Invisible String - Jake Kiszka

Dangling There, Golden And Fair

The alarm got louder. Beep beep. Beep beep. Gigi groaned into her pillow. "Josh turn it off.." She whined. Beep beep. "Joshua. Alarm." She said louder. Beep beep. "Fucking hell, Josh!" She pretty much yelled. Lifting her head, she looked over at Josh. He laid on his stomach, head facing away from her and an arm hung limp off the side of her bed. 'The little bastard' she thought. 'He's still passed out.'

Gigi rolled her eyes and reached over to him, putting her hands and feet on his arm and side. Using all her force, she pushed him as hard as she could, causing him to fall out of her bed with a hard 'thump.'

Gigi smirked as she heard him groan loudly from the floor. "That's what you get, dummy." She said laughing slightly.

"What the hell, Gigi." Josh said sitting up from the floor, blinking his eyes, heavy from sleep. He turned to the bedside table and hit the alarm clock turning it off. "Why didn't you shut that off?" He asked yawning.

"You were closer to it." She responded.

"So you just pushed me off the bed?"

"Yeah." She sat up straight stretching her arms and back. "You were gonna sleep through it. So I woke you up."

"By shoving me off your bed?" He asked again with a breathy laugh.

"Exactly dummy." She chuckled.

"Why are you always so mean to me in the morning?" He smiled up at her, resting his chin on the mattress.

"Why are you always so happy? It's annoying."

"Because it's a new day and we have so much to live for, darling." He said batting his eyelashes at her, giggling at her smile she was trying to hide behind a scowl.

"We live in Frankenmuth, Michigan, Josh. The only thing we have to live for is high school, local 9 to 5 jobs, and that stupid Christmas store."

"I love you, G, ya know that?" This time she couldn't hold in her smile. 

"Fuck off, Joshua." She laid back down and covered her head with her blanket.

She heard him stand up and felt the bed shift under his weight. He started poking her sides with his finger and she squirmed under the sheets.

"Get up, Gigi!' He said in a playful tone. "No!" Her muffled voice came through all the blankets. "We'll be late for school. Seriously get up."

"I hate school."

"I know you do, but the year is almost over, then we'll be going to the same school again."

"I still hate it. Every minute." She complained into her pillow. "It's so boring without you and Jake."

"Don't let Ronnie hear you say that." He snickered. "She'd be offended."

Gigi and Ronnie had grown a lot closer that school year. Josh and Jake went into high school and Gigi was stuck in 8th grade. Which meant they got to go to the big high school in an entirely separate building across town. But Ronnie and Gigi were in the same grade, with Sam two grades below them. She was happy to be in middle school with Sam, although she quickly discovered they would hardly see each other. Ronnie kept to herself most of the time, her only friend being a girl named Alyssa.

They met in the 6th grade and were fast friends. When Gigi lost Jake and Josh to high school, Ronnie and Alyssa took her in. Gigi never realized what a breath of fresh air hanging out with girls was until then.

"Well, I love Ronnie... but still." She rolled over face up, still under her blanket. Josh smiled down at her silhouette and peeled the blanket back from her face. He lightly laughed at her squeezing her eyes shut.