Page 6 of Withered

“Good morning!” I shout, trying to act extra cheerful. She must be hungover.

She groans loudly. “What’s so good about this morning?”

“How are you feeling?” I suppressed a giggle.

“Shit,” she grunts.

“I can tell.” My lips twitched in amusement. I walked over to the nightstand table and opened the drawer to grab two Ibuprofen tablets, which I handed to her with a glass of water.

She gulps it down and falls back on the bed.

I shake my head. “Oh no, you get up and get dressed,” I order her. She ignores me and stuffs her head into the pillow.

“Fine.” I add, “I’ll just go downstairs and eat all the waffles Nancy’s making.”

Yes, we are suckers for food.She may eat only fruits and veggies, but who can say no to waffles?

As Nancy makes waffles, I pour juice and sit at the kitchen island.

Kristy joins us ten minutes later; she must be really hungry. Nancy serves us both separately, and we happily munch on the waffles.

“Do you know you moan when you eat?” Kristy says.

I choke on my food. “No. I don’t.”

She shrugs and gets back to eating.

“Ready for high school?” Nancy asks, looking back and forth between Kristy and me.

Kristy groans, and I shrug. No one is ever ready for high school.

“Seems like no,” Nancy whispers.

Kristy remarks, “I can’t believe the holidays are already over.”

“Same,” I sigh. I can’t believe we’re going to hell tomorrow.”

She smirks and raises an eyebrow at me, saying, “Correction, you meant heaven.”

I roll my eyes at her. “But it’s hell for you, and no place is heaven for me without you, so let’s settle for hell, shall we?”

Comebacks should always be stronger than setbacks. Take notes.

“Aww, I love you, Rosie.” She says it in her baby voice.

I laugh at her childishness: “I know, I love you too.”

The whole Sunday passes by in a flash. Just watching movies, eating calories, and gossiping. I wanted to ask her about the picture, why she has it, and why she kept it with her all along, but I stopped myself. High school starts tomorrow, and I don’t want to start on the wrong foot. I’ll ask her some other day.

Mom came to pick me up after work. I went straight to bed after arriving home, dreaming about all the movies in my mind.

AllIhearisTaylor Swift’sI Knew You Were Troubleblasting from my phone. I groan and turn off my alarm, then sit up sluggishly. It’s just 6:30 a.m., and school doesn’t start until 8 a.m., so I have plenty of time to prepare.

I drag my sleepy self to the bathroom, take a shower, and change my clothing. When Dad was renovating my room, I wanted him to include a closet with a full-length mirror, and I love how it turned out. But I always like the mirror in my room because it holds all of my belongings.

My room is bathed in sunlight. I’m not concerned about the curtains because the house next door is empty. There is a room directly across from mine, and the house is close enough that anyone could easily enter my room.

As I get dressed, I double-check everything before heading downstairs for breakfast.

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