screen showed several texts and a missed call.

Landon asked if I got home safe while Justin sent some completely illegible drunk text.

The missed call was also from Justin.

It was almost eleven o'clock by the time I got tired of scrolling through my phone. I spent some time picking up my room with music blasting. Nothing But Summer played again, and I laughed at the irony. Of course, summer could be enjoyed from my house, but it wasn't near as satisfying as experiencing it with the boys. At least I only had a two week sentence before freedom kicked in again.

Summer Saturdays at our house were pretty chill. During the school year, it would be the day to clean up around the place or make wood. During the summer, we had many other days to do such things.

Deciding it was time for lunch, I hurried down the stairs two at a time, running smack into Torrin at the bottom.

"Watch it!" He yelled, shooting me a glare.

"Sorry." I mumbled under my breath.

"Why're you here anyway? Shouldn't you be out with the idiots crashing cars or something?"

Torrin and the boys had a mutual distaste for each other.

"Went out last night," I replied shortly.

"Yeah. I heard you got home late," he sneered, crossing his arms.

"Fifteen minutes."

"And you're grounded for what, two weeks? Good job, smart one."

It took a lot of self-control to refrain from punching the smug look right off his face. Instead I walked into the kitchen and began heating up a pan for some grilled cheese sandwiches.

As if on cue, Charlie entered the room right as they were ready.

"Hungry?" I handed him a plate.

"Starving. Thanks." My tall, dark haired brother grinned.

Charlie and Torrin had both inherited the dark hair and eyes of our combined parents. I was the odd one out with my strawberry blonde hair and stormy blue eyes, plus the short stature. In fact, Torrin used to tell me I was adopted.

My brothers looked similar, except Charlie had longer, curly hair while Torrin's was kept short and straight. Their personalities, on the other hand, couldn't possibly be more different.

Charlie was a peacekeeper with a great sense of humor. Torrin, on the other hand, did anything and everything to buck the system. If he didn't like something, he wouldn't put up with it.

We ate in silence and then I tidied up the kitchen before taking a much needed nap.