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Joel wakes just like he usually does on weekday mornings to his alarm, which has apparently been going off for three minutes, and the muffled voices and kitchen noises coming from below him. The late summer morning sun is streaming in through the curtains and heating up the room.
He slaps the button on the alarm to shut it off, groaning as he rolls over and can more clearly hear the voices, which he can now determine are definitely bickering. He grunts but gets out of bed, brushing his teeth and pulling on a t-shirt before walking downstairs.
“…and I’m just saying, Ellie, high school is way harder than middle school. You’re gonna have to actually focus at school now,” he hears Sarah lecturing Ellie from where she’s standing over the stove.
“Just because you think it’s harder doesn’t mean I will,” Ellie argues, crossing her arms across her chest. “I already took Algebra in 8th grade, so I’ll be in the same math class as you. Then we’ll see who thinks it’s so hard.”
“Ellie, you’re so annoying. I’m not trying to argue with you, I was just saying,” Sarah huffs as Joel emerges into the kitchen.
“What are you girls fighting about this damn early in the morning?” he asks, walking straight to the pot of coffee that his thoughtful oldest has brewed for him and pouring some into the mug that’s already out for him.
“We’re not fighting, dad,” Sarah rolls her eyes and splays out her hands exasperatedly, turning away from the eggs she’s frying. “I was just trying to give Ellie some advice since she’s going to high school,” Joel nods as he brings the coffee to his lips and returns to his place in the doorframe. It’s a typical argument, Sarah offering Ellie unsolicited advice and being surprised when she doesn’t want help from her big sister. It’s harmless, though, and he knows it will shake out. “And I don’t want my freshman little sister embarrassing me,” Sarah mutters as she turns back around, making Joel sigh because they both don’t know when to drop things. What’s worse is it’s probably his fault.
“Just don’t talk to me, and no one will even know we’re sisters,” Ellie gripes, turning to stalk out of the room. Joel clotheslines her before she can get through the entry to the kitchen and uses his free arm to tug her against him. He pulls her into his side gently with his elbow hooked around her neck and presses a kiss to the top of her head.
“Ellie,” he starts carefully, watching Sarah over her head. “I don’t think your sister was saying she doesn’t want to talk to you. I think she’s just tryin’ to help in her way.”
Sarah nods emphatically, mumbling, “someone gets it,” under her breath.
“You always take her side,” Ellie grumbles. “I get it, I’m not as cool and popular as Sarah. I’ll try to keep my weird friends away from her.”
“Hey, now,” Joel says a little more firmly. “I think you both are just misunderstanding each other. Maybe you both need to apologize and just start fresh.”
He releases Ellie from his hold and turns her around. Of course Sarah caves first.
“Sorry, Ellie,” she says, only slightly forced. “I hope you like high school.”
“I’m sorry too,” Ellie says, a bit more stiffly. “Hope you have a good sophomore year.”
“Thank you,” Joel says, nodding at both of them pointedly. “Now, let’s have some breakfast.”
They eat quickly, Sarah and Ellie back to joking and giggling amongst themselves within minutes. His girls are so very different, in both appearance and personality, but they have been attached at the hip for their entire lives, Sarah immediately taking to Ellie and Ellie adoring her big sister from birth.
Sarah is in a purple band t-shirt, her hair perfectly tamed and curly, backpack already neatly packed and zipped in the unoccupied fourth chair. Ellie is dressed in a red and gray worn baseball tee, loose-fitting jeans, and converse. Her wavy hair is tied back haphazardly, a few strands out and framing her pale features.
Sarah is sweet and friendly, extroverted and bubbly. Ellie is tough with a soft center, a harder nut to crack so to say, but funny and witty, resourceful and smart.
Sarah is starting her sophomore year while Ellie is a freshman, both of his babies in high school now, which he thinks definitely makes him officially an old man. They’re both good at school, but Sarah genuinely enjoys it, loves the social aspect and plays soccer for the school’s team. She’s carefully organized and prides herself on her neat notes and meticulously-kept planner. Ellie is realistically smarter than Sarah, even if just by a little bit, but she gets bored at school and gets into trouble more often. Her grades are average because even though she aces every test and should be getting straight As, she forgets to turn in assignments or loses them between the time she leaves class one day and returns the next. It’s been the subject of more than a few phone calls he’s received from her teachers.
A few minutes into breakfast, Tommy bursts in the door, met with the cheers of his nieces and a dramatic eye roll from Joel. He ruffles Ellie’s hair and squeezes Sarah’s shoulder as he walks by the table, dropping a, “Oh, hey, big brother,” as an afterthought as he starts digging through their fridge looking for something to eat.
“Ain’t much in there,” Joel comments through a bite of eggs. “Need to go to the store.”
Tommy’s head pops back up, an assortment of items cradled in his arms that he unceremoniously dumps on the countertop. “I’ll make do,” he says with a grin, getting to work on some sort of unique sandwich concoction.
Once they’ve all eaten, the girls disperse to do their last-minute necessities, and Joel heads upstairs to change. As he exits his room, Ellie almost walks right into him, and he puts his hands on her shoulders to steady her.
“What’s goin’ on?” he asks, sensing her anxiety and frustration as Sarah’s laughter trills from downstairs in contrast, her and Tommy already ready to go and waiting for the two of them.
“Can’t find my sketchbook,” she says, voice strained. “The one I take to school,” she clarifies. Of course she can’t find the one thing she takes with her each day without fail. She probably hasn’t seen it since school got out in May, and Joel knows this means they’re going to have to breach her warzone of a bedroom that he has all but given up fighting with her about.
“Okay,” Joel says, rubbing a hand up and down her arm. “It’s alright,” he soothes. “Let’s check your room one last time.”
Ellie is a human tornado, leaving a mess behind in every room she enters, constantly losing things when she sets them down after getting distracted with something else, desperately craving the routine and order that comes so naturally to Sarah but not yet quite possessing the skills to make it happen. Her room, then, is, predictably, a mess, but Joel holds his comment about how badly she needs to clean it, sensing that it would probably be enough to send Ellie into a meltdown right now.
“Dad, we’re going to be late,” Sarah calls from downstairs, always keeping them punctual ever since she learned to read a clock.
“I know, honey. Have you seen Ellie’s school sketchbook?” he calls back, figuring it can’t hurt to have another set of eyes looking for it.
“Dad!” Ellie yells defensively, as Sarah responds with an exasperated, “Seriously?” There are footsteps coming up the stairs anyway, and Sarah appears in the doorway, an unimpressed look on her face. Mercifully, she doesn’t say anything about the state of Ellie’s room, and instead immediately spots the sketchbook under a stack of folded clothes on her desk.
“Here,” she says, pulling it out and handing it to Ellie.
“Thanks,” Ellie mumbles, cheeks turning slightly pink.
“Thank you,” he mouths soundlessly to Sarah who gives him a small smile.
“Now let’s go,” she urges, stepping over a pile of dirty laundry.
Once she’s out of the room and Ellie has shoved her sketchbook into her backpack, probably not cleaned out since last school year, he decides to try to gently approach the subject he’s been avoiding.
“Now, Ellie,” he starts. “I’m not sayin’ this to complain at ya, kiddo, but we’re gonna try to have a more organized year, right? You’re gonna give your sister an ulcer if we push it like this every morning.”
“I know,” Ellie says tensely, stomping out of the room and down the stairs. He stands there for a minute, giving a long exhale through his nose before meeting the rest of his family out in the truck.
“Put that shit out,” he tells Tommy, giving a look to the cigarette between his fingers. Tommy sighs but doesn’t argue, tossing it out before pulling out of the driveway and heading toward the school.
It’s quiet aside from the generic music on the radio, Sarah humming along mindlessly in the back, Ellie’s earbuds shoved in her ears as she leans against the window. Joel throws his arm back to tap her knee, speaking when she removes one from her ear.
“How about I pick ya both up after school, and we can grab some ice cream? Then you can tell me all about your first day,” he suggests, wanting to smooth things over with the promise of a sweet snack after school. Ellie shrugs in response, which was probably the most positive reaction he could have hoped for.
“I have soccer practice after school,” Sarah reminds him.
“Just me and you then, kid,” Joel says, turning his head to look at Ellie. She presses her lips together, but he can see that she’s secretly pleased by this news. Ellie and Sarah love each other and are great sisters, but he doesn’t get enough alone time with each of them, and he knows how much Ellie especially values their little one-on-one outings whenever they get the chance to have them.
Tommy pulls into the school parking lot then, avoiding the drop off line in favor of swinging into a parking spot so that they can get out quicker.
“I’m gonna go meet up with Lucy and Shelby,” Sarah says distractedly, fingers flying across her phone screen as she sends a text message. “Bye Uncle Tommy, bye Dad. See ya, Ellie! Love you all,” she says, giving kisses on all of their cheeks before she slides out of the truck.
“Bye, Uncle Tommy,” Ellie parrots, also sliding out on the other side.
“Have a good day, kid!”
Joel takes his cue to get out as well, catching up to Ellie easily considering she was walking slowly and clearly waiting on him to follow.
“Text me at lunchtime,” Joel says quietly into her ear as he pulls her into his side. Ellie just received her much-coveted iPhone a few days ago, Joel finally allowing her to have a smartphone now that she’s in high school instead of the prepaid, emergencies-only phone from middle school. They’ve been buddies this summer, Ellie spending quite a bit of time with him and Tommy at some of their more kid-friendly worksites while Sarah worked as a day camp counselor. He doesn’t want to encourage her to use her phone at school, but he knows Ellie’s going to miss him just as much as he’s going to miss her. Plus, his youngest needs a bit more reassurance, even though she’d deny it out loud. “Love you, baby. Good luck today,” he tells her with a kiss to her temple.
She acts like she’s shrinking away, but he can feel the way her fingers are still gripping his shirt. “Love you,” she mumbles, cheeks turning pink again as she lets go of him and pulls her backpack against herself before melting into the crowd of kids spilling into the front doors of the school.
At around 11:30, his phone pings with a notification.
Ellie: There was a kidnapping at school yesterday.
Joel stares at his phone for a moment, thinking most parents would be panicking right now, immediately asking for more details. Instead, he just waits for the punchline.
Ellie: Don’t worry, though - he woke up!
He shakes his head, holding his phone at arms length away from his face to start tapping out a reply. Tommy makes a quip about his old man eyes, and he flips him off before returning to his task.
Good 1. Do u have the same lunch as ur friends? He types out quickly. He doesn’t have to wait long for a response.
Ellie: Riley’s in this lunch :D
He sighs in relief, knowing the lunch schedule was a source of concern a few days ago, replying with a string of celebration emojis to show his support.
U doing O.K.? He asks her after a moment in a separate message, sending a quick text to Sarah as well to check in while he’s thinking about it and waiting to hear back from Ellie.
Ellie: Would be better if you didn’t text like such an old man.
Ellie: But…yeah all good so far.
He smiles down at his phone just as he gets a notification from Sarah. It’s a selfie she took with a clearly unwilling Ellie in the cafeteria. Ellie’s making a weak attempt to cover her face, and Sarah has a massive grin across hers. The photo’s a bit blurry, probably because of how quickly Sarah had to take it before Ellie fully shoved her away.
He sends back a heart emoji and saves it to his camera roll, getting back to work with the knowledge that both of his girls are okay, and all is well.