Page 3 of Romeo
It’s so dark because the moon is hiding behind the clouds. We got to play because the club was having a party, and Dad said to go and play outside.
I like it when we get to play outside in the dark, but sometimes I don’t like it when the party goes on forever, because I get tired.
“Come on, Cherry, Sissy ran out to the fruit trees, so let’s follow her,” Candy says, pulling me along.
Sissy is Candy’s nickname for her sister Pandora; we call her Dora. My two older sisters, Halo and Pixie, always hide really well.
“Oh, this is so much fun,” I say, breathlessly looking for the boys wide-eyed.
“Yeah, it is. I love it when the boys want to play with us,” Candy says, nodding.
“Come on, Sissy, Cherry, hide before they find you,” Dora says, falling behind the large apple tree.
I run as fast as I can; I need to hide behind the huge bin where my brothers put the apples. I want to grab one because I’m so hungry. I run around the big bin and lean against the cold metal with my heart pounding fast in my chest. I’m so excited; it’s a little scary waiting for them.
I cross my arms, wrapping them around me and closing my eyes. I don’t want to be the first to get caught because I hate being the one looking for the boys. They hide where I can’t find them, so we girls end up always looking for them.
The boys don’t play fair, they all work together to find us but only let one of us girls look for them when it’s their turn to hide.
“I can smell you,” Ash says, laughing.
My heart pounds faster; I bit my lip to stop from yelling. Ash, Beau, and Josh are Candy’s and Pandora’s brothers, and Ash is the eldest of all of us.
“Yeah, I can smell their fear,” Thor says, clapping his hands.
Thor is my oldest brother, and then there’s Ace, and they’re just as bad as Ash, Beau, and Josh. My two older brothers always take care of us. All of the boys are so bossy, but they protect all of us at school, especially here at the clubhouse.
“Guys, I think that they went into the warehouse,” Ace says.
“I don’t think so because it’s always locked,” Beau shouts.
Beau always likes to scare me, I hug myself tighter, looking around the dark orchard.
“Josh and Kevin, you look for the girls behind those fruit trees,” Ash says.
“Okay,” Josh says.
“Let’s go look for them,” Kevin yells.
Josh and Kevin are the youngest of the boys. Josh is Candy’s brother, and Kevin doesn’t have any brothers. That makes me sad because his mommy left him. Mommy always says that shelikes to give Kevin some Mommy love and that we all should think of him as another brother. I don’t know about that because I think he’s so cute.
Oh my god, I can’t see them, but I can hear them. My heart pounds really fast, and I look around, but I can’t see the girls.
“I caught you,” Josh yells.
“Ohhh, run, Cherry,” I hear Candy shriek.
My heart starts pounding; it’s so dark, but I start to run. I run as fast as I can, but I can hear footsteps.
“I’m going to get you,” Kevin says, laughing.
I can feel him behind me; I look over my shoulder and trip over the fallen tree branch.
“Aaaug, ohhh,” I yell, falling onto my chest. I break the fall, extending my hands in front of me, but I hit my knees on the ground.
I start to cry; my knee hurts.
“Cherry, are you okay,” Kevin says, helping me to sit up.
