Sunny couldn't believe himself. He wasn't proud of what he was doing, but he felt he had to.
He clung to the sliding and finally reached the window.
He climbed in and helped Aubrey up.
"Grab whatever you need and then we never have to come back here." Sunny said, quietly.
"That's the plan, yeah." Aubrey said sifting through a pile of clothes.
She grabbed a handful of items and threw them in the bin.
They started to hear sirens approaching.
"You don't think that's because of us, right Aubrey?" Sunny thought aloud.
"I don't want to find out." She said, throwing the bin out the window.
They climbed out the window and hung preparing to drop.
Sunny's heart dropped. His heart started racing.
He looked to the left and saw somebody staring at them while talking into the phone.
"Shit! I think those cops were called for us!" Sunny panicked.
"Damnit!" Aubrey replied.
They dropped to the ground, grabbed the bin and hopped the back fence.
They ran through a bunch of trees and landed in front of Kel's house.
"Oh, our house is just right there!" Aubrey exclaimed.
They went inside of Sunny's house and locked the door.
"Let's hope they don't come to check us here." Sunny said.
"Quickly, just in case they come over, change your clothes that way it'll be harder to identify us." Aubrey instructed.
They walked upstairs to change.
"Oh, uh. I'll change in the bathroom, you change in there." Aubrey said.
Aubrey changed in the bathroom and Sunny in his room.
While changing Sunny felt the adrenaline that was coursing through him die down. He caught his breath and calmed down a little bit.
"I refuse to ever do that again Aubrey." He said, stepping out of his room.
"I don't plan to do it again anyway." She said.
"Well, what now?" Sunny asked.
"It's like almost midnight. I don't wanna sleep in tomorrow anyway, so I'm going to bed." She said.
"Best idea I've heard today." Sunny replied.
They both crawled into their beds and closed their eyes.
"I have always hated this door…" Mari struggled unlocking the door.
She unlocked and opened the door quietly so as not to disturb the sleeping Aubrey.
She checked the couch and there was no Aubrey to be seen.
"Huh? Where is she?" Mari thought to herself.
She crept up the stairs and into Sunny and her old shared room.
"Awww, found her." Mari thought to herself seeing the two sleeping next to each other one their own respective beds.
She grabbed a wallet off the nightstand and put it in her pocket.
"I have to tell Hero this!" She thought to herself while giddy.
She looked at the two with a smile on her face for a little longer, then she crept out of the house.
Hero heard the door swing open.
He looked behind him and saw Mari with the biggest grin ever.
"What's got you smiling like that? I can't even put that big of a smile on your face." He remarked, jokingly.
"I have a feeling you're going to owe me $100 soon!" She said as her normal smirk returned.
"Remember the bet we made?" She asked.
"Uhhh, which one?" He said, failing to remember.
"Ohhhhh, that one… uh, what did we bet on again?" He asked defeated.
"Remember like 3 years ago? When I bet $100 on Sunny and Aubrey getting together?" She reminded him.
"OHHHH, that one." He said.
"Wait, how are you about to get $100 out of me though, what did they do?" He asked.
"Aubrey was supposed to sleep on the couch, when I went to grab my wallet I saw her sleeping on my old bed next to Sunny." She said getting giddy again.
"We'll see, this could mean absolutely nothing. If they were sleeping in the same bed on the other hand, I would hand you the money right here and now." He mentioned.
Sunny woke up to a weird feeling. Almost like an earthquake.
He opened his eyes and saw Aubrey above him shaking him vigorously.
"JESUS, IM UP, IM UP!" He shouted.
"Someone was in this room last night!" Aubrey yelled.
"Huh?" He asked, confused.
"There was a wallet on this table here, and now it's gone! also the door was opened last night, now it's closed!" She shrieked.
"What? That could mean anything, check the ground for the wallet… wait whose wallet was it?" He asked.
"It wasn't mine, and it wasn't yours either." She said.
Sunny thought for a minute. Then it hit him.
"Oh, Mari probably left her wallet in here. Probably came in and got it last night while we were sleeping." He gathered.
"Oh… ok." Aubrey said, calming down.
They sat in silence looking at each other and both of their ears started to burn.
Aubrey broke the silence.
"Oh, speaking of which, do you wanna eat breakfast and then head over to their house?" Aubrey asked.
"Yeah sure sounds like a plan… also, uh… you're sitting on my legs." He said.
"Oh, uh sorry…" she said nervously.
They got up and went to the kitchen downstairs.
"So how do you feel, Sunny?" Aubrey asked.
"I feel a lot better now, I still ache and hurt though." He answered.
"So, what do you want for breakfast?" He asked, looking through the pantries.
"Would pancakes be fine?" She asked.
"Yeah, sure… I could go for some pancakes." He replied.
He grabbed everything needed and started to get to work.
"So, how are you feeling about your new living situation?" Sunny asked, while pouring the batter.
"I'm happy, happier than I've ever been. I live with people who care about me, and when I wake up I don't get hit or yelled at so my mom can get a drink." She remembered all the bad memories.
"I'm glad you're making the most of it." He said smiling.
He glanced at her and saw her face.
She was tearing up, but she still was wearing the purest of smiles.
He walked over to her and hugged her.
"I-I just hope i'm not too much of a b-burden. She said, trying to hold back tears.
He hugged her tightly, she hugged back.
"You could never be a burden… you're out friend." Sunny said softly
Neither of them wanted to let go, but If they didn't they would be scraping burnt blobs into the trash can.
He let go of her and she wiped her face
He walked back to the stove and continued to cook.
"Here you go." He handed pancakes to her.
She stared at the fluffiest pancakes she had ever seen. It even put Hero's to shame.
"Wow, these are amazing Sunny!" She said lost in the pancakey goodness.
"Thanks! Mari taught me." He replied.
"Speaking of Mari, we need to head over there after this." She reminded him.
"Yup, you got it." He answered.
Aubrey eats the pancakes like her life depends on it.
After cleaning her plate they make their way out the door
They walk up to Kel's house and knock
Kel runs over to the door and opens it
"Oh hey there! You guys are just in time!" Kel said.
They walk into the house.
"Just in time for what?" Sunny asked Kel.
"Me and Hero are about to check our height" he replied excitedly.
They walk into the living room and see Hero holding a measuring tape.
They are about to get ready when they hear a knock on the door.
"I'll get it." Sunny says.
He walked to the door and opened it.
"Oh! There you are Sunny! You weren't at your house." Basil said.
"Woah, you look like a wreck." He mentioned.
"The past 2 days have been a bit rough…" Sunny remarked.
"Anyway, sorry for not being able to invite you over yesterday." He apologized.
"O-oh it's fine." Basil stuttered.
They invited him inside and informed him of what was happening.
"Ok fellas. Moment of truth." Mari said with the usual smirk.
She grabbed the tape measure and she stretched it against them.
"Ok, Hero… you're 6'2." Mari said.
"And Kel…you're…6…3." Mari said grinning.
"YES, FINALLY… AFTER ALL THESE YEARS!!!" Kel screeched.
Hero smirked and grabbed Kel and put him in a headlock.
"Congratulations Kel, you are officially the tallest person in this house." Hero knighted Kel as the tallest member of the family.
Everybody congratulated Kel on his new role.
"As a reward for finally dethroning me, how does Gino's sound everybody?" Hero announced.
"YEAH!" Everybody yelled in unison.
Everybody left the house and spilled into Hero's car.
"There were almost enough seats for everybody." Hero said.
"Here's an idea, what if I ran to Gino's, and try to keep up with the car?"
"You're sure you want to do this?" Hero asked him.
"Ok… get ready then!" Hero said!
He pressed the gas and Kel did too.
He kept a pretty good pace with the car for a little while, but that didn't last long.
"Poor Kel, he almost kept up with us." Basil said.
Hero had a look of fear in his face.
"I hope I never have to run from him…" He said aloud.
They parked in the plaza parking lot.
They waited to see Kel running from the horizon, and sure enough, there he was.
He sprinted over there only a minute or two behind them.
Kel ran over and slid right to them.
It looked as if Kel didn't break a sweat.
"Pizza time!" Kel exclaimed.
They walked in and placed their orders.
For the time remaining they stepped outside to Hero's car and had a chat. They left off where they were yesterday telling college stories.
"She forgot to turn the burner off and he melted the spoon in the pot… we had to throw the whole thing away because of it." Hero finished.
"I suppose this is only fine because of yesterday." Mari said with an upset expression.
"I'll be right back, I need some groceries from the store." Mari said, walking towards Othermart.
As soon as Mari was out of sight, Sunny asked Hero a question.
"So, Hero… March 11th." Sunny said conspicuously.
"Heh, ok so…" Hero began.
"We have this college buddy with a bunch of animals right, so he needed our help moving some stuff to his dorm. He had this pet snake that Mari didn't know about. He and I hatched a plan." Hero said mischievously.
Everybody looked dead at Hero.
"We went to help move stuff in, he went and grabbed the snake and put it on the couch, Mari went to sit on it and he and I fake screamed and pointed at it. She jumped up and screamed. We had to grab the snake so she didn't beat it." Hero burst into tears laughing, but nobody else did.
He felt something grab his ears.
"I didn't have a lot to grab his time." Mari said with a smile.
"You're lucky we're staying at your house, or else you would be in for a bad night." She said, smiling harder.
Sunny looked at them almost disgusted.
They went inside after that to grab their pizza.
"Nice to see you fellas again." The manager said.
They grabbed and put the pizza in the trunk.
"Hey Kel, because I've been training for better stamina, how about you and I run to the house?" Hero asked.
"A little brotherly competition never hurt anyone." Kel said with a grin.
"I'll drive then." Mari said.
Hero threw the keys over the car and Mari caught them.
Everybody got in the car to watch them.
"I'm gonna feed you my dust." Kel insulted Hero.
"We'll see about that." Hero replied.
Mari rolled the window down.
Kel started to sprint, Hero ran almost just as fast.
The car followed them slowly.
Kel kept ahead with Hero just behind him.
Kel stumbled a little but regained his balance after a second, but it wasn't quick enough to keep Hero behind him.
They were now side by side. It was anybody's game. They both had good stamina and good speed.
People stared at them like they were crazy.
They had just made the turn into their street when they saw a police patrol car in front of Sunny's house.
"You two continue with your race, we're gonna check out what's happening." Mari said through the window.
She pulled up in front of their house.
They all got out of the car and watched Hero just barely get ahead of Kel and win.
Mari and Sunny walked over towards the officer knocking at the door.
"Hello, we're the residents of this property, is there a problem sir?" Mari said to the officer.
"Oh, hello there Mari." The officer said.
"I've been sent to look for witnesses from a break in from a residence on the street right there from last night." He informed her.
"Did you see or hear anything?" He asked.
"No sir, I was at my boyfriend's parents house next door last night." She answered.
"Whose house had a break in if I may ask?" Mari asked.
"The William residence, the one with the dead beat mother." He said.
"In fact, we don't know where her daughter is, but the mother just signed documents stating she doesn't want custody…" He stated with a frown.
"What! Aubrey isn't legally binded to her anymore?" She asked.
"Nope, she doesn't have any place to go now." He said.
"Well that's wrong, she has us!" Mari said with a smile.
"I mean if you find her and she wants to live with you she can." He said.
The officer walked to his patrol car and drove off.
"D-did you by any chance… happen to be related to the break in?" Mari asked Sunny.
Sunny walked towards Kel and Hero's house.
"Woooow…" Mari thought to herself.
They both joined the rest of the group.
When they walked in Basil was preparing his camera for pictures.
"Everybody! Get together for a picture! Basil said.
Everybody looked towards basil and stopped what they were doing.
"Wait! I'll take it, you get in there with your friends Basil." Kel's dad said.
"Oh, ok thanks!" Basil replied.
They heard the same little click they heard at least a thousand times already.
"This one looks great!" Basil said excitedly.
Everyone took a look at it.
Sunny took a look at it and was suddenly rushed with nostalgia.
He grinned harder than ever. He knew that he was in good company.
