Ethan sat on his blue cushioned bed, his back against his headboard as he read a book. This was; Grimm's Book Of Fairytales, a book he got from the convention two days ago.
A brown paper bag sat on his desk, the same that held a book he had bought for Irene. He had thought of giving it to her that day. but ultimately decided against it as he thought she wouldn't accept. He had attached a tag on one of the bag's strings that read;
"To:
Irene Schottsman
From:
Ethan Pinwick"
He picked up the tag from the seller that day as they left, a decorative gift tag that was shaped like a book which made sense during the occasion.
"Ethan? Ethan!" His door bursts open as his little sister runs into his room, climbing onto his bed by gripping his bed coverings.
"What? I'm reading." He stated matter of factly as he turned on his side to ignore his sister. Marriane's cheeks inflated as she pulled on his shirt.
"You have to help me, oh come on." She sighs in defeat as he ignores her, sitting beside him on the bed before she thinks of something.
"Oh, my big brother. I have done such a terrible thing and— and I need your help." Marriane sniffles, forcing tears to gather in her mahogany eyes. Ethan groans and turns back around, looking at her with an unimpressed gaze.
He sets his book down and sits up, "what did you do now?" Asked the boy as if he knew she caused trouble which is what she always did. The girl's eyes lit up and she grabbed his cheeks, kissing them tenfold.
"Oh, I will never forget this act of kindness!" She giggles, hopping off his bed. Ethan huffs softly, based off of how much she's trying to butter him up she must have did something worse than what he could imagine.
"You know, mommy and daddy aren't home and I wanted to surprise them by cleaning the house since they always call me trouble! I'm not just trouble, I'm such a nice little girl." She explains as she leads him down the creaky stairs.
Ethan was surprised all right.
Definitely surprised.
"Oh, Marriane! You're a gonner, you're dead. If mother and father come home and see this…" Ethan begins as he looks down at all the unimaginable mess.
The kitchen got it the worse.
Bubbles were overflowing from the sink and completely covering half the counter, bleach was all over the hardwood floor and the mop was on the kitchen table. Oh, half the plates were smashed on the floor! What even happened to the straw broom?
"I know it looks bad, and it is bad. Oh, brother, I'm a gonner!" She weeps, collapsing on the floor and burying her face in her hands.
"Yeah, and I won't be coming to your funeral." He shrugs and gets ready to walk back upstairs before she grabs his ankle.
"Don't go, Ethan. You have to help me! I'm your little sister, you can't just leave me here." He looks back and stares into her teary puppy dog eyes for a moment.
"Yes, yes I can." He pulls his ankle away before walking up the creaky stairs, as he gets to the top, Marriane speaks up.
"If… If mother and father come home and see this chaos you'll get in trouble too!" She cries, making him stop and turn around with a raised brow.
"What are you on about, you made this mess." He says, crossing his arms as he looks down at her. Marriane sniffles and looks up at him from the bottom of the stairs.
"It won't just be my fault since you're supposed to be looking after me while they're out. You— you were supposed to be watching me. So you'll also get in some hot water." Her teary eyes are gone and replaced with a mischievous glint and grin.
Ethan sighs exasperately, the boy he knew it was the somewhat truth. When their parents were out, Ethan was the one responsible for Marriane.
"Fine, fine." He huffs, walking back downstairs. Marriane gets up and brushes the invisible dust off her dress.
Oh, let him not even see what she did to the living room. The laundry basket was flipped over and clothes were strewn over the couch and the cloth lamp that sat beside it and liquid all over the green carpet. It wasn't nearly as bad as the kitchen.
"I suppose… You do the living room and I'll do the kitchen. What a waste of my break." He sighs again and runs a hand through his curls before looking at this behemoth of what the kitchen beheld.
How was he supposed to clean these soap bubbles? He supposes she tried to clean the kitchen and he guessed he couldn't be mad at her for that.
"Ethan, I need help." She whines, picking up the clothes and dumping them into the black laundry basket.
"Do it yourself, I'm busy cleaning up your mess." He huffs as he puts on his mother's latex gloves that she kept under the sink.
Stepping over the broken porcelain, he grabs a sponge, putting it where he can see it before he rolls up his sleeves. She should be glad she didn't break any of mother's fine china.
He searches for the broom, finding it near the sink before he starts to clean up the shards from the plates before mopping up the bleach.
About an hour or two later, footsteps are heard approaching the front door and Ethan freezes.
"Ah, no! I'm not finished cleaning!" Marriane squeals, running around in a circle while holding her dirty pajama pants. Ethan drops the sponge on the counter before looking back and he watches the door open in what felt like slow motion.
"Father," Ethan greets nervously, gulping as the worst person imaginable that could arrive home considering the circumstances arrives.
Marriane was trembling bad and didn't move an inch, or breath either.
Their father's expression was indifferent as he looked around and saw the half-cleaned chaos in the kitchen and the clothes about strewn in the living room.
Then, he spoke. "Who made this mess?" He asks as he took off his hat, hanging it up on the hat rack near the front door.
Ethan saw how his sister was slowly turning into jelly and once he felt like she was about to speak up, "I did it." Ethan says as he takes off the latex gloves that covered his hands.
Their father looks between them blankly before he lets out a quiet sigh, undoing his tie.
"Lying isn't a good habit, boy." He replies as he goes into the kitchen and observes the mess.
"No, it was me, daddy!" Marriane admits, running up to their father and pulling on his sleeve.
"Don't blame Ethan, it was me who did it!" She cries, tugging on Mr. Pinwick's suit.
Their father pulls his hand away before raising an eyebrow and looking between the two of them.
"You both have until the time your mother gets home to clean up this mess. If she comes home and complains about a mess to me you both won't like what happens next." He warns before heading upstairs, leaving the two speechless.
"Oh, I am sorry brother! I didn't mean to get you into trouble, really." Marriane softly spoke as she fiddled with her small hands.
"It's not an issue, Marriane. Just finish cleaning the living room and i'll take care of the kitchen." Ethan ruffled her hair slightly, making her eyes light up with the joy of forgiveness.
"Oh, such a dear you are, brother!"
Then, the cleaning presumed.
Ethan wiped his forehead from the sweat that accumulated as he finally finished the kitchen.
He took a glance at his sister who, as expected, fell asleep on the couch shortly after completely what in reality was not very difficult to do.
"Oh, my!" Startled by the sudden voice, he whips his head over to his mother who was now standing by the front door. When had she come in?
"The place is simply sparkling! Oh, how divine. The kitchen is wonderful." She chirps as she twirls over to the kitchen archway, looking on proudfully even though she had not been here to clean it or witness the dreadful before.
Ethan smiles, happy his hard work paid off.
Then, she opens the cabinet above part of the counter. Marriane and Ethan stare quietly as their mother goes silent as she stares at the broken porcelien plates.
Ethan's expression took on one of fear. He didn't know what to do with the shattered plates so he quickly stuffed them in the cabninet beforehand.
Their mother slowly turned around and Ethan did the only thing he could think of.
He points to Marriane. "She did it, she shattered the plates!" He blurts out quickly, causing Marriane to gasp.
"You traitor! I trusted you—" She's cut off by Mrs. Pinwick. "It's not good to blame others for your wrong doings, Marriane. Come here, girl!" Marriane squeals as she avoids her mother's hand.
Ethan shrugs, you have to do what you have to do sometimes.
"Oi, Pinwick!" He hears, causing him to look around the spotless kitchen for the distant voice.
"Ethan!" He hears the voice again and his gaze goes out the kitchen window to someone running along towards him. He squints, trying to map out who it is to try and tell where he's seen those freckles and blonde hair before.
"Oh, Ryder." He concludes and puts the latex gloves back where he first got it from before hurridely putting on his shoes to meet the other boy outside.
Ryder, who has already reached the lawn stops walking up to the porch when Ethan opens the front door and slithers onto it himself.
"Ethan, want to go on a walk with me? Want to show you a place." He smiles slightly, putting a hand above his eyes to block out the glaring sun, who seemed to want to cook every living thing today.
The distant sounds of birds chirping filled the noon, oh and also the sound of Marriane getting scolded inside.
"A walk? Um, sure. When, now?" He inquires, leaning against the front door and crossing his arms.