l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l lGodzilla
“Did anyone wake up Sarah?”
“No, I thought mom did,” Petunia said as she swallowed another bite of her waffle.
“I didn’t. I thought your father did,” Mom responded.
Petunia gulped down another glass of pulp free orange juice and rolled her eyes. Dad looked at the clock and then towards Petunia.
“Can you go wake up your sister,” he asked.
“No! Why am I the one who has to wake her up? I thought she set her alarm for 6:45.”
“Sarah did. But apparently she slept through it.”
“Again. Ugg, fine. I’ll wake her up. Nothing ever changes around here.”
I quickly shut my eyes and pretended to be asleep. The usual debate over who would wake me up had already taken place. As always it was my sister Petunia’s job to get me out of bed. I squinted my eyes for a peek towards the door. My sister was stomping her way to my room as if she was Godzilla about to destroy an entire city. I pictured Petunia breaking through my door with her arms raised up and legs spread far apart. I was about to laugh at the image that was replaying in my mind when suddenly my door flung open. I lay still and closed my eyes. Godzilla had arrived.
“Get up!” Petunia screamed as she jabbed at my stomach.
“Oww,” I mumbled as I rubbed my stomach.
“Wake up. I said wake up!”
I continued patting my stomach in pain. That was definitely going to leave a mark. I pulled my sheets over my face as I ignored Petunia’s yelling. Frustrated, Petunia yanked my warm sheets off of me in one swift motion. A gust of cold air brushed over my entire body. I curled into a small ball and complained, “It’s cold! Give me my sheets back.”
“Stop whining and get out of bed it’s already 7:15. You’ve been lying there for thirty minutes already. We are going to be late for school.”
I got out of bed and put on some clothes without bothering to turn on the light. Then I slowly shuffled to the kitchen where I took a small bite of my breakfast, and slung my backpack over my shoulder. Meanwhile, Petunia zoomed past me pacing up and down the house.
“Could you walk any slower? We are going to be late to school, and I have never been late before. I woke up at the same time as you, yet I was ready 15 minutes earlier. Why can’t you just jump out of bed and get ready?” I rubbed my eyes and stared down toward my new green vans. I ignored my sister’s complaints too tired to respond.
“Hello? You know it’s rude to ignore someone? Don’t you ever listen to mom and dad when they tell you to make eye contact and answer when someone asks you a question?” Petunia was starting to get on my nerves.
“You know I’m not a morning person.”
“So! That doesn’t mean you have to be Ms. Grouchy Pants in the morning,” Petunia said.
Did she really just call me Grouchy Pants? Ouch, that hurt.
“Whatever, just unlock the car.” I decided it was too early to argue with Petunia.
Click. Click. Click. Click. “Oh my god! Sarah just pick a radio station and stick to it.” I mumbled under her breath and continued to change the station. Justin Timberlake’s newest hit single Sexy Back started blasting through the stereo. I turned it up even more as I tried to block out my sister’s annoying voice.
“Ew! Not Justin Timberlake. I hate this song with a passion. Turn it down and change the radio station.” Finally finding energy to talk I responded, “No. I like this song. Just focus on driving.”
Petunia was outraged. “I am the driver. I get to decide what we listen to and I don’t want to listen to a stupid song like Sexy Back.”
In disgust Petunia reached down to change the station. Lincoln Park started playing and she contently continued driving. I poked the number 5 button so that Sexy Back came back on. It wasn’t that I disliked Lincoln Park. In fact, I loved their new album. But I knew this would tick off my sister. Sure enough Petunia turned to give an evil glare at me and retaliate. Pretty soon it was a mad war for changing the radio station. Click, click, click, click.
“You are so immature Sarah!” Petunia finally gave in. I chuckled as she relaxed and started humming along to Sexy Back. Waiting for Petunia to say something else, I began counting down. Six, five, four, three. It had to be sometime soon. Petunia could never let something like this go. Two, one! “Why are you so stupid. You are such a baby. I’m telling mom and dad when we get home.” I smiled as I wondered how it was possible my sister was the older one.
“Me? Ha! You are immature,” I knew that acting as if I was unaffected by what my sister said, would get to Petunia the most. Sure enough Petunia kept trying to come back with something insulting. Unable to hurt my feelings Petunia stopped talking.
Both of us flung our doors open as soon as the car stopped. We both walked to the trunk and grabbed our backpacks without speaking. Not even a glance was exchanged as we turned in opposite directions.
