ᴀᴅᴀʟʏɴ

ᵀʷᵒ ᵐᵒⁿᵗʰˢ ˡᵃᵗᵉʳ

"ADALYN!"

I wake up to Leslie jumping on my bed and screaming my name. I groan as I cover my ears with my pillow however I can still hear her yelling so I throw my pillow at her. 

"Hey!" She shouts after she's recovered from the surprise attack. 

"Leslie, it's too early for this." I groan once more.

"It's already noon." She deadpans.

"Exactly. Too early."

"It's Sunday so you and Xander have to take Diane and I to movie theater."

I groan thinking about it. Xander and I decided to take Diane and Leslie out places every Sunday after they kept begging us to go to the park or playground or ice cream or to the movies. I regret making that decision every Sunday because Leslie always wakes me up before 2 pm.

"Fine, I'll get ready." I grumble, getting out of bed.

"I'll be waiting downstairs. Also Diane is on her way so hurry up!" She shouts, running out of my room.

I smile and shake my head as I head into my bathroom. I shower and get ready quickly so Leslie doesn't beat on my door, complaining about how long I'm taking.

I put on a simple outfit since we're probably going to the movie theater today.

"Adalyn, they're here! Get down here!" I hear Leslie shout from the foyer.

'Why is this small child so damn bossy?' I grab my converse and head out of my room. "I'm coming geez Les."

"Leslie, are we going to bring snacks or are we buying?" I ask as I check my tote bag for all my stuff. Wallet, check, ID, check, extra book, check.

 I look up once I'm done checking and find a large chest at my face. I look up and find Xander looking down at me with an amused smirk and raised eyebrow. 

"Well...hello there."

"Hi." We continue staring at each other for a beat. "Are you gonna move or should I?"

"Oh...uh right." I laugh sheepishly and move back. "Where'd the girls go?"

"Right here. Sorry we didn't want to interrupt your little moment." Diane teases, poking her head from behind Xander.

"Little munchkins." I scowl playfully and tickle them. They giggle and fit against me until finally I relent.

"Just for that, you're buying us the biggest popcorn and as many candy as we want at the movie theater." Diane sticks her tongue out at me.

I sigh dramatically. "Oh woe me. Now my pocket money shall deplete." I lean against the wall dramatically with my hand against my forehead.

"Okay okay enough. Movie time!" Leslie shouts and pushes us out of the house.

ᵀʷᵒ ᴴᵒᵘʳˢ ᴸᵃᵗᵉʳ

"That was so fricking awesome!" Diane squeals which starts a full out squealing and giggling discussion with Leslie.

Xander is driving so I don't worry about focusing on the road. I watch them through the rearview mirror as they drone on and on about their favorite part and which transformer was cutest. 

"Bumblebee is literally the coolest transformer. I can't believe you're picking Optimus Prime. That's literally so basic."

"Says the one who picked Bumblebee. He's way more basic than Optimus Prime."

"He's funny! I like my guys funny"

"And I like my guys serious and bossy." They both stare at each other for a while before they burst out into giggles. I smile fondly at them and focus on the road. I can tell Xander is occasionally glancing at me. I pretend that I don't notice him and continue switching between watching the girls and looking at my phone. 

It's not long before we arrive home, the girls immediately jump out and run into the house. I start to yell at them to slow down but then shrug. It's not like they'll listen anyways.

"Hey." Xander moves to stand right in front of me and I look up. 

"Yeah?" I say weakly and mentally kick myself for sounding so weak. 'Come on Adalyn, you can do better than that.'

"Would you like to go to the arcade with me?"

"We have school. Tomorrow."

"I know that, I meant next week. Saturday, without the girls."

"Oh. I knew that." I laugh nervously and push my hair behind my ear. "Sure. I'll go with you, next week, Saturday, without the girls."

He laughs softly, shaking his head slowly. I'm pretty sure I hear him whisper under his breath, "Still as cute as before."

"Are you gonna go home now or stay a bit?"

"I think we should go home. It's already 8pm and Diane hates waking up late at night."

"Okay, I'll go get Diane."

"Nah we can go in together and give them like five minutes."

That's how we find ourselves inside waiting on two seven year olds to stop dramatically saying goodbye. Why are they acting like they're not gonna see each other at school tomorrow? They finally separate after what feels like forever. 

"Bye Diane." I hug her before she leaves.

"Bye Bubs!" She shouts on her way out. I smile fondly at the nickname that she started calling me when she heard Leslie saying it. I watch her and Xander get inside the car and drive off. Once they're gone, I close the door and head inside. Leslie has already disappeared into her room so I head to mine.