I've never been Miss Popular or anything, but I get along. I mean, I wasn't elected for princess of the dance, but I was nominated by 16 people. I wasn't even a finalist, but at least 16 people seem to think highly of me. I'd only met 2 of my cousins before, so I wasn't sure if I was popular with them, but I figured I was liked well enough.
So one day, out of nowhere, Mom blurted over lunch, "Aunt Sarah and Uncle Dave are coming." I'd heard of them, but never met them. Mom and Sarah were sisters. Sarah had 2 kids, I'd heard, Juliet, who was 12, like me, and Tara, who was 15.
I paused over my meat sandwich. "Excuse me?" I asked, choking on my salami in the process. My sister Rachel thumped me on the back, and I swallowed. Mom continued. "Well, I haven't seen Sarah since before you were born, Kaylee, and I've never even met Juliet! I'd like to see them." Everyone else nodded. I looked around the table at my sisters.
"Why are you so paranoid about this?" Duscha asked. I glared at her, tried to imitate the icy stare Zela does so well. I didn't pull it off so well though.
We finished our lunches, then went home. We waited around for, like, 3 minutes, no more, then piled into the van again. Okay, where were we going now?
I hate driving places. We all have assigned seats and Zela always sticks her elbow in my side.
After an hour of sore gut, we were at the airport. Why were we here? We bolted in and right to gate C4. We waited some more then a strange family came dashing toward us.
Aunt Sarah, I guess, hugged Mom for about a year, while the younger girl, Juliet or whatever, held a silver backpack, really techie. She looked like she'd be the princess of the dance at her school, like she was the coolest girl in school or something. She looked me over like, Is this who I'll be living with for the next two weeks? I was thinking the exact same thing. She looked spoiled, I'll say that, and it's not my nature to complain.
They got their suitcases, then we all went home. This time I sat next to Juliet. Now her elbow was in my other side. "Ow!" I cried. "Well, where else can I put it?" Juliet snapped. So she talked. "Bite it off," I snapped back. And I knew right then that Juliet Willoughby would not be my friend.
When we got home, Mom announced that Juliet would be in my already-packed room with Zela, Allegra, Rachel, and Dayton. Great. Now I couldn't even go to my room to get away from her. I'd be spending the next two weeks literally with her. How fun.
Juliet ran up to the room, dropped her bags on my bed, and sat down. "This'll be my bed," she said. Ugh, I hate people who do this, walk right in and claim any old bed they want. "No, it won't you little brat," I started, but Du stopped me. "Manners," she whispered.
Tara walked into Du's room and claimed her bed. "Hey, that's mine you spoiled b--" "Manners," I interrupted with a sarcastic grin on my face. Then I ran into my room.
Juliet was sitting on my bed, quietly unpacking her things. "Um, that's my bed," I said. Juliet stared at me blankly. I raised my eyebrows. Juliet gave me a look like, she's so stupid. "What are you getting at?" she asked. "Mom got a cot for you," I replied, hoping she would soften up a bit. Juliet rolled her eyes. "I hope you don't actually expect me to sleep on one of those," she said. "Because I sleep in beds."
Jeesh. She sure was spoiled. "Well, that's your house. This is my house, and at my house, I sleep in beds." Juliet narrowed her eyes. "What is your problem?" she asked. My problem?! She was the one who was causing all the trouble! "I'm not the spoiled little b--" "Kaylee," said Mom, coming into the room. "Juliet probably feels uncomfortable in a new place." "Hmph," I said. "You wouldn't know it, the way she just barged right in and took over my bed." "Kaylee," Mom said warningly. "I'll bring you a cot." A cot?! In my own house?! Juliet would pay.
That night was terrible. My cot was creaky, pokey, cold, and hard. The thought of Juliet in my nice, soft, cushiony, flannel bed didn't help either. When I finally fell asleep, it was 1:07 am.
In the morning, Juliet was the last one up. When she came down for breakfast (10 minutes after it started--didn't the girl know how to get up?!) Aunt Sarah asked, "How was your sleep?" Juliet smiled (so she did know how!). "Great," she said. "That bed is the best!" Yeah, I thought, you're telling me. Aunt Sarah smiled at me. "It sure was nice of Mikayla to let you sleep in her bed," she said. I decided Aunt Sarah was pretty cool. "Yeah," said Juliet, shooting me a look that said, you tell, you die. As if I would. I'm way past that.
I didn't say anything for the rest of breakfast, except to excuse myself to my room. When I got there, Zela, Allegra, Rachel, and Dayton were sitting on their beds in there. I locked the door behind me. "So," said Rae, aka Rachel. "What do you think of Juliet?" "Total brat," I said. Rae nodded. Zela spoke up. "That was so mean of her to take over your bed like that." Dayton nodded. "I'd like to punch that girl," she said, jabbing at the air.
Everyone laughed, except Ally, who's too young to really understand. Zela totally agreed with Dayton, I could tell. "You should re-claim your bed," she said. "I would," I said, "but it wouldn't do any good. As soon as she got back in here, she'd take it back." Zela's face sank, realizing I was right.
Rae thought a minute. "She's got to learn that just 'cause she gets special attention at home doesn't mean she'll get it here. This is way too big a household to be able to do that." Everyone nodded.
45 minutes later, there was a line in front of the bathroom. I had been waiting the full 45 minutes. Clarisa, who's always the last to hit the bathroom anyway, stopped in her tracks when she saw all of us standing there. "Who's in there?" she asked. "Juliet," we all replied, totally annoyed. "Okay, that's it," she said. "The girl is twelve. She doesn't need 45 minutes in the bathroom." She rolled up her sleeve and pounded on the door. "Juliet!" she yelled. "Get outta there! There's a line out here!"
The door opened, and out emerged Juliet, surrounded by a cloud of perfume. We all coughed as she walked by us. "Where you going?" Dalia asked. "Boy-hunting," Juliet replied.
The doorbell rang. Probably just Sam, I guessed, shutting the bathroom door. I started to put on my makeup, and thought as I did so.
Sam was our neighbor from across the street. He was practically my best friend. I had a major crush on him. Then it clicked--Juliet, perfume, gobs of makeup--she was after him! I put away my makeup and ran down the stairs.
"Oh, you mean my loser cousin," Juliet was saying to Sam. "She's getting ready. But I'll be right out." Juliet put on her shoes and ran out the door. Not so fast, I thought, putting on my own shoes. You're not stealing Sam from me.
I dashed out the door. They were nowhere to be found. I checked the backyard. Nope. Wait. Sam's house! I ran out across the street, through the hedge that leads to the gate to his backyard. "Well, with Mikayla out of the picture," Juliet was saying.
Uh-oh. Great time to intervene, I decided, unlocking the gate. "I'm here!" I shouted. Sam looked up, away from The Brat. "Hey, Kaylee!" he said, slapping me high five. "What were you guys up to?" I asked. Sam shrugged. Juliet glared at me.
"So what do you want to do?" I asked Sam. Juliet stood up, off the swing she was sitting on. "Let's play football," she said. "Wow," Sam whispered to me. "Sporty, flirty, great personality, and fashion sense. Is there anything bad about this girl?" What a question. "Plenty," I answered. Sam just sat there grinning like an idiot. Juliet walked over to us. "We gonna play?" she asked. "No," I said. "Yes," said Sam. "Too bad, Mick," Juliet said, using the nickname I hate to be called. "Listen," I said. "My name is Mikayla. You can call me Kayla, Kaylee, or Mikayla." "Sure thing, Kyla," Juliet said coolly, messing up my name on purpose. Ugh.
"What kind of football?" Sam asked Brat Extraordinaire. "Tackle," she replied, looking right at me. She really was after him. "Great," said Sam mischievously. He never said "great" like that when I played tackle with him. So he liked her too. Fine. Not like I cared. He could have her. If he liked ugly brats, that was his business. "I'll leave now," I said, my eyes blurred with tears. Sam was focused on Juliet. "Bye, Mikayla," he said, not taking his eyes off her.
I ran all the way home, into the house, and into my room. Rachel was sitting on her bed. "What's wrong?" she asked. "That brat Juliet," I began, "is flirting with Sam! And now he doesn't even notice me!" "Gee," said Rae. "That happened to me once, with Ryan and Amy. They went out, but then Ryan dumped her and we were best friends again. Anyway, my point is, girls will come and go, but you and Sam can be friends forever." She gave me a Kleenex, and I dabbed at my eyes. Or, I thought, I could just get Juliet out of the picture.
