"ALEXANDRA!!!" a teenage girl screamed from somewhere on the second floor.
"What now?" I rolled my eyes, turning off my phone and grumbling as I heavily trudged up the carpeted stairs. To my surprise, a very "special" someone was waiting for me at the top.
"Can you explain what this is?" My older sister, Quinn, stood with one hand on her hip and the other holding a horizontally ripped hardcover book.
"Ummm, I thought you were like extra super-duper smart? It's a book, duhhh." I replied as sarcastic as humanly possible, purposely exaggerating my facial expressions to annoy her even more.
"No, I meant this." She shook her head and led me to her room at the end of the hall and opened the light blue door, shutting it behind us, to reveal a four-foot pile of books ripped in half, just like the one in her hand. She knowingly turned around, standing directly next to me, one hundred percent ready to yell at me for what I had done.
"Ummmm, what do you mean?" I asked, playing coy.
"Don't even try, Alexandra." I gulped, knowing that when she said my legal name with a deadpan face, I was utterly screwed, like the most screwed I've ever been in my life. "Now are you going to honestly tell me what you did to my precious books, or am I going to have to get one of Jasmine's potions?" Quinn threatened, pointing a finger at the light purple door down the hall.
"OKAY, okay! Yes, I broke'some' of your books." I gave in, fearing my life and the absolute emotional agony of spilling my secrets under the power of a truth serum.
"Just 'some'?" She raised an eyebrow, glancing at the very large pile of books that she adored lying dead on the tan carpet.
"Well, maybe a tad bit more than'some'." I squinted my eyes and showed her with my fingers.
"What in the world were you even doing with my books anyway?" Quinn asked, sighing.
"Oh, uh, hahahaha," I laughed nervously, twiddling my skinny fingers.
"JAS-" She suddenly called out
"ALRIGHT! I was using them as tatami mats because mom was busy and wouldn't draw me some more," I quickly stammered out.
"WHAT THE HECK!? DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TOOK TO COLLECT ALL OF THEM? And only for you to use your stupid cat claws on them!?" Her eyes widened in disbelief.
"THEY ARE NOT 'CAT CLAWS', AND THEY ARE NOT STUPID!" I yelled back, even louder.
"You better watch yourself, Alexandra Hua. I will revenge the death of my beloved babies." Quinn coldly stared at me with a smoldering look in her dark brown eyes.
"Try me; I dare you." I replied, knowing that I was riling up her anger and testing her dwindling patience.
"You had it coming," she said, and dove towards me like she was sliding onto 2nd base. Skillfully dodging her flying body with my speed and agility, I quickly sidestepped and watched as she literally ran into her own door. I watched and mentally mocked her as she sat up and rubbed her bruised forehead, grumbling and muttering a string of curses.
"5, 4, 3, 2, 1..." I counted to myself, knowing that when I hit zero, the door would burst open.
"0" BAM! The door popped right open like an entire S.W.A.T. team was about to raid Quinn's room. HAH, the best part is, when said door forcefully slammed open, Quinn just so happened to be sitting behind it.
"WHO'S HURT?!" The voice of my oldest sister, Erica, could barely be heard over the yelps and cries of pain coming from behind the door. I stood there, doing my best to not laugh but failing miserably when a snort slipped out of my mouth. Erica stepped into the book graveyard of a room and looked around, clearly judging its current state.
"I think Quinn died when you opened the door, Erica noona." Stated a small puff of black hair from behind the frantic eldest.
"UGH. Hey, I'm your noona too!" She complained of a scratchy ghost with a slightly bruised forehead.
"I told you something would happen today." Came a slightly deeper voice in the doorway.
"OH! Hey Aria, noona! I thought you said you were staying at the observatory until later. I guess we're all here then." Greeted my youngest (and most joyful) sister, Jasmine.
"COME ON! CAN I GET A SINGLE OUNCE OF RESPECT FROM ANY OF YOU?!" Quinn "noona" snapped.
"Nope," Aria stated bluntly, popping the 'p' and picking at her painted fingernails, flicking the dark blue and purple nail polish off her pale hands as they chipped off. "Anyways, mom asked what we wanted for dinner."
"OOH! OOH! SUSHI!"
"NO! CHINESE!"
"YEAH! I'M DOWN FOR SOME PANDA!"
"NO! I WANT GENERAL TSO'S!"
"BUT I WANT SUGURU'S!"
"I'M OLDER I SHOULD GET TO PICK!"
"EVERYONE SILENT!"
Four heads turned towards the voice of the command. I narrowed my eyes at Quinn, still ready to fight over sushi and my cat claws. I mean KARAMBIT KNIVES! She matched my stare with just as much fury.
"Tonight, it's mom and dad's anniversary. So, we eat whatever we have in the fridge while they go out for dinner. Do you all understand?" Erica pointed out, already willing to shoot down any complaints. Nods of comprehension and hesitant approval came from all around the small and bookish room.
"Okay, then it's settled. Mom and dad are scheduled to leave at..." Her left hand made a twist as it came up from her left side; a graceful silver watch wrapped the wrist. "8:00, so when they leave, I'll make some rice and we'll heat up the kimchi stew."
"BU-"
"I recommend you quit complaining before I catnap Jinx, Jazzy." Rica lectured our younger sister, everyone knowing fully well that she would keep her word. I added a new bullet point to my mental to-do list, "Make Scrabbles a new cage with locks." For the fear that my oldest and most true-to-her word sister would harm my sneaky little ferret.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Q scramble across her earthy room and nearly trip over the torn books before reaching into a bird cage near the window and calmly petting her now anxious cockatiel, "Birdie." I know, very original of her.
Suddenly I felt the carpeted ground beneath my feet tremble for a second and echo before it was followed by a sharp pop. The fluorescent lights adorning the walls of the room flickered and cut out. Jasmin let out a sudden yelp and grabbed onto my left arm, digging her long and sharp nails into the skin of my well-built biceps. Something was very wrong.