Chapter 3 | Penguins & Promises
"In a world where vows are worthless.Where making a pledge means nothing. Where promises are made to be broken, it would be nice to see words come back into power."
- Chuck Palahnuik, Lullaby
Listen to Hallelujah by Rufus Wainwright
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Beth lies down on her back on the matress of her bed, currently very focused on her nails that were painted with bright pink nail polish. Her hair is sprawled around her on the pale blue bedspread, looking like a curly-haired version of Ariel, The Little Mermaid.
I on the other hand, am sitting on the window seat of her room, facing the empty noon street and the houses of her neighbors. The grass of their lawns shines in vibrant green and the sky looks a bit paler than it should be for summer, reminding me that school is really just around the corner.
"Beth," I call her name suddenly. She doesn't move her eyes away from her nails and makes a sound in her throat to inform me that she's listening. "School is coming." I say, my voice distant and void. I hear her shuffle in the bed, flipping her body over so she was lying on her stomach. I look over to her, my eyes meeting hers with sad smiles on both of our faces. "This year will be fine, Maybelle. This year will be better, okay?" she says, reaching out her hand for me and I do the same for a reply. She is far from my reach, but the gesture is so regular between us and we know what it means; even if distances stand between us, you and I are one and I will never leave you because you are my sister, my friend and my only female rescue.
"Since we didn't get the chance to buy our school supplies yesterday, do you want to go for it today?" she suggests, tilting her head to the side with a questioning look on her face. I shrug, knowing I've got nothing better to do for the day. Today is our day off work, and even though that sounds terrific and adventurous, it always ends up with lame movies and sleep. To say that we were going shopping was as adventerous as it would get for a day off work.
"Well then, we'lll have to go now, since we've got to get ready for the beach party tonight." she says matter-of-factly. I furrow my eyebrows with confusion. "What beach party?" I ask, pulling my body out of its posture and get up to get my backpack from beside the bed. "It's a pre-school party. The usual." she says with a nonchalant shrug as she rolls off the bed. Her body falls of the bed and she hits the floor with a loud thud.
"That hurt."
I burst out laughing at my best friend's clumsiness. "C'mon now, let's go get Hell's supplies." I say to her as I make my way out of her room. "I want them to be themed penguins!" she declares as she hurries out of her room behind me. "The last time you said you wanted something to be themed penguins, you were talking about your 'fab funeral'." I remark, wondering what was so interesting about penguins to the point where Beth took them as her idols. "Penguins are hashatg cuteness goals. They're adorable!" she argues, a frown expected to be on her face. "Yeah, yeah." I sing as we exit the house.
Sometimes you just need to agree with her or else you'll end up at an asylum for the rest of your life.
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"If you count the seconds it would take me to strangle the living daylights out of you, you'd find them to be less than one."
Garret (Beth's boyfriend) is wide-eyed in fear as he raises his hands in surrender and takes a few steps back with apprehension written all over his face.
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