"Great." Elle said, flopping on the couch.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"You're leaving in 2 days for Florida. Then you have your first day of eighth grade." Elle said. "I barely spent any time with you this summer, between Heathers and all the back-and-forth hospital trips."
"Imagine how I feel. I barely spent any time with anyone else. At least you're my adoptive mother." I said.
"Aww." Elle said, hugging me. "Well, I have a surprise for you. Jessica and Ryan are taking you back-to-school shopping before you leave. We won't have time next week, obviously, because you'll be gone."
I giggled, and then the doorbell rang. Jessica and Ryan opened the door and Ryan picked me up.
"Sunshine! I missed you!" Ryan kissed my cheek and said, "Beautiful, as always." Ryan put me down and Jessica picked me back up, saying, "Are you ready for eighth grade?"
I sighed, and said, "Not really. I stayed up until midnight finishing up summer work last night."
Jessica flipped me on the couch and Elle tickled me until I couldn't breathe.
God, I love my family.
"We'll be back by around 6. Do you want us to get dinner?" Jessica said. Elle said, "No, it's fine, just go have fun with her. She needs this." Elle hugged me and kissed me on the cheek and said, "Go have fun, Sunshine." I held Jessica's hand and we piled into Jessica's car, me in the backseat. I pulled out my phone and started listening to Heathers.
"Do you want a Starbucks?" Ryan asked. I excitedly nodded, and Jessica said, "Don't give her too much caffeine."
"Jess. I don't drink coffee." I said. "Ryan, just get me a lemonade." Ryan nodded, and we pulled into a Starbucks drive through. After a few minutes, Jess handed me a lemonade, and I slurped it up.
"Lemonade's my weakness. Along with chocolate cake." I said. Jessica laughed, and said, "That's why you fought us for the cake on your birthday." I laughed, and went back to my music.
When we pulled into the shopping mall, Jessica parked the car and we got out.
"You guys don't have to pay for anything. I got it." I said, pulling out my wallet. Jessica said, "No. We got it."
We walked into Target and Ryan said, "Do you have a list of the school supplies you need?"
I pulled up a document I made and showed it to them. "I need 1 notebook for every single class, 1 folder for every single class, I have a backpack but it's ripped, Katie gave me pencils and pens already but I might need new ones, I need some clothes because I've been mostly borrowing Elle's and wearing merchandise for the past 4 months and we haven't had time to go shopping, and I need a lunchbox and a pencil case."
Jessica nodded and we headed to the school supply section.
"Hey Cat!" Ryan said, and I headed over to him. "Want this backpack?" It was black and white with daisies all over it, and I immediately fell in love.
"Yeah! Thanks Ryan!"
"Cat? What's your favorite color?" Jessica asked. I shrugged, and said, "Pretty much anything but pink. I hate pink."
Ryan tried to stifle a laugh, and said, "Your phone is pink!"
"My phone is rose gold, that's different." I laughed, and Jessica piled about 8 notebooks in the shopping cart. "Hope you like these, Cat." They were in every color of the rainbow, along with black.
"Thanks Jess! Ok, we have 2 items checked off." Ryan threw a black lunchbox and a yellow pencil case in the shopping cart as well. "Make that 4." I said, and Ryan cracked up.
"People are staring!" I said. "So what?" Ryan said. "I'm used to it."
I forgot for a split second I lived with celebrities.
After we got all the school supplies, we were running around the mall looking for clothes. We were in the Converse store, and Jessica and I were trying to figure out what color to get.
"You own white ones." Jess said. "Don't be so boring." I punched her, and settled on a light pink pair, and Ryan got another pair with a pride flag on it for me.
I got a new dress for the first day of school, plus a couple of pairs of jeans and shorts. I got some really cool shirts, and some earrings.
"You ready to go home?" Jessica asked. I yawned and nodded.
"She's overtired." Ryan said. "Next time, don't stay up so late doing schoolwork. You're still a kid, you need the sleep."
"In my defense, this was a surprise." I laughed. We put all the shopping bags in the trunk of Jessica's car and we all piled in.
"Jess? Can I sleep?" I asked.
"Of course you can, Sunshine." Ryan said in response, because Jessica was busy packing up the car. "We'll be quiet."
I fell asleep by the time we left the parking lot.
_________
I woke up on the couch in the living room. The lights were all off, but I saw the shadow of a plate. I got up and used my phone flashlight to see what the plate was. There was a note on the plate, which was full of spaghetti.
Sunshine,
You fell asleep the whole way home, and I bet you're hungry. Just heat it up if I'm not awake. Love you.
~Elle
I didn't want to wake up Elle with the microwave, so I just grabbed a bowl of chips from the pantry and watched YouTube on my phone. I heard a door open and Elle sat next to me.
"You're awake." Elle said.
"Yeah. Sorry I woke you up."
Elle hugged me, and said, "Something happened that I need to tell you about." I turned on the light, and Elle sighed.
"Jessica and Ryan got in a car crash after they dropped you off."
I felt a swirl of emotions. Were they alive? Would they be alive? Could I see them?
"This is my fault." I said, sobbing.
"What? No, it's not."
"If I stayed awake, this wouldn't have happened." I said. Elle pulled me into her and let me cry.
"Are...are they alive?" I asked.
Elle kissed my head and said, "Jessica's in a coma. Ryan isn't too badly hurt, thank God."
"Wait...did you say Jessica's in a coma? Will she survive?" I asked, sobbing.
"I don't know, Sunshine. Let's just have hope." Elle said. "Do you want to visit her in the hospital tomorrow?" I nodded, and laid down on Elle's lap. I heard Elle hum the opening notes to Kindergarten Boyfriend, and I yelled "No! Don't sing. It hurts too much."
"Oh my God. Sunshine..." Elle said, pulling me into her chest.
"This is the worst day of my life." I said. Elle sighed, and said, "I know this is the hardest thing you've ever had to go through. I know it may seem like the end of the world. But you're the bravest girl I've ever met. I love you so much, Sunshine. We'll get through this."
I cried my eyes out as Elle rocked me back and forth, drifting me off to sleep.
AN: I'M SORRY. I'M SO SORRY. IT'LL END WELL, I PROMISE. Hope you enjoyed! Catch ya later!