The Keep Out Chronicles

The Keep Out Chronicles

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"Riley! How many times must I tell you to keep out of my room while I'm at work? After her shift at the diner, my sister Jenna burst through the main door, enraged.

Source

I had been fiddling with her laptop on her desk chair when I looked up apologetically."Uhh...sorry? I just needed to use a computer for my school project."

Jenna scowled, snatching the laptop away from me. "Yeah, well, you could've used the family computer downstairs instead of invading my bedroom. The one place I've always asked you to respect my privacy."

She turned around and stomped back towards the stairs, her golden ponytail swinging violently behind her. "Why don't you ever listen?"

"I do too listen!" I hollered after her retreating figure. "When it's something I actually care about."

I heard her groan loudly as she disappeared up the staircase towards her room. I just rolled my eyes. She was seriously overreacting as usual.

A few hours later, we were sitting down to the dinner that Mom had prepared - hamburgers, fries, and a leafy green salad that looked entirely too healthy for my liking.

"So how was everyone's day?" Mom chirped in that fake-cheery tone she always used when she could sense simmering tensions.

Jenna shot me a dark look from across the table. "It was fine until I got home and found a certain someone trespassing in my bedroom again."

I threw my hands up in exasperation. "Oh my god, Jenna. I wasn't trespassing! I just needed a computer for literally twenty minutes."

She opened her mouth to fire back a retort, but Mom swiftly cut her off. "Girls! That's enough of that bickering, please. Let's just enjoy a nice family dinner together."

Jenna and I exchanged one last glower before slouching down and digging into our plates. Mom watched us warily, clearly unconvinced that the issue was resolved.

Two nights later, I was lying in bed reading a book for English class when a muffled thumping sound came from the hallway outside my door.

I listened closer...it almost sounded likesomeone stumbling around out there. My thoughts suddenly flashed back to the spooky opening sequence from one of my favorite suspense books, in which the protagonist's home is broken into by an intruder in the middle of the night. My heart began to race at the mere thought of it.

I got my softball bat from the bedroom corner and moved toward the door, swallowing hard. I twisted the knob with unsteady hands and peered out into the corridor.

At first, I didn't see anything. But then a dark figure lurched around the corner, nearly giving me a heart attack.

"AHHHHH!" I screamed at the top of my lungs and automatically swung the bat towards the shadowy figure.

"OW! Geez, Riley, watch it!" The figure yelped in a very familiar, annoyed tone.
The hallway light abruptly turned on, revealing Jenna holding onto her shoulder and staring at me with a dagger-like expression.She must've just gotten home from her late-night cashier job at the grocery store.

With a great sigh of relief, I held my chest."Jenna! You nearly gave me an actual heart attack! What were you doing skulking around the dark hallway like that?"

She looked at me like I was deranged. "Uh...Going to my bedroom after work? Like a normal person does when they get home at night?"

I suddenly felt a little sheepish but mostly just relieved that I hadn't accidentally clobbered my sister with a bat. "Well, maybe you should invest in a singing a little show tune or something when you come home so late. You know, to avoid anymore...misunderstandings."

Jenna narrowed her eyes at me. "Ooookay, weirdo. I'm going to bed now." She turned and stomped away down the hall towards her room, pausing to shoot me one more incredulous look. "And stay out of my stuff!"

I held up my hands innocently as her bedroom door slammed shut. "Got it, got it. Keep out and all that."

I staggered into the kitchen the following morning, seeking the magical beverage known as coffee. However, my beloved Batman cup was missing when I opened the cabinet.

"Good morning, dear!" Mom sang out as she breezed into the kitchen with a basket of laundry. "Sleep okay?"

"Ugh, I guess so," I grumbled. "Hey, have you seen my Batman mug anywhere? I could've sworn I left it up -"

My eyes fell to the refrigerator and I stopped talking. A handwritten message was there, held by a flamingo-shaped bright pink magnet:

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Riley -

If you ever want to see your precious Batman mug again, KEEP OUT of my bedroom! Consider us at war.

• Jenna

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Attached to the note was a blurry photo that seemed to show my Batman mug being held as a hostage...with Jenna's comforter from her bed in the background.

I gasped audibly, feeling a hot rush of fury coursing through me. That little sneak! How dare she stoop to such a vindictive level?

My rage must have been written all over my face, because Mom cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Everything...okay over there?"

"No!" I howled, snatching the note off the fridge and waving it around furiously. "Jenna has officially crossed a line that cannot be uncrossed! She's taken my Batman mug as some sort of twisted retaliation prank!"

I sensed a cunning scheme starting to take shape in my mind. That's fine if she wanted to engage in a silly tit-for-tat.

This meant war.