1.13--Getting Caught Red-Handed

Almost matching PJ's. How cute!

 

Hayley Cornett, Olive and Sybil's best friend since childhood, had been staying at the Dennis household while her parents were out of town.  Mya and Robert didn't mind since Hayley was basically a part of the family and often helped out around the house during her visit (which was more than they could say for their own children who feigned sleeping or having to work on a big project to avoid chores).

Olive frequently teased Hayley for making the Dennis children look bad. "Just don't clean up after yourself and, I don't know, throw toilet paper around or something... please.  Or else my mom and dad are going to think we're terrible children who never help out."

"But you are terrible children who never help out." Hayley countered.

"Not true.  I totally did the laundry and dishes yesterday."

"Because you're totally grounded." Sybil offered.

"Hey! You're supposed to be on my side.  No changing teams, you traitor!"

Sybil shrugged. "My loyalty is fluid. I go with the winning team... and right now that's Hayley."

Olive pouted. "But...I love you."

"I love you too, sis.  Still siding with Lee on this one though."

Olive broke out in song. "One is the loooneliest number that you'll ever doooo..." 

Sybil and Hayley laughed. "Fine!" Hayley exclaimed, "we'll both side with you if you promise to never sing again."

"I knew my beautiful singing voice would sway you." Olive said with a self-satisfied grin.

The Next Morning... 

Sybil was the first to awake out of the girls.

"I call first dibs on the shower." She whispered.

Mya laughed. "Why are you whispering? l thought all the fun of the 'dibs' game revolved around yelling it."

"Sh! If I wake Olive, she'll find some kind of loophole, or worse, race me to the shower.  Have you seen how fast she runs?"

"Well you better hop to it then." Mya smirked.  Olive was certainly sneaky when it came to competition.  Plus, she knew how fast her daughter could run first-hand... she often raced Mya to the car when she took the girls out grocery shopping so she could practice driving.  Mya had yet to win. 

While Sybil enjoyed her victory shower...

... Olive woke up.

"I call dibs on the shower!" She yelled, waking up Hayley and scaring her mother half to death.  Mya would have to talk to Robert about teaching the kids this game...  a stern talk.

"Olive! Lower your voice.  You'll wake you the rest of house. Besides, Sybil already called dibs and is taking a shower now."

Olive laughed. "Dammit."

"Language young lady!" Mya felt like a hypocrite chastising her daughter over a curse. Olive was certainly aware of the irony.

"What?!" Olive asked innocently, "I said darn-it."

"Sure you did.  You are aware that I'm getting old not deaf, right? There is breakfast on the counter and tell Sybil I said goodbye. Also, you and Syb remember to come home right after school so me and your father can pack and leave for our anniversary trip."

"Ew." Was the only response Olive gave.

"Aw... I think it's cute. Where are you two going?" Hayley asked.

"Just to a little resort outside of town for some alone time."

"Double ew." Olive said, giving her mom a smirk.

Mya laughed. "Love you sweetheart. You girls be good at school."

"Love you too, mom."

"And we will Mrs. D." Hayley added.

Aaaaand the makeover I gave Hayley *finally* registers. 

"You are such a suck-up." Olive said, teasing Hayley after her mom left.

She shrugged in response. "I like your parents.  I have to head over to my house to make sure my parents made it home okay and grab a book for class.  I'll see you guys at school... Oh!" she added suddenly, "tell Syb that I'll see her at lunch to help her with her algebra homework."

Olive gave her a suspicious look.  Sybil was really good at algebra, since when did she need help? "I sure will.  See you at school Lee."

"Mom said goodbye... and Lee wanted me to remind you to meet her for lunch for your tutoring session." Olive said, watching as her sister suddenly started blushing.

"What is it Syb? I thought you were doing well in algebra."

"I am... I just need some extra help."

"You're a terrible liar."

Sybil sighed. "All right... I think I like Hayley."

"Uh...I like her too.  She is our best friend."

"No. I mean I like Hayley." Sybil said, clearly embarrassed.

Olive stared at her sister in disbelief.  She always assumed Syb was adverse to relationships since they required a certain intimacy. This did explain Syb's disgust with all the boys at their school. "Since when?"

"Forever, I guess."

"Does she know?"

"Of course not! I don't know if she swings that way.  And I'm too much of a coward."

"Well I didn't know you 'swung' that way either.  Maybe she'll surprise you. Sybil, you have to tell her."

"Wait... you're not repulsed by this? I mean, you're okay with me being a lesbian?"

"I'm surprised certainly, but no I'm not repulsed.  I honestly think this is great! You do need to be honest though... with everyone."

"I will... eventually. And thanks Ollie."

Olive decided not to push any further.  It was clear that Syb was uncomfortable letting others know right now. "Let's go to school so you can fawn over Lee."

Sybil laughed. "Shut up!"

As soon as the girls returned home from school, Mya and Rob left for their vacation.

Olive decided she had a brilliant idea. "Let's throw a party!"

Sybil wasn't so sure. "What about Snuffle? And what if mom and dad find out?"

"We can take turns watching Cor-Bear... and as long as we clean the house, they won't know. Plus, we can invite Lee over so you can confess your undying love to her... and I can finally build up the courage to talk to Randolph outside of school." 

Sybil laughed. "I should have never told you about my feelings for Lee. I knew you would be relentless!" But she had to admit, she was warming up to the idea if Lee was going to be there.

Olive waited, giving her sister plenty of time to process the advantages of the situation.

Sybil sighed. "Fine! But we have to clean everything.  And not too many people."

"Yes!" Olive exclaimed. "I'll make the calls, and you order the pizza."

And with that, a Dennis party was organized...

...where a lot of flirting, dancing, and story-telling took place.

Sybil gathered all the courage she had and led Hayley outside...

...where she nervously confessed her feelings.

And found out that Hayley enthusiastically felt the same about her.

"So the tutor sessions were a ruse, huh?" Hayley asked.

"Yeah." Sybil admitted sheepishly.

"I thought so." Hayley smiled as she brushed the hair from Sybil's face. "So does this mean we can stop pretending you need tutoring and actually go out together for lunch?"

Sybil laughed. "Yes... please. My packed lunches were getting old. And I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sick of the library."

Hayley pulled her into a hug. "Me too."

They spent the rest of the party outside, content with just each others company...

...while Olive made her move on Randolph.

...and decided she was ready for her first time.  

The next day... 

Olive woke up early to find the other side of the bed empty with a scrawled note on the pillow:

I'm really sorry I had to leave early. I have work in the morning and I can't be late.  I can come back after to help you and your sister clean. Just text me and I'll be there. By the way, last night was fun, but can we go on an actual date next time? Does this mean I can call you my girlfriend?

                   Call me later, I need to talk to you.

                   Randy

Olive read it twice... and then three times before smiling to herself. Either he really did think he scribbled out the girlfriend part enough for her not to see it... or he was attempting to be sly.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning the house...

...and playing with Corrigan. They were convinced that they had gotten away with their party, but little did they know that Mya and Rob had gotten a phone call from a neighbor...

...And were on their way home. 

"So you two decided to throw a party without us, huh?" Robert said as soon as he entered the house.

"Shit." Olive said.  By the look on Syb's face, she was pretty sure she was thinking the same.

--------------------------------------------

I gave Hayley a makeover because I felt she looked too generic, but it didn't actually register until she changed clothes the next day.  Just a little note in case anyone found her physical changes jarring.


Also, I didn't realize how closely I'm resembling Mya and Olive's relationship on me and my moms.  We are super close, but we are often overly sarcastic with each other. LOL. Makes writing them so much easier.