A Good Night's Rest

I awake to day two in the insanity universe. Only three hundred and fifty-five left to go. We'd tried contacting Mum last night but couldn't get through, to be fair, it was quite late. We resolved to try again after school today... Which meant sleeping on it... Or at least trying.

I hadn't slept much through the night, something just irked me. I mean, if we didn't know about another aunt what else don't we know? Do we have more cousins? Are we part crab? Is this all a simulation? What else? I feel like I suddenly don't know anything and that pisses me off. I'm supposed to know everything about everyone, it's what I do.

I use my restlessness to my advantage and decide to take an early shower, which makes for a much more relaxing experience than yesterday's rushed job. I check my face in the mirror, between my eyes being dark from the lack of sleep and the stubble from not shaving for a couple of days I look like a mess. A quick shave solved half that issue, hopefully a bit of make-up will cover the other.

I find myself ready at a ridiculous time in the morning. Here having the meaning of 6:30. I decide to raid the fridge, Trish came back last night with shopping, meaning I might be in luck. Eggs, cheese, mushrooms, a bit of ham... Sounds like the makings of an omelette if I ever saw one.

"Whatever you're making, make me one." A voice chimes in from behind me. I turn around to see Rouge on her laptop. I didn't even know she was home. "That is, unless you're a bad cook, then just don't bother."

"Surely if I am, then it's your fault, right? You made me." I joke, pulling the ingredients out of the fridge.

Rouge tuts at my insinuation. "It's Elise and Scarlet's genes, I just figured out how to put them together in a way that allowed for chromosomal variation but didn't cause-" She begins before I raise my hand.

"You know you're basically talking about my conception, right?" I chuckle, imploring her to stop. I don't know the science behind our existence, I don't want to, feels weird.

"Kinky, isn't it?" She jokes, returning to her work as I begin work on the omelettes.

As I cook I can't help but think about what we learned yesterday, and wonder if Rouge could fill in the gaps. "Hey, you and my Mum have another sister, right?" I ask calmly, trying not to give away that I didn't know about her.

"Yeah, Jenny, half-sister really, but we all got so close that she's basically part of the family now." Rouge explains without looking up from her work. "She lives in the town centre, picked up the shelter work, which has been a massive help."

I don't get it, Rouge speaks so casually about her, why would my Mum be so hesitant? "So you all get along?" I attempt to pry.

"As far as I know, why do you ask?" My aunt responds in a suspicious tone. Apparently I'm not as subtle as I thought.

"Just wanting to learn stuff about my extended family, like... How did you and Trish meet?" I respond, improvising. Honestly, I don't care, but I need a cover.

Rouge snorts at my question. "Can't believe you haven't heard that story. School friends, then some drama happened and we ended up together. It's complicated." She explains, before telling the full story.

"Wait, you stopped sleeping together, so you decided to bang some guy and ended up sleeping with his sister, who was Trish's new girlfriend." I recap, trying to wrap my head around the labyrinth I've just been told as I dish up the food.

"Yeah, then your parents locked us in a room until we sorted it out, and the rest is history." Rouge chuckles. "Marie hates when I tell that story, she gets so embarrassed."

I mean, yeah, if it were my parents I'd feel awkward too... Now that I think about it, I don't know the story of how they got together... Based on what I've heard this morning I'm not sure I want to.

*

"Urgh, I can't believe she told you that." Marie groans, proving Rouge's point from earlier on. After breakfast she'd had to leave early, leaving me on my own until the girls came down.

"I think it's sweet, like star-crossed lovers." Poppy chips in as she digs into her cereal. "Wouldn't you want an interesting story to tell your kids about?"

Marie nearly gags at the thought, giving Rosie a wide smile. "Anyway, how's your guitar practise going?" My sister asks.

Honestly, I haven't done that much, but the stuff I have learnt I'm pretty good at. Not that I'm going to admit that. "Fantabulous, I'm basically going to solve world peace with a few chords." I grin. Rosie and Marie both roll their eyes, which definitely amuses me. One day they'll realise how similar they are... I'm not going to be the one to tell them though. "You hear about Football?"

"Yeah, that's not happening." Rosie sighs. "Andi gave me a form but it needs our parents to sign it, since they're not here, no team."

That doesn't seem fair at all. "Can I have a look at the form? Maybe there's a loophole I can find." I offer. Rosie shrugs and hands me the piece of paper. I pull out a pen and sign my Mum's name, before handing it back. "There we go, found a loophole."

My sister's eyes widen as she realises what I've done. "You know if Mum and Mama find out about this you're going to get Hell." Rosie points out.

"So, they don't find out. Apparently we don't tell each other things now." I retort, taking a sip of water.

Maybe it's petty, but I'm annoyed and don't give much of a shit at the best of times. These... These aren't the best of times.

Bring on Hell.