flawed

1.

Small snowflakes drifted downwards, landing on cars and pavement. It was silent, as the main street of the small town wasn't busy past 10pm on weeknights. A door creaks and two small brunettes appear from one of the two story brick buildings. They shiver as the outdoor lamp senses the motion and lights up the alley.

"Eleanor, can you hurry up? I'm freezing!" the smaller one complains, teeth chattering. She receives only a light chuckle in response, as the slightly taller one, Eleanor, continues locking the door and checking it. The sound of the keys on her NASA lanyard jingling on the metal door echoes through the cold air.

"Shit it's crisp out here hey?" the smaller one speaks first again.

"Dude I know, remind me why we live here again." Eleanor finally breaks her silence. 'Not for long' a voice rings in her head. She dismisses it, picking up on her friend's ramble about her boyfriend's work schedule, while unlocking her car. The old clicker takes about four or five clicks for it to ever really work. The small sedan was frosted over and looked cold, urging them to get in and start it.

"Sof, can you please scrap the windshield?" Eleanor gives puppy dog eyes to her friend, getting an eye roll and compliance in return. Eleanor got Sofia this job and drives her to work whenever they have a shift together. Granted, El was happy to do both, Sofia still felt she owed her best friend the odd duties such as this, paying for coffee, Red Bull and gas. Due to the low and mostly harmless population of Grimsby, Alberta, the girls never had to worry about closing the bar so late and leaving through the alley. In this town, the most dangerous things were high schoolers drinking and driving, and icy roads.

The sound of scraping snapped Eleanor from her frozen trance of thinking, reminding her to start some music for the ride, throwing on a mellow rap playlist she had made the other day.

"It is seriously illegal to be this cold out!" Sofia shrieks as she throws the snow brush into the back seat and jumps into hers.

"I don't think it is, but it absolutely should be." El sighed, rubbing her hands together before throwing the car in drive and rolling slowly out of the back alley riddled with potholes. The car began to defrost as the girls drove home in silence. It wasn't uncommon for them to be quiet after working a shift together. They had a mutual understanding that after talking to people for 8 hours and basically having to do whatever they ask, runs your social battery dry.

The soft sounds of Mac Miller settle in the car as the headlights light up the road ahead. Eleanor, exhausted and watching for wildlife on the secondary highway, is jolted from her thoughts as Sofia lightly smacks her arm, "that was my turn El! What's going on in your head?"

Eleanor sighs lightly, attempting a compromise, "how about we talk about it tomorrow after you hear about Jason's schedule, and we can watch bad movies and maybe get a little high?" she shakes her friends puffy coat slightly with a smile Sofia could never say no to.

"Fine but only if Jase is gonna be gone by then! Overwise we reschedule!" she gives in, leaving El with a content smile. By tomorrow she will have made up an excuse as to why she was zoned out that would put Sofia at ease. Sofia was the closest thing Eleanor had to a twin and Sofia felt the same, even with sisters of their own blood.

As Eleanor pulls up to Sofia's house, her large farm dogs bark and run towards the car. Knowing if she keeps moving, they will move too, El keeps driving and parks in front of the door.

"Thanks for the ride boo, I'm off tomorrow but you'll pick me up for Saturdays shift?" Sofia questions, throwing her phone into her bag. Eleanor nods and they exchange I love you's before Eleanor is on her way home. The rest of her 10 minute drive was spent pondering the same question that runs through her head every second of every day, 'what are you waiting for?'

She pondered the question almost constantly. Ever since Eleanor's senior year, she's dreamed of getting out of Grimsby. Most of her life she loved it there: the same friends in her classes every year, teachers were family friends, she could ride her bike anywhere without fear growing up. Although as she grew up, she soon realized the town thrives off of drama and lies. Most parents are wrapped into high school drama and everybody likes to pretend they're saints living among mere mortals, when most families are pretending to even like each other, and anyone who dares to leave, rarely returns. For the longest time her brother was the only thing keeping her in Canada at all. Kieran would be turning 13 in April, but he stood around 5'10, making him much taller than his older sister. Eleanor was the youngest growing up, 3 older sisters and her parents made life busy. Her mother, Nancy, remarried after her father passed away when Eleanor was just 3 years old. Peter and Nancy conceived Kieran a few months later and boom, Eleanor was a big sister. She took the duties with grace, creating an unshakeable bond between Kieran and Eleanor. She protected him from the nasty of the world for as long as she could and he will always cherish that about her. Now that Kieran was almost a teenager and starting to become much more independent, her excuses not to leave were dwindling. She knew that Sofia and her other sisters would be here for Kieran but she became anxious thinking about not seeing his floppy brown curls everyday.

Eleanor sighed as she pulled into her driveway. The clock on her dash read 2:47am and she could see the tv lighting up the curtains in the living room, telling her Peter was still awake. She grabs her work bag, shoving her journal and headphones inside, before opening the door and getting slapped by the cold wind. The door creaks as she opens it, quietly taking her shoes off before disappearing to the basement.

Eleanor's house wasn't big or fancy, but it was a good size for their family. Upstairs was the kitchen, family room and dining room which were all in an open space, along with Nancy and Peter's room, and the laundry room. While downstairs, Eleanor and Kieran shared two bedrooms, a bathroom and a living room. Peter had an office downstairs piled high with paperwork from old lawsuits he would never get rid of.

Eleanor slowly turned Kieran's doorknob, carefully opening the dark room to make sure he was sleeping. His long legs lay sprawled out, half off the bed and half under the blankets. His left hand covered his stomach while his right laid resting on his curls. El smiled before closing the door quietly and retreating to her own room.