Green eyes blinked open as light streamed in, the sound of a female screamo song muffled through a bathroom door. Pushing herself up with a yawn, she smiles as her bare feet come into contact with the fuzzy area rug. Sure, it had some stains from spilled drinks and bowls, but it was a hotspot for hanging out when the girls needed some floor time. With a short shuffle, the window opens, and her knuckles are wrapping against the white door. With no sound from the person within, a sigh sounds as the girl throws abandon to the wind and opens the door. Rushing water and mumbles of a singing voice greet her; nothing new. Moving to the sink basin, she runs through her routine, avoiding the other's products strewn about.
"What time is it," She wonders aloud, asking the other. A hum, "11? Early 10, maybe. Ya know, ya shouldn't stay up so late, Nal-ster," a head of blonde hair pokes out, the curtain clutched in a grip to save modesty. A so-so noise is produced at the call-out: "Still got a week, right? Plenty of time to switch up the sleep schedule." Grey eyes blink slowly at green, "It starts tomorrow," The head disappears with that statement, unaware of the sight but not the fact that the younger girl freezes. A moment passes, "Holy shit!" the sounds of footsteps, an almost slip, and doors hitting walls follow. "Nal-ster, get the door. Nala, the door. Nalani, shut the damn door!" The blonde yells to no avail, calling after a girl already sliding down the stairs on her bottom due to a misstep on the carpet runner. With no response and a sigh, "Goddamnit," The water is shut off, and the figure emerges fully with cool-toned green towels covering both smooth skin and blonde hair. "I hate it here," The joke echoes through the steamed-up room.
Downstairs, we find the brunette, Nalani, rifling through a stack of papers on the kitchen island with her family looking on in confusion. She murmurs curses as she struggles in vain to find a particular letter. At the sound of chuckles coming from the sofa in the living room, her head whips over, "Dad! Where's my letter!" A shrug before his face turns away to blow smoke out, "If it's not in that stack, I dunno where it would be, hon." Frantic at this point, the girl rushes her sister, shaking her from behind by the shoulders, "Kalani, for the love of god, when does school start!" Footsteps sound as the blonde of the house pads into the room, swathed in green clothing. "I told you, it starts tomorrow," she says, her baby pink nails picking at the towel around her neck. A tan finger is pointed at her, "Shush! Shut it!" Grey eyes roll as the girls' elder walks to dig in the fridge. Kalani looks between the two with squinted eyes, "Girl, it starts tomorrow; what are you on?"
Green eyes widen as she over-dramatically stumbles back, "What the fuck! What- I've been talking about how it starts in a week for days now! Nobody thought to correct me?" The blonde walks around her with a bowl of watermelon in hand, sitting between the two, only to turn. "We did," Her usually clear tone muffled by the comically large watermelon slice between her teeth. The two others on the couch nod along, confirming the statement. "It's even circled on the fridge calendar, and Dylani's, and mine, and on-" Kalani speaks, full of dark joy, only to be cut off by the brunette's sputters of commanded silence. While she played on with the dramatics, even going as far as falling onto the hardwood floor, acting out a dramatic death scene, the others carried on, starting their conversation. Eventually, time went on, and the day Nalani had begun to dread, what with the shortened deadline, came to pass.
Each girl was characterized by varying states of disinterest and panic, the younger two primarily being the latter. Nalani had overslept, not by a lot, but just enough to get her heart beating. Not that sitting on her phone for a few extra minutes helped, and honestly, you'd think the loud screamo music that followed her cousin would've alerted her to the passage of time, but to no avail. Meanwhile, Kalani had been the second girl awake, pacing her morning correctly. Still, she ultimately fell to panic as she had misplaced an accessory she had planned to pair her uniform with. These contrasted with the oldest of the house, who had awoken at a time to make breakfast for the household and pack lunches for the other three residents. At the moment, she was sitting on the stairs fiddling with an earring as her socked feet wiggled in her house slippers.
YOU ARE READING
SHIFT
Romance"I think of one memory, and they all come flooding back," The story, her life, would have been an average one, go to school, become a hero, grow old, retire, die. But something happened, something that changes our story. A shift had occurred, and su...
