Waking Up.

Chapter 33: Blackness.

Roxie inhaled her pancakes and downed her milk before she ran up the stairs to change. I smiled to myself as Cory persisted that I show him how to tie his shoes.
"I'm a big boy now, Trish. I can learn!" I pretended to be sad,
"Aww, but I don't want you to grow up!" I pretended to cry. His face changed expression immediately as he patted my knee,
"Ok Trish!ok, don't be sad! I won't grow up until next week!" I smiled and hugged him. His hair felt very soft, it made me think of pillows. I sighed and let him run up the stairs to his room for clothes. Naomi had brushed her hair and was currently putting her snow pants on. They were purple with zebra stripes. I giggled as she struggled with the straps.
"Uhh! Why can't this be easy?!?"
"Because," I smirked.
"Shut up!" She yelled, still trying. I giggled and ate my pancakes, savoring the taste. Mom was talking on the phone and dad was working, as usual. I went upstairs to help Roxie button up her coat and slip on her hat and gloves.
"Why does it have to snow?" She asked.
"You can't have Christmas without snow!" I exclaimed, spreading out my arms. She crossed hers and said,
"I think I'd be just fine without snow!"
"Well, I wouldn't!" I yell, attacking her in tickles. She shrieked in laughter and fell on the bed. Cory came in and jumped on me,
"Let her go!"
"Never!" I shout, turning the tickling war towards him. He laughed as I tickled them both.
"Trish, time to go!"
"K mom!" I yelled back, standing up. Mom was taking Naomi, Wendy and Eve to go shopping for new clothes while I played with the little kids. We all buckled up in the car and started off. I sang random car songs with the little kids, but their favorite was bingo.
"B-I-N-G-O and bingo was his name-o!" After about ten minutes of that, mom made us stop and turned on the radio. Blank Space came on. I groaned in misery, but everyone else in the car sang along.
"You can tell me when it's over.." Mom sang out. I covered my ears,
"It sounds like a cat eating glass on Friday the 13th!"
"Oh, shut up!" Eve laughed, punching my shoulder. The little kids continued singing and I stared out the window. It was a little grey outside, a few clouds sat in the sky. The snow seemed dimmer, but it was all in all a nice day. There wasn't any wind, so it wasn't as cold out as they day before. Mom pulled up to the park and handed me a wad of cash.
"Here, take them out to eat at 1:00, ok?"
"Ok, love you," we all hugged her and started walking to the hills with our sleds. Marleen and Samantha showed up with identical red sleds. Samantha wore a black coat with a red hat and blue mittens. Marleen had on a pink coat with a purple hat and white gloves. Cory hid behind my leg as Roxie ran anxiously up to Marleen.
"Guess what Marleen?!?"
"What?" She asked, smiling. They started talking about gymnastics while Samantha knelt down to Cory.
"Hiya Cory, how are you?" He didn't reply. I set a hand on his shoulder and said,
"It's polite to answer, Cory."
"I'm good," he stated in a small voice. Samantha looked up at me and pulled something out of her pocket.
"Here, Cory, I got this for you!" She handed him a small red truck. It glistened in the light, although there wasn't a lot of light.
"Thanks!" He shouted as he grabbed it and ran to the hills. I shrugged and we made our way over. Danville had a lot of good sledding hills, but my favorite was Danville mount, a huge hill that sat just inside a hollow of trees. Since it was before 1:00, we had it basically all to ourselves, save for a few other people. It sat just on the brink of town, right beside the mall. I took my neon green sled and sat next to Roxie, who was talking Marleen's ear off. Marleen smiled and pushed off, Roxie following her. I giggled to myself as I helped Cory onto his. He had a dark blue oval sled.
"How fast can this thing go?" He asked, feeling the edges. I shrugged and yelled,
"I guess you'll have to see!" I ran him to the edge of the hill and pushed him down. He shrieked and held on as he descended rapidly down the hill. Samantha smirked and demanded that I push her. I rolled my eyes and started pushing slowly to the edge.
"Faster!" She exclaimed.
"Be patient!" I finally reached the edge, and I shoved her roughly. She screamed and flew down the hill. I sighed and sat on my sled. My legs scooted the sled to the hill and pushed off. I started out slow, but the snow started spewing in my face, causing my glasses to fog up and get all wet. I screeched and made it most of the way down. I started to see the outline of the bright orange fence that signaled where you should stop. I slammed my feet in the ground, but I still rammed into the fence with a thud. I rolled off to the side and gripped my arm.
"OWW," I whined. Marleen was laughing on her side as Samantha and the kids helped me up.
"Are you ok Trith?" Roxie asked. I smiled and nodded. We all went up the hill again. Roxie and Cory went on one sled together, Cory sitting on Roxie's legs. Samantha and Marleen went down in the same way, Marleen on the bottom and Samantha on top. I just went down by myself again. A branch came out onto the track, and my sled sputtered over it, sending me flying into the snowy hills. I sat up slowly, my face burning. This was just not my lucky day. Roxie giggled and Cory got a piggy back ride from Samantha. I walked over to Marleen and asked,
"What time is it?"
"It is..." She looked at her phone screen,"12:55."
"Time for lunch, c'mon guys, let's go eat!"
"Yeah, I'm starving!" Samantha groaned, still carrying Cory. Roxie jumped on my back and we all made our way to the mall. I let them pick out or food while I took Cory and Roxie to every kid in Americas favorite restaurant, McDonalds. I ordered one chicken nugget happy meal with a pony toy for Roxie, and a cheeseburger happy meal with a race car for Cory. They took their meals and followed me to the spot where Marleen and Samantha were standing. They ordered me food from Dairy Queen. We all took our food and went to the little kids play area. Roxie and Cory scarfed down their food and went to play with the random assortment of children in the ball pits. Samantha pointed and stated,
"Remember Marleen, that used to be us."
"Yeah, except every time I jumped into the pit you'd throw a chair in after me because you thought it'd be funny."
"It was!" She laughed. She rolled her eyes and we watched for a few moments. Marleen smirked and turned to me.
"Soo, Trish."
"Soo, Marleen?" I asked in an equally annoying tone.
"Have you and Aspen gone beyond just kissing?"
"Like what," I replied, crossing my arms. She poked my shoulder,
"Like stuff."
"If you're implying anything sexual, then you're wrong."
"Sure I am," she giggled. I crossed my legs and smiled.
"Aspen's a gentleman."
"Some are rougher than others in bed," she exclaimed. I threw my hands over her mouth.
"We're surrounded by young ears Marleen!" She rolled her eyes and sighed. Roxie tried giving Cory a piggy back ride, but she fell off to the side. She accidentally stumbled into a child who looked about one year younger than she was. She said she was sorry, but the kid burst into tears like he'd just been stabbed and ran off to find his mom. The mom came back, hand in hand with her son, and scolded Roxie. She began to cry and came running to me. I felt inraged and left her and Cory with Samantha while Marleen and I went to talk to the mom. Her whole persona screamed, 'I'm rich.' Her hair and nails were freshly done, her clothes were a little too in style for a mother, and she wore gold jewelry. Her son went back to the ball pit and began throwing the balls at the other children. I stomped up to her.
"Excuse me?" She continued typing on her phone.
"I said excuse me?" I half yelled. She looked up from her phone and scrunched her nose at me.
"You should learn how to be more quiet."
"You just yelled at my little sister."
"So? The little animal was hurting my little angle." She said in a matter of fact tone.
"Can we please talk as adults? She is not a little animal."
"You are not an adult sweetie. Just because you have tits doesn't make you an adult," she went back to typing on her phone, smiling slyly. I balled up my fist and said,
"And just because you had a kid doesn't mean your a mom!" She opened her mouth and scoffed.
"What?!? What makes you think you can talk to me that way?"
"Maybe it's the way you don't listen to me!" She got up and took the child and left the area. I sighed and went back to Roxie. She collapsed into my arms and sobbed. After three minutes, I said,
"Are you gonna be ok?"
"I wanna sled now!" She stated, still sniffling. I wiped away a few tears and smiled.
"Ok, let's go sled then." We all walked out to the road. Roxie had gone with Marleen to the hill while Samantha and I hung back to talk.
"That lady can go fu..." I covered her mouth fast.
"Cory is present!"
"Sorry," she said. Cory smiled at me and played with his new toy car. My cell phone started vibrating, and I checked the caller ID. Aspen. I mouthed to Samantha who nodded and sat at the curb with Cory. I answered.
"Yellow?"
"Sup?"
"Eh, nothing. Just sledding with the kids."
"Wish I could be there."
"Me too," I replied, staring at the brick wall of the outside of the mall.
"I can't stop thinking about you," he stated, laughing a little. I giggled and replied,
"You sound like the biggest stalker."
"Well, maybe I am and you just don't know it!" I rolled my eyes and smiled.
"What do you want?"
"I wanted to know if you'd go on a date next Saturday?"
"Might I have the pleasure of knowing our location?" I asked, knowing the answer.
"You may not."
"Ok, I'll go." I looked around the sidewalk, then at Cory. Ashton walked up and was now talking to Samantha. I sighed into the receiver.
"What?"
"Uh, Ashton's here to talk with Samantha." All of a sudden, Cory's toy car got away from him. He went running out into the street to get it. A black escalade I had seen several times came speeding towards him. I only had a few seconds to react, so I did what my instincts demanded I do. Still gripping the phone, I ran towards Cory. I sprinted into him full force and pushed his little body to the other end of the street, propelling him into the snowbanks. He coughed, but seemed to be alright. Now that Cory was safe, I tried to do what my instincts instructed next; get out of the way. But time was not on my side that day. I didn't feel any pain at first. I just went smashing into the hood and flew onto the windsheild. The windshield shattered, and I didn't move for a split second. Then, the driver slammed the brakes, sending me out into a near by biker, and sprawling me on the black tar of the street. I heard tires screech as they spun and took off in the opposite directions.
I guess it'd be fair to say I still didn't really feel pain at this point either. I comprehended what had just happened, and I understood it with startling clairity. I wasn't in denial. I knew I wasn't dead. The phone where I'm sure Aspen was still listening lied a few feet out of reach. All I could hear was the faint calls from Samantha, 'call 911!' A small hand gripped my right arm, now broken. The hand shook me, I tilted my head slightly. All I saw was a brief blur of Cory's little face, I felt a slight tingle of pain rush into my body, and then everything went black.

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Hope you guys liked it! The next chapter might be a little shorter, just so ya know, thanks, bye! :)