if wishes were horses [open]

[Tommy Santos]

Tommy plopped down on the sofa, laptop in hand. He was going to tackle this; he was going to tackle it if it was the last damn academic thing he did in his entire life. It wouldn't be. But, for the night, it absolutely would be. He flipped open the computer, while simultaneously reaching for the television remote. While the computer warmed up, he flipped to a sports network, a hockey game already under way. He barely bothered to look at who was playing before he acknowledged the laptop with reluctance. He had an essay due the next day and frankly, he didn't want to touch it. He wanted to watch TV or take a nap, or go for a run... Again. He had been on a jog earlier, because it usually cleared his head. But that day, it did nothing but make him want to stay outside and shy away from being indoors. It was later now; eight PM. There was no going for a run and there was no getting away from the essay.

"Son of a bitch! No, no— come on, baby. I love you. Don't—don't. Damn it!" He groaned, looking at the laptop with pure disdain. Of all times to have a meltdown. He'd been sitting there for forty-five minutes, typing non-stop, and then it crashed, and most likely everything was lost. He didn't even want to look at it. Maybe in a couple of hours. He'd get high off caffeine and work through the night. But for now, he was finished. He slammed it shut and set it down on the floor, next to the couch before he drew his legs up and lay on his back across the length. The noise of the game he'd been watching went on in the background, but he didn't look over at it. Instead, he rested his arm against his stomach and let the other drape over the sofa, his eyes staring lazily up at the ceiling. It didn't feel like the best of nights. He wondered idly where his gigantic family was, though the thought came and went quickly as he tried to clear his head.

[Deleted]

It was like she was leading two different lives. At home, Yasmine lived with the ex-gang member and the jocks and queen bee and sluts. Then, every other weekend, there was her dad's place, with the nerds. But honestly, even though she was a cheerleader, Yasmine felt more at home when she was around Mallory and Nesse than she did here. Especially since everyone just pretty much led their lives and none of their lives included the youngest. So why hadn't she asked her dad to get custody? Because his house was already full. Mallory shared her room with Nesse, and when Yasmine visited, she shared with Riley. She was never there when Marcus visited, but she dreaded seeing the rooming arrangements there. And honestly, she liked having her own room.

As always with Toby, she had been late picked up and early drop off. Normally, she would come on Tuesdays, but he said he needed to go ahead and drop her off tonight. The fourteen year old wasn't surprised at all. She had long gotten over being disappointed in him over being dropped off early after he ran late picking her up on Friday. As they pulled up, Yasmine grabbed her bag and headed for the door. She was starving. As she fumbled with the key, she was honked at, and realized she had forgotten to say goodbye.

"Bye, daddy! Love you! See you in a couple of weeks!" she shouted from the doorstep as she opened the door. Tossing her bag down and her keys on her bag, she ran into the kitchen to fix a sandwich. Once she had her food made, that was when she heard the television in the living room. "Can't be Willow" he muttered, grabbing a soda as she roamed into the living room. As she suspected, it was not her big sister. Instead, it was her brother.

"what are you watching?" she asked, speaking softly. She hated interrupting her siblings because they were normally busy with important things that she figured were more important than her. But, maybe he'd let her join him if she was lucky. So, she asked.

[Tommy Santos]

Tommy heard someone else in the house, but he hadn't moved to find out who. But, when he heard his sister's voice, he turned his head, ending his staring contest with the ceiling. "I think it's a repeat broadcast of last week's game." He explained, glancing towards the TV again. "You can change it, if you wanna watch something else. I wasn't paying attention to it." He said, not minding if she wanted to. Not everyone wanted to watch sports 24/7. Hey, he was a jock and not even he wanted to. Hockey was his life, but he liked to watch actual shows sometimes. And he really didn't feel like hogging the TV for a game he already watched. It was good background noise before, but now, he didn't actually need it.

"What's up?" He asked after a beat. He didn't spend a lot of time talking to his siblings. Well, not with the majority of them. He was probably closest to Selena and he thought his relationship with Willow was pretty good too. And while he liked his siblings, he didn't spend a lot of time around the house hanging out with them. He always found something to do. But, it was nothing against them. Tommy couldn't even remember the last time he had a fight with any of them. But it could happen, and it had in the past.

[Deleted]

"I wasn't gonna take the remote from you," she said sweetly as she sat down by him, opening her soda. That hadn't been her reason for asking. Setting her drink down, she took a bite and looked at her older brother. "Besides, if it's not sports it'll be about the serial killer again. And who wants to watch a bunch of press conferences about that?" well, she did. Yasmine was astonished by what was going on in Toronto. She liked watching the news when something new came up. She just wouldn't admit to that to her family. Especially not to Willow.

When he asked what was up, she shrugged. "I'm supposed to be practising for the talent show next Friday. But I have this week and next week. I'll get it down pat" she was more of a procrastinator than her siblings were. Even Willow was pretty good at doing her homework nice and easy and then spending the rest of her time with Abigail. Yasmine liked to do things first, and then work on homework. And an act for the talent show their mother was running was like homework to her.

[Tommy Santos]

"Oh, I know, I'm just not really using it." He replied. Though the mention of the press coverage on the serial killer made him shrug a little. "I don't know, it's kind of interesting. Different, anyway. Also kind of scary, you know, happening so close to home." He said, and yeah, it was freaky. He didn't like the idea of a serial killer nearby. But the coverage didn't bother him. But if she wanted to avoid it, he didn't mind. It could be a little morbid and it felt like they weren't getting a lot of new answers anyway. Listening to her, he nodded. He really wasn't one to talk about procrastination right now, not with his closed laptop on the floor.

He nodded, chuckling. "I'm supposed to be doing a paper. I'm hoping it just kind of gets itself done." He said, nodding to his computer on the ground. Then, pausing, he looked at her again. "What're you doing in the talent show?" He asked, curious. He didn't even know she was in it. Of course, he wasn't in it himself so it made sense he wouldn't know everyone doing it. But, since she was his sister, he figured he should know little things like that.

[Selena California Santos]

What would you suspect Selena to be doing? Practicing her soccer moves, of course. She did a lot of that. She was a perfectionist when it came to that sport. Most of the day, Selena had been at the park. And since it had started to get to dark to practice anymore, she began her walk home. It had been such a nice day and she thought she was doing extremely well with her soccer.

She walked through the back door and into the kitchen. She made herself a sandwhich and grabbed a soda from the fridge and headed into the living room. Only to find Yasmine and Tommy. She was actually really close to Tommy. But her and Yasmine never really talked as much. The two just really did not have too much in common. Or so Selena thought. She sat down in the chair and took a bite from her sandwhich. "Hey."

[Deleted]

Yasmine's face lit up when he called it interesting yet scary. "I know! And the last victim was a girl we went to school with! You know, that deaf girl?" she quickly caught herself and looked down. "Not that I've been keeping track. Cause I haven't." Sure, she hadn't. Yasmine took a bite from her sandwich, when she heard his question "oh! rah ganking" she said with her mouth full. Covering her mouth, she held up a finger and swallowed her food. "Tap dancing. I kinda came up with a routine. Nothing much" she shrugged and took another bite

When Selena came in, Yasmine quickly scooted to the far side of the couch to avoid being stuck in the middle. "hi," she answered her sister, even quieter than she had been talking to Tommy. She wondered if the two would want her to like, leave or something. They were like R2D2 and 3Po. Yeah, she was a star wars nerd. Yasmine gripped her soda tightly and sipped it. She normally didn't hang around when her siblings were in the living room. She figured she was too different from them and they wouldn't want her around. She wished she had just stayed at Toby's until tomorrow like she was supposed to.