PROLOGUE
YOU'RE ON
YOU'RE ON
"Well... That's just perfect."
Alison Anderson groaned the second her eyes met the kitchen floor. It was more of a mess than she'd ever seen before in her 15 years of life, and how her little sibling had managed to do it in one hour was beyond her. Another thing that didn't make sense: why in the HECK would the tiny little girl have tried to cook? She wasn't old enough to reach the cupboard yet. She probably wasn't even old enough to know how to spell 'cupboard'!
She waded through an unidentifiable sea of mush that once was food and felt heat on her bare feet. So this was fresh. That would explain why her parents hadn't noticed yet. Any minute now they'd come down here.
She plopped herself down in her favorite chair- with the dark wood and blue cushion- and expertly snatched an apple from a bowl of fruit, taking a large, juicy bite. At least this wasn't getting blamed on her- she'd just returned from school; there was no way she could have done it. The little pipsqueak was finally in trouble now.
She eased back, her legs still slightly worn out from track not ten minutes ago. Her navy uniform, despite being Alison's favorite color, was far too revealing for her liking. She'd have to change once she was done eating.
Her thought was interrupted by heavy footsteps descending the stairs and Alison looked up. Her mother entered the room, eyed the mess, and groaned. "What did your sister do this time?" she inquired grumpily.
Alison opened her north, but her mother's hand stopped her, clasping over it. "Wait." She ran a hand through the shining copper hair she'd passed down to her daughter. "I'll forget what I was going to say. Sweetie, you know about your Uncle Roy?" She removed her hand.
Alison instantly stiffened at the mention of her Uncle's name. "Yes," she said coldly, stiffly. How could she forget about him? How could she forget about... Georgia? She nearly shuddered at the remembrance.
"Well," her mother began tenderly, slowly, taking her time and being cautious, "you see... your father, sister and I are going to go visit him."
"No," Alison declined instantly, standing and backing up quickly. "No. I'm not going."
Her mother was quick to reassure her, "I know, I know, Alison. You're not coming. I know." She placed both hands on Alison's shoulders. "I'm not making you visit him after what happened in Georgia..."
This time, Alison really did shudder. Then the words hit her over the head like a sack of wet cement and dragged her down with them. "Wait... So you're not making me go?"
"No," her mother insisted, "we aren't. So... Since we'll be gone for a week, and I don't want you to be all by your lonesome, I was thinking..."
She looked up meaningfully and Alison's cloud-grey eyes flashed. "Mom! Really?!" she exclaimed in disbelief, bursting up and out of the chair into which she'd eased herself. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?!"
Her mom laughed jollily. "Judging by what I think you're saying, you think you're saying what you think I'm saying." She paused, then added, "And you're right."
Alison threw her hands into the air and began to hop about like a clinically insane bunny rabbit. "YES! YES! WEEK LONG SLEEPOVER!" she shouted to the sky, so incredibly ecstatic at her situation. One full week of her best friends and her watching re-runs of Criminal Minds and White Collar on the T.V. in the living room. This was just wonderful!
"Two weeks," her mom corrected, met with a look of astonishment. "We're then staying a week at Aunt Milda's," she explained her reasoning. After all, one week plus one more week is two weeks.
Alison had honestly never been happier. Not only had she averted the crisis of having to visit Aunt Milda's and Uncle Roy, now she had two weeks alone with her friends. Two whole weeks- 14 days! 336 hours! She threw her hands in the air and shouted her best-known happiness-shower: "HOWDIE HOO!" Her mother laughed and ruffled her daughter's hair happily.
"When do you leave?" she asked, perhaps a bit too eager.
Her mother threw her head back and laughed again at her daughter's eagerness. "That's just it. Right now. What your little sister was trying to make was goodbye cookies."
With one last kiss to the stunned girl's forehead, her mother stood and exited the house with a fading, "Bye, honey! The three people on your speed-dial will be here in five minutes!"
Alison had no idea why her mother had waited to tell her at first. Then it dawned on her. She hadn't wanted to make her wait. This way, there wasn't the torturous period of 'when will they get here?' or 'how much longer?'.
She didn't waste any more time in running up the stairs to her room as quickly as she could, entering the pig-stye of a living arrangement and picking up the first clothes she found, though they smelled musty and were likely in dire need of a wash. She ended up in an old gray T-shirt with words too faded to make out and yellow-and-red plaid shorts. She quickly slipped fuzzy purple socks over her cold feet and ran down the stairs again.
Not so much as a minute had passed since her mom had claimed 'five minutes' when the doorbell rang. She was only halfway down the stairs, but quickly jumped the last five and stumbled onto the carpet, rushing to fling the door open.
The next thing she saw was a flurry of navy as a school-clad girl darted through the now-open door, taking that as an invitation, and tackled her into a hug. "Alison!" she cried happily, her pleated uniform skirt swaying.
"Patty!" Alison replied, equally exited as she wrapped her arms around Patty's neck and squeezed with all her happiness, hoping she didn't suffocate the blonde.
"Two weeks!" Patty squealed back.
The two spun around happily in each other's death grips for quite a while before calmly letting go and brushing themselves off like nothing had happened. Patty smiled softly, her brown eyes warming Alison's very soul with how much friendship was stuffed into them. "I can't wait to tie you up, little birdie," she teased, ruffling the younger (if only by a year) girl's hair with a big grin.
Alison scoffed and crossed her arms. "Please, Patty, I will so get you first."
Patty laughed and leaned in, accepting the challenge. "You're on."
The doorbell tang and both girls charged for the door like they were fleeing from a bomb. They flung it open at the same time, each grabbed a freckly wrist, and pulled the pale girl inside.
She yelped in shock and struggled for half an instant before calming, realizing it was just them. She smiled shyly and adjusted her glasses. "Hi, Alison. Hi, Patty."
"HI, SUSAN!" both girls screamed in unison, hyped up on the idea of being together, undisturbed. "TWO WEEKS!"
Susan laughed much more tamely. "I've heard," she chuckled, her eyes shimmering with blue glints of hidden mirth. "I can't wait. I assume we'll be tying each other up?"
"Definitely!" Alison chirped. "I'm gonna tie up you two first, though."
Susan suddenly laughed in belittlement and disbelief. "No way, Josè," she chuckled, "I'll totally get to you first."
Patty, being the athletic girl she was, quickly tackled Susan playfully, making certain she landed safely on the plush carpet. "Sorry Susan, but I'm getting you both first." She gently held Susan's wrists in place, as if to prove her point.
Susan smirked. "Oh, it's on," she declared, not at all intimidated by her predicament. Patty smirked back at the weaker girl in total confidence.
"Uh... Patty?"
Many heads snapped up. "Elli!" Patty cried, jumping to tackle the newest arrival into a hug, but Elli didn't even stumble as she threw her weight into her. "We're all here!"
Susan gave the other brunette a look of thanks and rose. Elli nodded and smiled even more shyly than Susan had. "H-hi, Alison, Susan."
"Hi, Elli, what had you so late?" Alison teased lightly.
Elli's blush was very heavy and she looked down. "I- um- I-"
"Relax," Alison laughed, throwing an arm around the slightly younger girl's shoulder. "I was just kidding. You're actually a little early. Although... It's still late."
They all turned to the clock, which blinked 9:07 at them, then shrugged in unison and made a collective break for the TV. Now wasn't a time for sleep, now was a time for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
The timid girl she was, Elli offered shyly, with a blush, to make the popcorn, and Susan offered very specific information of popcorn that only her, being a genius, would know.
A good four hours later, they all stumbled off to sleep- the three guests in previously-stored sleeping bags and Alison in one she brought out from the closet. They fell asleep in the living room together, on the plush carpet.
They would need their sleep.
Because it was on.
And one of the girls already had a few ideas...
END