Annalisa jokes. “You got your choice of Mason, Noah, or Chase. Slim pickings, I know. But I’m sure you can turn any of them into respectable boyfriends in no time.”
We laugh along with Annalisa, even though I know Chase would love nothing more than to be Charlotte’s boyfriend.
“Maybe I’ll try my luck with some locals here.” Charlotte laughs, twirling a piece of hair with her finger. “A nice winter-break fling.”
“There’s actually supposed to be some kind of carnival going on here in a few days. The cleaning lady was telling us when we got the key. It’s supposed to be a big deal, even the mayor is going! We have to go! It sounds like it’ll be a lot of fun,” Annalisa declares, adding that the twins would love it too.
Before we can agree, Chase and Noah holler to us from downstairs, telling us that ‘Their meat is ready,’ and laughing at the dirty double meaning. We roll our eyes, thinking about how we have two weeks of this. Lucky us.
12
Even though we’re at a beach house, it’s not the warmest weather. It’s a lot nicer than back home, but it’s not really swimming weather. Plus, it’s a bit drizzly. But despite that, we decide to explore the town the next day.
“So who’s coming into town with us?” Annalisa asks from the kitchen, which is open to the living room.
“I’m coming,” I answer, pulling on a sweater and grabbing an umbrella.
“I don’t feel too good today, guys. I think I’ll just stay here,” Charlotte says, plopping down on the couch beside the twins, who are playing a video game against Julian and Noah.
“Are you sure, Charlie?” Chase asks with concern. “Do you want me to stay here with you?”
“No, go have fun. I’ll just sleep it off,” she replies, pulling her sweater closer around herself and leaning back on the couch, getting comfortable.
“Mason and I are coming. Boys, go get ready,” Aiden says, looking at his brothers and waiting for them to get up.
“I want to stay here and keep playing,” Jason says, Jackson nodding in agreement as neither boy takes their eyes off the action on the television screen.
Aiden sighs. “I just got you that game a couple of days ago. You guys are going to finish it already.”
“But we can’t go! We’ve almost beat Julian and Noah for the first time. If we leave now we won’t have this kind of lead again!” Jackson argues.
“Plus,” Jason adds, “it’s way too cold outside.”
“As a responsible, intellectual adult, I have to agree with the monkeys. Way too cold outside for my liking,” Noah states matter-of-factly, still not taking his eyes off the screen.
“It’s not too cold. But I’d rather stay here,” Jackson says, sitting up a bit taller and shooting a quick sideways glance at Charlotte.
“It’s, like, negative gazillion degrees outside,” Noah counters.
“Hey, at least it’s not negative pertrillion degrees,” Jackson replies.
“Gazillion is a bigger number than pertrillion, so your argument isn’t even valid,” Noah, the responsible, intellectual adult, scoffs.
Jackson sticks his tongue out at Noah, who returns the gesture with just as much ferocity.
“Why don’t we let the children stay and argue and we’ll go?” Mason suggests. “I think Jason and Jackson are responsible enough to babysit Noah while we’re gone.”
Noah sticks his tongue out at Mason in reply, clearly favoring the insult.
“Now we can finish the video game!” Jason exclaims, happy the situation worked out in his favor.
“Sorry, boys, but Julian’s coming with us,” Annalisa states with finality.
They pause the game on the screen for the first time.
“Really, dude?” Jason asks in disbelief.
“Sorry, guys.” Julian shrugs, puts down his controller, and stands up.
“You’re picking a girl over us?” Jason asks bewildered. “What happened to ‘bros before hoes’? ‘Dicks before chicks’? ‘Misters before sisters’? ‘Balls before d—’”
“Jason!” Aiden interrupts, not amused. “You just called Anna a ho.”
Annalisa raises an amused eyebrow at Jason, not the slightest bit offended.
“I-I didn’t mean it like that,” Jason stutters, probably a little scared of Annalisa, like everyone is. “I just meant—”
“We know what you meant.” Julian laughs as he pulls on a sweater. “But when you get older, you’ll understand.”
Noah makes a whip noise in response, and Annalisa lobs a pillow at his head. “Return of the Zombie Aliens Part Three and a Half will just have to wait, guys.”
“Charlotte can take Julian’s place since she’s staying here anyway! Right, Charlotte?”
Three sets of hopeful eyes turn to Charlotte at Jason’s suggestion.
She sits up and shrugs. “I don’t know how good I’d be. I’ve