Shennan sighed quietly to herself. I just know I'm going to regret this. She thought miserably to herself, catching the end of Stefani's and Taylor's phone conversation.
Putting on a sugar sweet façade she said out loud, "Stefani, if you want, I can cover for you tonight."
"Really?" She asked in shock.
Shennan forced a bright smile, "Of course. I'll stay in your camp bed, while Mykah stays in mine. No one will know."
"But what if someone finds out?" She asked worriedly.
"How? Is Mykah going to tell them?" Shennan questioned, arching an eyebrow quizzically.
Stefani refrained from running and giving her sister a hug. So she was more than surprised when Shennan had hugged her lightly, but she did hug her back.
"I guess I should just get to used to the idea of having a sister and helping her out now and again." She said shrugging, "But do me a favor." She said as she pulled away.
"Anything!" Stefani said smiling brightly.
"Get your mum to leave Mykah alone." She pleaded. "And me too!" She added quickly.
She laughed loudly, "I'll talk to her about it." She said grinning, "She's just trying to make everything work out right." She explained.
Shennan nodded, "I figured that." She said wryly. "But I swear I'll hurt her if she doesn't leave him alone." She warned.
Quickly Stefani was racing over to the window; she stuck her hands out and grasped onto the tree branch, then turned and smiled at her sister. 'Bye.' She mouthed before climbing down the big pine.
"Yeah." Shennan said dryly. "Bye."
Mykah had come in quietly, and she instructed him to sleep in her camp bed while she waited for Stefani to return. And near an hour later, she had.
"Goodnight." Stefani whispered when she snuggled down deep into her covers.
"Goodnight." Shennan said drowsily as she started to fall asleep.
"Goodnight." Mykah whispered to Shennan quietly.
Stefani smiled to herself as her eyes closed on their own, "See you in the morning, Mykah." She murmured before falling asleep.
Shennan had gotten up before Mykah and Stefani had. Being jolted awake by fear, but of what, she didn't know.
Deciding to let her siblings sleep, she crept outside to read quietly.
Getting comfortable on an old wooden chair on the back porch, Shennan opened her copy of 'MacBeth' and began to read.
"Shennan?" Someone called out.
Groaning from the interruption, she looked up to find the owner of the voice. When she noticed it was Isaac she frowned, "Oh, it's you."
"Oh, I didn't know you were reading." He said shortly as he began to turn back around. Didn't know you could read. He thought hastily.
"What is it, Isaac?" Shennan asked sitting up so that he could sit on the footstool. She did have some manners!
Waiting a second, he took the seat. "Thanks." He mumbled. "I know we got off on the wrong foot." He started.
"We didn't even start off." She interrupted him.
Looking over her pointedly, he continued, "Yeah, well, anyway I wanted to say that I was sorry."
Shennan smiled innocently at him, "For what?" She asked sweetly. "For being a…" She searched for the word she wanted, "A jerk?"
Isaac angrily stood up then and loomed over her. "Look! I came here to apologize and I did. But now I'm taking it back!" He said coldly before stalking away.
She smiled to herself triumphantly and shrugged her shoulders, before going back to her book.
Only to be interrupted a minute later.
"Did I hear Isaac out here?" Ryan asked as he leaned his head out the sliding glass door.
Closing her book stiffly, Shennan looked up at him in annoyance. "Yes, he was. Why?"
He stepped out, "Just wondering if it was him or not." He responded, taking the stool as a seat.
"What, did you think I was an impressionist and that I talked to myself?" Shennan asked bitterly as she shook her head.
Ryan gave her a strange look. "You and him fought again, huh?"
She sighed, "We’ve been fighting since we first met." She said getting up.
"Well," He said getting up as well. "Maybe you two really like each other." He said grinning.
"And you're a wazzok if you think that." She stated going for the door. "And if I ever did end up liking him… it'd go down in the record books."
"And why is that?" Ryan questioned, amused.
"Because that's the day hell will have frozen over." She replied stepping inside the house.
She could hear Ryan's laughter even after she had closed the glass door.
Shennan walked into the room that her and Stefani were sharing, and saw Stefani brushing Mykah's hair.
The scene made her smile. She was glad to see Mykah trusting Stefani. "Hello you." She said kissing him on the top of his head, when she walked over to the two.
Mykah kissed her back. Making sure that the door was closed all the way, he said softly, "Good morning." Then smiled brightly at his sister, his eyes sparkling with delight.
"Morning." Shennan said to Stefani. "So how'd it go last night with Taylor."
Stefani smiled, and slightly blushed. "It was great. Thanks for asking and for covering for me. It's hard to do it when I'm the only one here." She said laughing.
Shennan laughed. "So tell me about it." She said as she sat on her bed, Mykah sitting on her lap.
"Well, we talked and stuff." She said as she blushed a darker shade.
"Ooh. Stuff." Shennan said looking down at Mykah. "In meaning of the word stuff, she means snogging." She said laughing as Mykah made a disgusted face.
Stefani gave her a strange look, and Shennan smiled to herself. Making the cultural gap known again.
"You should go get ready." She said placing Mykah off her lap and on the floor. "We might do something today." She said slyly.
"What?" Mykah asked.
Shennan shrugged and looked at Stefani. "Don't know yet. But we'll figure something out." She said playfully pushing him towards the door.
He smiled and left.
"You're lucky to have some one younger than you." Stefani said slightly enviously.
"You do too, you know?" She said taking some clothes out of her suitcase.
"Who?" Stefani asked curiously.
"Father told me last night before we went down, that I was younger than you." She replied looking at her. "I thought you knew."
Stefani shook her head, then smiled. "You mean I have a younger sister?" She asked happily.
Shennan laughed weakly. "Yeah, but only by about three minutes." She stated.
Instantly, Stefani hugged her. "I'm definitely going to make those three minutes count." She said trying to be stern.
"Whatever." Shennan said before she left to change in the bathroom.
Stefani was smiling weirdly, Mykah was kicking both Shennan and Stefani under the table and Shennan was in her own little world.
"What's up with you three?" Mr. Launders asked suspiciously.
Quickly, Shennan snapped out of her trance. She smiled slyly at her father. "Nothing, Father." She replied coolly.
Mr. Launders smiled back. "I'll find out sooner or later." He stated. "Well, your mum and I are going out for a while." He said standing up and pulling Ms. Hurst's chair out for her.
Ms. Hurst smiled up at him and took the hand he offered her. "We'll be back later. There's some money on the 'fridge for a pizza." She said as she walked away with Mr. Launders.
Shennan watched them go and sighed. "You think they'll get back together?" She asked Ryan and Stefani.
"Nah." Ryan said shaking his head.
"I don't know. They seem pretty serious." Stefani said shrugging.
"So what are we going to do?" Shennan asked draining the last of her orange juice.
Making sure that Mykah was finished eating his fruit, she took his bowl and hers and placed them in the dishwasher.
"We can go over to the Hanson's and see if we could hang out." Stefani suggested smiling.
"You just want to spend time with Taylor." Ryan said laughing.
She simply continued on smiling and shrugged her shoulders. "And so what if I do?" She asked.
Shennan watched them and forced a tight smile, "C'mon. Let's go." She said taking Mykah's hand.
Stefani, Mykah, Shennan, and Ryan were at the Hanson's and were eating the pizza outside. After just talking for about an hour they all decide to order the pizza at once and eat it at the Hanson's.
"That was good." Shennan said as she lay down on the ground. She was watching Mykah and Mackie playing in a small sandbox. She smiled at the sight.
"They could practically pass as brothers." Stefani pointed out lazily as she looked in the same direction as Shennan.
Shennan nodded her head slowly. "It's good that he has someone his age around here." She said still watching her stepbrother.
Mackie and Mykel got a soccer ball and were kicking it around.
"Never did like playing football." She muttered.
"That's soccer." Isaac said irritably, still not over this morning's encounter with her.
Shennan shook her head, "No, Mykah and Mackie are playing football."
Taylor laughed, "Football in England, soccer in the US."
"Whatever." Shennan replied shaking her head and continued watching the two.
They had kicked the ball across the street, and Mykah and Mackie both started to chase after it when Shennan and Isaac both screamed for them to stop.
While he ran to get them, she went to get the ball.
When she heard Mykah screaming as he laughed, she looked up and saw Isaac tickling him. He doesn't like to be tickled. She thought to herself.
Then as if in slow motion, Mykel got out of Isaac's grip and started to run towards her for help.
Shennan saw the car coming; but the driver had their head down looking at or for something. She screamed for him to stop, but she must not have screamed loud enough, because he kept running towards her.
Running as fast as her legs could let her, she was able to push Mykah away from the car. Unfortunately she was not as lucky. The car hit her, and she flew up onto the hood. When the driver slammed on their brakes, she landed on the cold road.
Before she closed her eyes she saw Mykah hovering above her, and she felt a warm liquid running into her right eye. Uh, oh. She thought carefully to herself. That's blood.
She remembered hearing screaming and shouting and then total blackness. She thought she felt someone picking her up, and she would've opened her eyes to see if she was, but it was too hard for her.
She tried to move, but that was too hard also. So she decided to do the easiest thing she thought she could at the time. Sleep.
