After another boring family dinner …
… we all went into the family room to watch TV. Right as my favorite show was starting, the doorbell rang.
My mom asked me to get it, so I reluctantly got up and did as I was told. Usually when the doorbell rang, it was one of my friends, so I was typically the one my parents sent to go open the door. It wasn’t one of my friends this time. I wasn’t actually sure what it was.
I screamed, but I probably shouldn’t have, seeing how it was just my aunt Sally. She was wearing a medical mask and a bathrobe and breathing like Darth Vader with a cold. She didn’t want to come in because she was
I didn’t want to get any closer. I yelled for my dad and mom, and they came running to see what all the ruckus was about. The good news was … I mean the bad news was that my cousin Kyle had just come down with something called swamp fever, and now my uncle Paul had it and my aunt Sally probably did too. That was super sad, but even happier … I mean even sadder, they weren’t going to be able to go on the trip with us next week. I think my mom was okay with that. She kept smiling really big while she was telling my aunt Sally how sorry she was that they were sick.
My mom didn’t always get along with my aunt Sally. They had a disagreement a year ago about how people should raise their kids. I guess my mom thought that Kyle was a little out of control and that my aunt needed to discipline him a little more.
They got along a little better these days, but I could tell my mom was happy that she wouldn’t be trapped in an RV for a week with my aunt, Uncle Paul, and their wild kid, Kyle.
My dad was the most upset, although you couldn’t really tell because he always looked excited. He was worried about my aunt, but he was most concerned about who would use the three extra train tickets and the extra hotel room. Libby had an idea.
Melany was Maggie’s big sister. She was also Libby’s best friend. I liked her a little more than I liked Libby. She was loud and always talking about her boyfriend, Roy.
I told my parents that it wasn’t fair for Libby to bring Melany, because I couldn’t bring Trevor. Surprisingly, my mom said Trevor could go if his parents gave him permission. My dad jokingly asked Tuffin if he wanted to bring a friend, and he said,
Tuffin liked Jack. I think it’s because once when my mom got a bunch of whipped cream from the warehouse club store, Jack borrowed a couple of bottles and accidentally covered Tuffin with them while he was helping me babysit.
I don’t know if my parents were woozy from the dry chicken we had for dinner or if they had been replaced by aliens, but for some reason, they both agreed that I could bring Trevor and Jack, and Libby could bring Melany on our trip.
Libby and I didn’t waste a moment going to ask. We both knew that my mom could change her mind in an instant. I ran out the front door across the street to Trevor’s house, and Libby called Melany. At Trevor’s house, I rang the doorbell ten times.
Trevor answered the door wearing a paint smock. He was busy painting some scenery for Mustache and the Mighty Cool Adventure.
After he got done squealing, I told Trevor all the details. We would be leaving in a couple of days, we would be gone a week, and we would be riding in an RV. He was a little worried that his parents wouldn’t let him miss a week of school. That was a problem, so I told him to tell his parents that it was going to be super-educational and that we would be stopping at a bunch of landmarks and would get to ride a train. Plus, my mom would probably force us to sing songs about math. I also told Trevor that I was going to invite Jack as well.
Trevor ran off to ask his parents while I stood outside his front door. It seemed like forever, but finally he burst back out.
I couldn’t believe it. My life was really going well. Janae and I were kind of an item. Even though I didn’t know what kind of item exactly, but we were one.
And now I got to miss a week of school and go on a trip in an RV with my friends instead of my wonderful … I mean awful cousin, Kyle. Ever since Kat had come and gone, things were going swimmingly.
We ran over to Jack’s house and rang the doorbell at least twenty times. His older brother answered the door and gave us an evil glare.
Jack’s big brother was nice on some days and mean on others. He was in high school and used to be a star football player. But last year he had an accident on the field, and now he had a bum knee. I’m not really sure what that even means.
A few weeks ago, Jack’s big brother had started his own business making T-shirts. Not many people bought them because they were dumb.
When he wasn’t making T-shirts, he was throwing rocks at things, and because of that, he was always getting in trouble for throwing rocks at things. Last week he threw a rock at a window of the Awful House, and Aaron’s mom had seen him do it. So he was grounded for a few days. Now he was trying to act nice. He almost smiled and then went off to get Jack. When Jack came to the door, he was holding an old Barbie and a bottle of barbecue sauce.
I told Jack about the trip and how Tuffin had asked that he come along. I told him we’d get to miss a week of school and that we would be driving in an RV.
I told Jack that my whole family was going and that Libby was bringing a friend. I asked him if he wanted to come.
Jack’s family life was a little different than mine. He could stay out later, watch movies that were scarier, and use words around his parents that my mom wouldn’t approve of.
Apparently he could also go with his friends on weeklong trips to another state without asking permission.
This was going to be a great trip.