Page 109 of More To Us

"I made a fire all by myself. Dad showed me how."

"That's cool. What else did you guys do?"

"Went biking. The trail was all muddy. It was so awesome. I got covered in mud."

I laugh. I'm sure my mom loved that. She's probably in the laundry room right now pre-treating all the mud stains on their clothes. She's an expert at getting stains out, a skill she learned while raising three boys who love playing in the mud.

"Where's Mom?"

"I think she's doing laundry."

Just like I said. She's off fighting stains. I think she secretly likes doing it. She sees it as a challenge, almost a war. It's her against the stains and she's determined to win.

"I caught a snake!" Luke says.

"Gross! Why'd you pick up a snake?"

"I didn't pick him up. I set a trap and caught him. Then I let him go."

I swear, my brothers do the weirdest things. Who would want to catch a snake? I run whenever I see them.

"How's school going?"

"It's okay. Josh has a girlfriend." He says it in a singsongy way that tells me Josh just walked in.

I hear him in the background. "Shut up or I'll tell everyone you wet the bed last night."

"I didn't wet the bed!" Luke yells.

I hear Josh laughing, then hear his voice as he takes the phone. "Luke spilled his water bottle all over his sleeping bag. It looked like he wet his bed. Nate took a picture in case we need it for blackmail sometime."

"You guys are so mean."

"Hey, he deserves it. The idiot caught a snake and let it loose in the tent. Scared the shit out of me."

"Josh!" I hear my dad yell. "Watch your language."

"I gotta go," he says. "Talk to you later."

My dad gets on the phone. "How's it going, honey? We missed you this weekend. Camping wasn't the same without you."

"Between the mud and the snake, I think I'm glad I didn't go."

He chuckles. "Yes, well, we still missed you."

"I miss you guys too." I really do miss them. My brothers drove me insane when I lived there, but now I miss them. And my parents.

"How are classes? Did you get your homework done?" he asks as if I'm a kid who needs the reminder.

"Yes, Dad." I roll my eyes and see Austin smiling at me. "My homework is done. And classes are fine."

"How's everything else going? Did you and Amber go out last night?"

"No. She had to go to some event for a club she's in. I swear she's in like fifty clubs."

"Why don't you join one? It'd be a good way to meet people."

"Clubs are too much work. Amber's never even home."

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