Waterproof

FOUR

I didn't go to school for the rest of the month. But when the first of May rolled around, my mom had had enough of my moping. But she didn't understand.

Josie was gone. Forever.

I'm not saying she wasn't hurting, too. I just mean that she doesn't have to go seventy more years without ever seeing her sister again. It was a Wednesday, as a plus. I only had to make it through three days this week, which should be easy enough.

I got out of bed slowly, trying to pretend I wasn't getting ready for a day full of stares and pitiful glances. Trying to pretend that the only things I'd hear all day weren't "I'm sorry for your loss," and "How are you doing?"

Since I ultimately didn't care about appearances, I slid on ripped skinny jeans, combat boots, and a hoodie from a band Josie used to listen to.

I trudged to the bathroom and half-hazardly brushed through my hair, brushed my teeth and put on deodorant.

I took the steps to my room slower than the ones I took to the bathroom. Reaching for my bag seemed to make it even more real though, as a thought came to mind.

Not only would I have to endure the sorry's and stares, but I would also have a month's worth of homework to do.

"Eleanor!" I heard my mother call.

I scowled at her even though I knew she was way too far away to see it.

"Coming!" I yelled back.

I threw my bag over my shoulder and grabbed my bag before running towards the stairs.

One plus of the day is that I didn't have to walk down the stairs- I got to fall down them.

When I reached the bottom, I was thankful Mom had made the decision years back to put carpet on the stairs. If not, I'd have a broken spine.

Mom came rushing into the room with a panicked expression on her face when she saw me in a pretzel position at the bottom of the stairs.
"Ellie?" She said carefully.

"Yeah, I'm alive."

Mom winced a little at the tone of voice that I didn't mean to use. "Carson's here. He wants to take you to school."

I was immediately confused, but I wasn't going to ask my mom any more questions. She was tired enough as it is without my pointless game of trivia. "Okay," I nodded and unraveled myself. I stood up and dusted myself off. "Tell him I'll be there in a second, please."

She nodded and headed back towards the front door. I pulled my hair out of the bun and put it back up again before checking to see if my phone was broken or not and then followed after her.

The phone was fine, to my surprise. I'm pretty sure my foot hit it more than my head hit the railing.

And that was a lot.

"Hey," I said when I saw Carson. Mom gave me a side hug and told me to have a good day before heading back into the kitchen to finish her coffee before leaving for work.

"You ready for today?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Were you ready?"

"Not at all."

The corner of my mouth twitched, but the action of smiling felt wrong so the smile evaporated before it even hit my mouth.