Editing The Sky

Chapter 4

River woke up on the couch with her mother gently shacking her.

"River you need to get ready for school." River groaned but lifted herself from the couch and headed for the bathroom. She took a quick 5 minute shower shutting the water off when she didn't need it.

Don't waste anything was her mother's motto. When she was done she quickly dried herself with a scratchy towel and got dressed.

She picked a faded and ripped at both knees jeans because it was all that was clean she would have to go to the dry cleaners today. She also put on a too small black tank top that showed off her stomach. River didn't want to wear this but it was all she had.

River didn't remember the last time she had gone shopping for clothes. She went to put on her tiny jacket and realized the shoulder was ripped open.

She groaned and dropped it. Guess she was going without.

Today was going to be cold even if she made sure the sun was out. She grabbed her patched up backpack and grabbed the homework she had barely done. It would be enough to get her a C and that was okay with River.

River wasn't super smart but she was smart enough she kept her over all grades at B's and A's. River pulled on her boots. It was her mom's gift for River's 18th birthday last month. The boots were everything River could have asked for. They were shitkickers to the extreme with steel toes and everything. When she had asked her mom why, she had said any woman without shitkickers in her closet wasn't a real woman at all.

It had been a touching moment and River adored her boots even if she had to carry her dirty tennis shoes in her backpack for gym class.

When River got down the stairs her mother was waiting for her.

Mom?" River asked cautiously. Her mother had her arms behind her back and was swaying front to back a little. River automatically went on guard. Her mother had done something.

"I got you something." she said River gasped.

"Mom you know we don't have the money." She said and walked up to her.

"Well its a necessity." she said and River sighed.

"What is it mom?" River asked. She pulled an old box from behind her back.

River opened it carefully and when she saw the nice clean black material in the box she gasped. River pulled out the oversized hoodie. "Mom?" She asked weakly.

"Your jacket got ripped and it was too small anyway." she said and pulled it out of River's hands. It was simple it zipped up in the front and had a huge hood that would hang over the forehead covering the eyes maybe more just as River loved. There were decent enough pockets and it was made with simple black material no fancy designs that could catch unwanted attention.

"Ohh Mom!" she felt tears prick her eyes and she threw her arms around her.