I Spy With My Little Eye

Chapter 6

Grace:

My phone buzzed above my head and sun shone through the window of my room. I groaned and pulled the pillow over my head trying to kill the sound of my phone and the sun at the same time. One thing I couldn’t kill, the smell of pancakes. Somehow the smell had managed to seep under my door and reach my nose way under the pillow. Stupid phone, stupid pancakes, stupid sunshine. I wasn’t a morning person. People who were morning people weren’t really people, they were robots who were programmed to be way too happy.

My phone buzzed again. I reached up to grab it and chucked it across the room. I heard it smack against the wall and remembered that daddy was going to be mad if he had to buy me a new phone because I threw mine again. I should consider putting it on silent at night. I snuggled farther into my bed when I heard another phone ring, and someone answer it. I couldn’t hear what they were saying but it sounded like Eli.

I started to remember last night and blushed. He didn’t hate me. He was really nice to me last night. I didn’t know what caused the change in him, but I didn’t want him to change back any time soon. “Thank you for saving me.” My last words before I fell asleep came into my head and I blushed even deeper. Who says that stuff? I may be generally helpless in conflict situations, but I didn’t want to sound helpless. I didn’t want Eli or Levi to think I had to have everything. There was no way I was getting up now.

“Grace?” there was a light knock on the door as Eli came in, “Your dad is on the… what happened to your cell phone?” He asked.

“Tell him I’m sleeping.” I groaned not coming out from under the covers.

“You tell him.” Eli thrust his hand under the covers and pressed the phone to my ear.

“Hi Daddy.” I said quietly.

“Good morning Princess.” My dad said with that stupid cheerful tone, “Don’t you think it’s about time to get up?” Daddy may look like a mafia boss, but he never sounded scary or overly critical with me. My morning habits just bugged him, so he always harped on me to get up earlier.

“I didn’t sleep well last night.” I defended letting my voice get whiny. Of course, after I talked with Eli I slept like a dead person.

“Well if you wouldn’t sleep in so late…” He scolded. I groaned audibly into the phone so he could hear my frustration.

“Do we really have to talk about this now?” I asked, suddenly aware that Eli was still in my room.

“I was just calling to make sure you were safe.” Daddy said changing the subject. My dad was only a little overprotective. I guess after yesterday he had right to be.

“I’m fine Daddy.” I told him softly.

“Are those boys treating you okay?” He asked. I blushed even more.

“They have been perfect gentlemen.” I said calmly. It suddenly hit me that Daddy had never let me stay with a boy in my life that wasn’t family without a girl around. I wondered why he suddenly let me stay with two. My dad was old fashioned. I was his baby girl. I wasn’t even allowed to date unless Daddy did a full background check, had him and his family followed for a week and met him before he took me out. Needless to say, I didn’t have that many dates.

Daddy cleared his throat, “Alright. Good.” He said his voice deeper than normal, “Well, call me if you need anything.”

“Alright, I will.” I said adding a happy tone to my voice, “Love you Daddy.”

“And Gracie.” He intervened, stopping me from hanging up, “Don’t throw your phone and actually answer it next time.”

“Okay Daddy.” I said with a sigh, “Love you.”

“Love you too baby.” and he hung up. I thrust the phone back out from under the blanket and handed it to Eli.

“I’m supposed to make sure you get up.” I heard him shift uncomfortably and I peeked out of the blankets only to be assaulted by bright sunlight.

“Don’t and say you did?” I asked hopefully.

“I made pancakes.” He said hesitantly like this was the best card he could play. My dad must have told them that I loved pancakes.

“Are they normal pancakes, or are they pancakes like your tacos?” I asked narrowing my eyes at him. He laughed, his voice reverberating around the room as he smiled down at me.

“d**k wouldn’t let me add soda to the mix.” He said with a shrug, his huge smile still plastered on his face. I squinted against the sunlight to get a better look at him. At least he was dressed better this morning. I was happy he never attempted to wear plaid or a jacket because he would screw up looking normal. He had on loose blue jeans and a black t-shirt that was loose around his stomach and hips but tightened across his shoulders. He had dark circles under his eyes that actually made his eyes look even more blue. He seemed to be getting over the pepper spray pretty well. His skin was only slightly red. His black hair was a mess but, in the sunlight, I could tell it had a few streaks of dark brown.

“Did you sleep at all last night?” I asked focusing on the bags under his eyes again.

“No.” He scoffed like it was obvious, “Now come on, the food is getting cold.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of bed.

“Eli, why the heck is there Mayo on the table?” Levi asked as we came out of my bedroom. He looked like he had just gotten out of the shower. His light brown hair was wet and sticking to his forehead and his shirt clung to his stomach and back.

“To go with the pancakes and eggs.” Eli said innocently. Clearly his eating habits needed to be changed.

“And the chocolate sauce?” Levi questioned.

“To go with the bacon.” Eli sat down at the table and started loading his plate with food. Levi shrugged like he wasn’t going to win and sat down too. I stood there, in complete horror at the idea of putting mayo on pancakes. I couldn’t take it. I wouldn’t let this happen. Quietly I pulled the mayo off the table, along with the chocolate sauce and the relish which Levi hadn’t mentioned. I turned quickly not wanting to cause a scene and placed the items back in the fridge. I went and calmly sat back down. Eli shot me a death glare and Levi hid a laugh. Slowly Eli got up to retrieve the mayo. I sighed and followed him. He opened the fridge and I slammed it shut before he could stick his hand in to get his disgusting pancake-ruining condiments back out of the fridge. He growled at me and forced my hand away. I just slammed the fridge shut again as he tried to open it.

“Will you stop it!” He yelled turning to face me.

“I will not have mayo disgracing my table this early in the morning!” I yelled back putting my hands on my hips. Bad move and Eli saw it. Before I could react, he swung open the fridge door and grabbed his mayo and chocolate sauce.

“Ha!” He said turning on his heal and marching over to the table where he promptly ruined the pancakes and the bacon. I marched over to him and grabbed his plate just as he was about to dig in.

“What is your problem?” He asked standing up. His blue eyes looked at me menacingly as he made a grab for his plate.

“If we are all going to live here together, there needs to be some rules.” I announced, looking pointedly at Eli.

“Rule number one, No girly products in the bathroom.” Levi said around a mouthful of food.

“No, Rule number one, all food combinations must be deemed socially acceptable before they are eaten.” I challenged, pulling Eli’s plate back as he made another grab for it.

“What do you care what I eat?’ He asked glaring at me.

“Dude it’s gross.” Levi said making a face, “it looks like you’re eating baby penguin food.”

“Baby penguins eat regurgitated fish.” Eli said glaring at Levi now.

“Exactly.” Levi said taking another bite of his pancakes.

“Why does she get to come up with the rules?” Eli asked, pouting a little bit. I couldn’t help but laugh at his expression as he eyed the plate in my hand.

“He’s right.” Levi said, “All those in favor of the rule about no girly products in the bathroom say I!”

“I” Levi and Eli said at the same time.

“That’s not fair! I need that stuff!” I yelled, flabbergasted that they would ban necessary items.

“And I need food!” Eli made another grab across the table.

“All those in favor of the food rule say I!” I said smirking.

“I!” Levi and I said together.

“Ugh, fine!” Eli gave up, sitting down, “Let me have just one last meal.” I sighed and figured it was only fair. I handed him his plate. He quickly dug in before I had a chance to take it away from him.

“Rule three should be that everyone has to go to bed at night.” I said smugly as I watched Eli pause and send another glare my way. What can I say? I was still ticked about the girly stuff rule.

“Rule number four should be you have to be out of bed by nine in the morning.” He spit back his eyes locking with mine.

“Rule number five should be that you have to wear matching clothes.” I bit venomously.

“Rule number six should be no throwing phones against the wall.” He growled.

“Rule number seven should be no yelling at the table!” Levi yelled over us drawing our attention away from each other, “Seriously, can’t a guy eat in peace?’

Grace: