It was a few days after Red's funeral, and the first time I had seen Violet Gardner since she moved away. I had forgotten Red and Violet were related for a split second, and then it hit me once I saw her at the funeral.
I was sitting on the stairs at school, eating a bowl of almost cold mac & cheese that Elle packed for me. Ebony and Vera hadn't shown up yet. I guess they were in the cafeteria looking for me.
Suddenly, Ebony bounced into the cafeteria, tugging on Vera's hand. She sat down on the stairs with me, out of breath.
"Hey, Cat, are you going on the school trip to D.C.? It's gonna be in June this year, right before your birthday." Ebony asked. "We have to sell cookie dough to raise money. Isn't that like, such an elementary school thing to do? Anyway, each student has to sell 50 boxes in order to go."
"Um...you know I get homesick easily, so I'll think about it." I said, finishing off my mac & cheese and throwing the bowl in the trash. "Also, I'm sort of getting over something right now, so I don't really want to focus all my attention on selling stuff."
"My grandpa already bought 15 boxes from me." Vera said excitedly. I nodded and said, "What is he gonna do with all that cookie dough? Like seriously?"
"Not sure what anyone wants to do with crappy school cookie dough." Ebony said. I sighed, realizing that Red promised me that she'd do the cookie dough sale with me. We had already made plans, before the incident.
"I'm sorry. I can't sell." I said, running off. "It's just too much right now."
"But Cat, if you want to go on the D.C. trip, you have to sell something." Ebony said.
"Okay, here's the thing. My best friend died last week and she promised me months ago that she'd sell cookie dough WITH ME so she could go on the trip. This was after some...traumatic events in my family, so I wasn't sure if I could go without my mom and aunt. Happy with that answer? Great. Everyone's happy. Now if you'll excuse me, me and my apple slices are going to the band room." I said, grabbing my lunchbox and storming off.
As I entered the band room, I ran off, bursting into tears. I couldn't even handle band today. Not without thinking about Red. Red, Red, Red. That was the only thing on my mind. Not D.C., not the whole cookie dough thing, not even the crash or hospitals or any of my usual fears.
Losing Red was all I could think about.
Then I realized that me going to D.C. and having fun and selling the cookie dough to support the school was what Red would've wanted. That was all she could talk about when she came over sometimes, that we would win whatever mystery prize the teachers hyped us up about. It was probably a crappy school yo-yo or a T-shirt or something, but still.
I sprinted back to the front office and picked up the sign up sheet for selling cookie dough.
"Catlynn McLemore." I said as I scribbled my name down on the form. I turned the form into the office and sighed.
__________
"Hey, Sunshine! How was school?" Elle asked as I walked in the door.
"Decent." I said, not wanting to say anything more. Nothing about the cookie dough or the D.C. trip, because I knew Elle and Jess would bring up Red if I mentioned it. And that was the last thing I wanted to hear right now.
"Decent? Well, what did you do today?" Jessica asked. Elle pulled out her computer and started scrolling through something.
"Hey, Cat, I got an email from your school. Did you sign up to sell cookie dough for the D.C. trip? I thought you weren't going because of everything that's been going on." Elle said, showing me the email. I sighed and pushed her computer away from me.
"Yeah, um, I did sign up. I signed up after lunch today." I said. Well, at least I wasn't lying.
"Are you sure you're going to be able to handle going on a trip by yourself?" Elle asked, staring at me. I sighed and said, "Yeah. I'll be fine."
Elle looked at Jess with a doubtful look on her face, then said, "Sunshine, there's a list of rules you have to follow to be able to go. Look at number 6."
Rule #6: All students must put their phones, laptops, and other electronic devices away by 9:30 PM while on the trip.
"My bedtime is 9:30. That means I can't call you before I go to bed...and what about my nightmares? Mommy...what if I get a nightmare?" I asked, scared.
"Sunshine, that's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. Are you sure you're going to be able to handle this?" Elle asked, but Jessica waved her hands in Elle's face and cut her off.
"I'll explain." Jessica said, holding up her computer. A fresh blank email draft was on the screen.
"I knew it!" I said, laughing for one of the first times in a week. Jessica laughed as well and said, "We always have your back, Sunshine. I know you're looking forward to going on this trip."
"So, is there any way I can pre-order some cookie dough?" Elle said. I laughed and said, "They said it's not a good idea to sell it to your parents, because you're paying for it anyway. But go ahead, buy some crappy school cookie dough."
Elle and Jessica laughed and I handed Elle the order form. "I have to sell 75 in order to even be eligible for the trip."
"That's a lot of cookie dough." Jessica said. Then it hit her. "Weren't you and Red going to sell together? Before you left Hamilton?"
"Yeah, but this is what she would've wanted." I smiled, trying to change the subject.
But it was true. I'm going to sell the most cookie dough in the school.
Red Ashley, I'm going to make you proud.
AN: Now I want cookies. And raspberries. I have an unhealthy obsession with raspberries. Hope you enjoyed! Catch ya later!
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Adopted by Heathers Cast
FanfictionCatlynn Reeve is no stranger to abuse. Her father and older brother have abused her since the day she was born, and Catlynn has given up hope. That is, until her father pins her to a wall outside of the New World Stages, and she finally gets the fam...
