The Ross family

Mark Ross is my Dad or better known as Dr. Ross.

Ellyna Kim is my Mum who I rarely talk about.

Blake Ross is the first Ross child, my older brother. He’s 18 and is in college. I’m not really that close with Blake. He’s the typical older sibling that just stays in their room until they want food. He doesn’t help around the house much and that annoys me because he’s the oldest out of the eight of us. He should be the one to set a good example to the rest but I guess it is what it is.

Hera Ross. Me. I’m in year 11. I don't really like talking about myself. I like to play football and I’m on the girls football team at school. I also like drawing when I can’t sleep at night. That’s pretty much all I can say about myself.

Finley Ross is my twin brother. Younger than me by 6 minutes. And I always make sure he remembers that. He’s probably the sibling that I’m closest to. I mean he is my twin after all. Finn is also on the football team at school. Finn is the better twin out of the two of us. He gets in less trouble compared to me. But he always tries his best to get me out of trouble, even though it doesn’t work all the time.

Gabriel Ross, the fourth of the Ross’ in year 8. He’s not really a sporty person like me and Finn are. Gabe’s more of a gaming person. He could play for hours and not even bother about what’s happening around him. Gabe goes to the same secondary school as me and Finn.

Scarlett and Irene are the second set of Ross twins. But unlike me and Finn, Scar and Rene are identical twins. So they look exactly the same. The only thing that helps to tell the difference between them is Scar’s hair is just below her shoulders, while Rene’s hair is slightly above hers. Scar is older than Rene by 10 minutes. The twins are trouble makers. They love pulling pranks at school which always end up in Dad getting a phone call. The twins are in their last year of primary school.

Michael Ross is 9 and is the youngest of the Ross boys. Mikey is a cute kid. Rarely gets into trouble. He makes friends easily, does his homework on time and just a really good kid in general.

Isabella Ross. The youngest of the Ross Siblings is 7. She loves pink and unicorns but also likes dinosaurs and cars. Bella loves making new friends. She also always stands up for them too. When this girl who I forgot what her name was called Bella’s friend Millie a carrot she pulled the girl’s hair and bit her arm. It was pretty shocking news when we found out. It was just unexpected.

Anyway that was the Ross family. My family. Crazy but I love them.

I’m currently watching the clock waiting for the needle to point to twelve. Detention is boring but I don’t mind it. I live in a noisy house with a lot of kids. So getting some quiet thinking time isn’t so bad. Finn was sitting next to me finishing his Physics homework due in on Monday, which I haven’t even started. I’ll do it tonight.

“Okay you can go now”, Mr. Hughes tells us.

Finn starts packing his things and I wait for him. We talked about some stuff on our way home.

“I heard that there’s a new kid coming soon”, Finn says.

“Really? Which form is he going to be in?” I ask him.

“Amy’s form I think but I'm not really sure.”

“What’s his name?”

“Don’t really know. I think it’s like Ben or something. You didn’t show up to Chemistry today.”

“I know. I just didn’t feel like going”.

“You’re going to get yourself in trouble Hera”.

“It’s okay. I’ll just say that I wasn’t feeling well.”

“And you think they’ll believe you? You’ve given that excuse way too many times”.

“Fine I promise I’ll show up to Chemistry next time. There. Happy?”

“So you're going out on Sunday?”

“Yeah. The usual place.”

“Me and the guys are going out on Sunday too.”

“Are you guys going to be there too? Please say no.”

“If you mean we’re going to go to McRon’s too then yes. So we can just go together. Sam said he’d pick me up.”

“So I’m going with you and Sam?”

“Yep.”

***

Dad dropped the rest home from primary and went back to work. So now I’m in the kitchen making dinner. Nothing fancy or out of the ordinary. Just mac 'n’ cheese. Easy and tasty.

I set the table and saved some food for Dad. Then I called everyone down for dinner. The twins were the first to run down the stairs and sat at their places ready to eat. Shortly after Mikey and Bella followed. Later Gabe and Finn came. Blake was last as usual. He took a plate of mac n’ cheese then went back up to his room.

“So Hera, can me and Rene go to Lily’s house tomorrow? Her mom said we could,” Scarlet said with her mouth full.

“Scar, don’t talk with your mouth full and yeah I guess if you ask Dad later when he gets back,” I tell her.

“Okay.”

We all talked a little and after everyone was done the twins helped clean the table and I did the dishes. Finn helped dry and put them away. When we were done with that I looked at my watch to see that it was already 7:30. So I told Finn that I was going to be in my room if any of them need anything.

***************************************************************

I could hear Bella watching My little Pony from the TV in her room, which was next to mine. Finn and Gabe are playing something cause I heard them shouting ‘you lost get over it’ and ‘you cheated’. Scar and Rene are probably watching something on Netflix. Mikey is doing his homework in my room because he needed some help and Blake as usual, is in his man cave. I was doing my Physics homework. Just like I said I would.

“Finished. Thanks Hera,” Mikey says getting up and cleaning his things.

“You’re welcome,” I say smiling while he walks to the door.

After a while, I finally finished my Physics homework and checked the time. It was 10pm. I went to check up on the kids. I went to Bella’s room and saw her asleep. Then I checked on Mikey and so was he. The twins were just getting ready for bed. Gabe was in bed but on his phone and so was Finn. I went back to my room.

I don’t know what to do. I don’t fall asleep until around 3 to 4 in the morning. I don’t know why but I just can’t sleep anytime earlier than that. So I decided to watch some Dynasty. I sat on my bed with my laptop on my lap.

After watching 2 episodes I hear the front door opening. It was Dad. I went down and greeted him then I headed to the kitchen to warm his food up.

“Here Dad,” I hand him a plate of mac ‘n' cheese.

“Thanks Hera,” he said, sounding tired.

“How was work today?”

“Tiring.” He paused for a while to eat. Then he continued “Your mother called me.”

I didn’t know what to say. Mum left 2 years ago without telling any of us why. She just left her eight kids and ran away to god knows where. Why would she call Dad all of a sudden.

“What did she want?” I asked in a cold voice.

“She wants to see you guys tomorrow. All of you. At Tilly’s Diner for breakfast.”

“Did she tell you why?”

Dad shakes his head.

“So are we going to go tomorrow?” I asked, hoping the answer would be no.

“Yes. We are.”

***

I’m staring at myself in the mirror while thinking about what to say when I see my mother who I haven't seen in 2 years. The rest found out just now so they're all getting ready. I decided to wear a hoodie with some blue jeans. I left my hair down because I couldn’t be asked to do much. I took my coat from behind my door and headed downstairs.

We’re all just waiting for Blake now. He’s taking his own sweet time. After what feels like forever he finally comes down and we all start getting into the car. Well technically it’s a van. A car wouldn’t fit 9 people.

We made it to the diner and I’m already feeling anxious. The rest seemed fine. How are they not worried about this? Finn noticed me and sent me an are you okay? look. I just simply nodded but he knew I was lying.

Dad was looking for a table for all of us to see at and we started ordering what we wanted to eat. I didn’t really feel like eating so I just asked for a chocolate milkshake. We’ve been waiting for 10 minutes and Mum still isn’t here. What’s taking her so long? The waitress came with our food and drinks. Just as everyone was about to start eating, a woman came to our table. She had her hair tied back neatly into a bun and was wearing a lovely long dress which looked fancy to me. The lady was wearing some light make up and she smiled at us.

“Hello.”