I woke up early. When I left my room, Maddie was just getting out of the bathroom in her regular jeans and a t-shirt with her raggedy tennis shoes and brown hair thrown up. I remember the day she started wearing it up and it was all thanks to Savannah.
"I was just getting Natalie up," I said, knowing that Maddie would be heading that way as soon as she went and grabbed some pop tarts. Maddie nodded, her blue eyes staring at me like she could see through me.
We stayed in that duel for what seemed like an eternity before she looked away and said, "I'm sure things are okay."
I chuckled quietly, confused at first. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Maddie turned her cold eyes on me and nodded her head as if to silently argue. Then we parted ways. I was getting Natalie up in the nicest way that I could, and she was getting her stupid pop tarts before anyone else could get to them. Once Natalie was in the shower, I decided this was the perfect morning to just slowly get ready...and reflect.
I padded through my room, grabbing out the pair of jeans that she always said made my butt look good. Sometimes when I wore them, I'd catch her staring but play it off like I hadn't been looking for her. I slid open my t-shirt drawer and looked over what was on top before deciding to dig for it-for her favorite shirt. It was that dark green that wasn't too dark or too light, almost-what did she call it?-olive, her favorite color. I shut it up before opening my sock drawer and digging for my warmest black socks when my fingers brushed the pleather box. Suddenly the socks didn't seem like such a good idea so I grabbed a random pair and shut the drawer quickly.
"Are you hungry?"
I looked up quickly to see Natalie standing in the doorway. Her hair straightened, jeans on, and some graphic tee matching the ensemble. I'm pretty sure that the shirt is one of Maddie's old ones but I don't say anything. She's frowning now...what did I do wrong?
"What's wrong?" she asked while crossing her arms.
Perceptive, shit.
"Nothing...I didn't sleep good, I guess," I said with a shrug while moving to my bed to slip the socks on. Natalie nodded and repeats her first question. "Just some toast..." is my reply and suddenly my door is shut.
"I knew there was something wrong last night. Now you're awake early, a bit pale to be honest, and "Just some toast" for breakfast from you? That's real cute there, Ollie," She snapped and I flinched. No one called me 'Ollie' anymore. It was a basic no-no and the whole house knew it. "Ah ha! What'd she do?"
I rolled my eyes. Everything always pertained to her even a year after. If I didn't want to have chocolate milk, it was her fault. If my pickup wouldn't start, it was her fault. If I wasn't hungry, it was her fault. Today I might be a little shaken up because she wasn't at school but she could be vomiting everywhere.
"I'm just not that hungry, okay, Nat?"
Natalie rolled her eyes before leaving my room and going to help Maddie with breakfast. They liked making breakfast even though they couldn't cook to save their lives. I think it's because we were all too tired to really fight them on anything. Walking down the hall, I woke up Jack by practically dragging him out of bed.
"What the hell?" he hollered.
"Just some brotherly affection," I responded with a chuckle and went to leave.
"Hey jackass," he said in the quietest voice he's used in a while. His tone was laced with worry so I stopped but couldn't bring myself to turn around. "She never texted me..."
I nodded and left. Something was definitely up. It didn't matter how sick she got or where she was, Savannah always had something to tell you about. Jack always received the brunt of that now because most of her friends had left for college last year and...well, she didn't trust anyone in her class enough to be friends with them like she was with Jack.
"Can I get drunk before school?" Maddie whined causing Natalie to laugh.
I walked in and said, "I think you're asking for expulsion."
Maddie flashed me a devious grin and handed me a plate with toast and a small scoop of scrambled eggs. I didn't say anything about the fact that I didn't want any eggs because I was honestly too tired to listen to them whine about my diet. Natalie gave me the ketchup and I forced myself from not drowning them in it. I took a fork from the silverware drawer and went to the living room to eat.
We were all quiet as one by one we came in with a plate. Maybe it was because we knew that James was home and knew how he could be if he was ever woken up. We left quietly too only starting to argue when we got outside. Well, they were arguing about shotgun. It was stupid because Jack always sat passenger no matter what and Natalie and Maddie would whine about it before giving up.
You know what sucks about Mansfield, Ollie? It's full of repetition. You wake up, do your shit, and go to bed. And you're stuck doing it until you get out or die...
*
I waited outside at lunch for a little too long, staring at her empty parking spot. People had cleaned out by now. It was rare to see her leave for lunch even though she hated school meals. But she hated the reckless drivers in our school more. I didn't blame her because I was one of them.
God, what I would give to see her pull up in her old 1998 black Dodge that didn't just rumble but roared or maybe the 2010 blue Dodge that had somehow all but become hers.
"Oliver! I'm hungry!" Jack yelled out of the window, catching me in my moment. I shook my head and headed towards the pickup.
Once I was parked outside of the gas station, they ran in and were back in a matter of minutes. Maddie had her Monster and chicken salad sandwich. Natalie had snagged one of those veggie wraps and a tea. Jack had come out with four slices of pizza and two cokes so we could split. We ate in the parking lot in silence until Maddie let out a burp that would have made Mother laugh while blushing.
"She wasn't at school again today," Jack said quietly so that only I could hear. I nodded and finished off my second slice before tossing the trash in the backseat so that Maddie would take it with her.
From there we spent the last fifteen minutes of lunch driving around town and finishing what was left of our lunch. And I did the one thing I haven't done in six months: turned onto Jackson Street. Jackson Street was a quiet street all the way through town until you get three blocks away from the Acker house. Melanie Hoover worked a daycare there, but today it was silent and almost dark despite the clouded sky.
"Look!" Natalie said, moving around and shoving her arm into the front to point at the two police cars parked outside of the Acker house.
"Shit," Jack mumbled and started going through his book bag.
I shook my head at him and stared at her house that faced the wrong way that lacked a fence. The 2010 Dodge was gone and Rowdy, a purebred German Shepard with mismatched eyes, was on the cable outside. Savannah would say it's because he didn't like authority figures then laugh and say something about being just like Mama.
"Who are you calling?" Maddie asked. I took off towards the school quickly as I listened to the dialing tone of Jack's phone. No one said a word until we heard the automated voicemail.
"Hey! You've reached Savannah Acker! I'd tell you what to do but you're not stupid so check it at the beep!"
"Sav-"
That last part was me and I was going to tell her how insulting that sounded, but the time was up and she kept it before giving me a soft slap and kissing me. It wasn't one of those slaps that would make you question if she was abusive. No, it was the darling-shut-up kind of slap that was really more like a pat with a slight caress.
"She always answers," Jack said frantically and tried calling again. But this time it went straight to voicemail like the phone had been turned off. "Call her! Damn it!"
Maddie was on it right away and began calling her only for it to go to voicemail. Then Natalie who only got the same result. Jack tried again and again and again until I pulled my phone out. I went to my contacts and typed her name in until it came up with the same little kissing emoji and smiling emoji that I could never quite get rid of.
I got rid of her but not the things that reminded me of her.
I tried calling and listened to the voicemail tone. "Hey Sav, it's Oliver, Jack, Maddie, and Natalie...we saw the cops at your house. Please tell us you're alright." And with that I hung up and killed the engine before walking up to the school.
*^*
A/N: So the updates will come quickly because it basically done. It's also very short.
I hope you all have enjoyed it so far. It's going to get crazier from here...thank you for checking it out.
xoxo