One New Message | lrh

Chapter One

There are some days where all I want to do is just lay in bed and sleep all day. This was one of those days. Unfortunately, sleeping in wasn't an option for me today. I woke up at nine am, which for me was pretty fucking early. Apparently, it wasn't early enough, because when I had checked my phone, I had fifteen missed calls between Michael and Kate both.

A small groan left my mouth as I dialed Kate's number and brought the phone up to my ear. By the third ring, she had already picked up the phone.

"Ashlee, you dumb bitch! Did we not agree to be up at 8 am?" Her voice rang through my head.

I rolled my eyes and took a deep sigh before responding. "Kate, you dumb bitch! I slept in because for four years I've been waking up at the ass crack of dawn. If you thi-"

Before I could finish my sentence, Kate had started yelling. "You did it for four years, you could have done it for one extra day!"

"I could have, but I didn't. Now get off of my nuts."

"Mikey and I are on our way. Be ready or I will not hesitate to stick my whole fist up your ass."

I opened my mouth to say goodbye, but she had already hung up the phone. I threw my phone down on the bed and sat up, before getting up and making my way out of my room. Before I could get to the bathroom, my mom had stopped me in the hallway.

"Good morning, sweetheart." She cooed, a huge grin spread on her face.

"Morning, mama," I grumbled, walking into the bathroom.

"Your dad and I are gonna head over to the venue, okay? I'll see you there! I love you." She called, walking down the hall and into the kitchen.

"Love you too," I called back before shutting the door.

It didn't take me long to get ready. Although it was my graduation party, I really didn't care about how I looked. In the end, I decided on my college's t-shirt and a pair of jeans. I brushed through my thick, jet black hair and left it in its state of madness. Just as I was about to put my shoes on, my dog started barking. I didn't have to look, I knew that it was Kate and Michael.

You see, I've never really had anything constant in my life. The only things that have been constant are my mom, dad, Kate, and Michael. We practically knew each other before birth. Our moms were inseparable when they were pregnant with us. Michael was born first, then Kate, and then me. In elementary school, we were all in the same classes, and once we got to middle school, our parents basically fought the teachers to put us in the same class. When we moved on to High School, we made sure that we had classes with each other.

But now we were no longer high schoolers. At first, we all discussed different schools, but in the end, we couldn't bear the thought of being away from each other. So, we all made the collective decision of going to the same school. Kate and I would dorm together, while Michael would live in the same building as us. Now, all we had to do was get through the summer.

"Ashlee, let's fucking go! We have to do so much." Kate called out, bursting through the door and walking back through the hall.

As I looked up, I saw Kate leaning against the door frame. Michael took his spot behind her, resting his chin against the top of Kate's head and grinning widely.

"Yeah, Ash. We got a graduation party to get to, you know." Michael said, mocking Kate's voice.

Without blinking, Kate rammed her elbow into Michael's stomach. He fell back against the hall wall and slowly slid down to the floor. He clutched his stomach, letting out a soft whimper and reaching towards the ceiling.