Recovering from a tragic accident, Aspen Preston is barely floating over the surface. The remains of her father's death haunt her while she tries to avoid the end of her mother's wrath. She tries to uphold the flawless image for the sake of her fami...
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"𝐈 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐎 leave now, River. Make sure your sister's fed." Ma calls from the front door. I nod my head, mumbling an 'okay' as I hold my mug of steaming black coffee to my lips. Seconds later I hear the door shut.
It had become a routine where I'd get Delilah up and awake, and take her to school whenever I had a later start at school or a day off; today being the day off. Without our father, Ma picks up every possible shift she can get at the hospital, whether it's an early start or a late finish. It was never really necessary until last year, and even now, it's not really needed, but it seems as though Ma uses it as a distraction. She tries to say that it's for the extra year I've had to do at Kingston, but that's just an excuse. Everyone had their own ways of coping and work was hers.
Seeing that it's half past seven, I leave my mug at the counter and head up the stairs to get Delilah up. She starts school at 8:45, which leaves us more than enough time, but waking her up and trying to get her to go is a task on its own.
When I reach her bedroom, I flick her lights on and call her name. I already know it's not enough, but I want to give her a chance before having to drag her out.
Unsurprisingly, she doesn't move. "Delilah, get up. You need to go to school." I call a little louder, going over and sitting on the edge of her bed and ruffling her hair. Her eyes slowly open, and she flips onto her back, looking at me tiredly. "Come on." I murmur, nodding my head to the bathroom.
When she realises what's going on, she immediately pulls her covers over her head, hiding herself. I sigh loudly, and stand up. In one move I pull off the entirety of her covers, throwing them to the side.
"None of this, Delilah. Come on, it's time to go." I lean over, ignoring her protests, and lift her by under her arms. She whines the whole way to the bathroom, but doesn't try to fight it. This happens practically every morning whether it's with me or Ma. She does the same thing and ends up accepting her fate.
I put her down on the bathroom floor, "I'm going to get your uniform ready," I murmur, basically to myself as I shut the door, leaving her in there and go back to her room to her wardrobe. Her uniform was already ironed, I just had to set it out on her bed to make things easier.
Only two minutes in and I hear a loud cry coming from the bathroom. Immediately I'm going and pushing the door open. She's standing by the sink, balling her eyes out.
"What's wrong, 'Lilah?" I ask softly with a sigh, crouching down in front of her.
Delilah tries to dry her eyes, but she just keeps crying. "No school-" She sobs, hiccuping. I cant help but feel sorry for her, lifting her again and bringing her to my chest. It's obvious by now just how much she hates school from the fact that she does this multiple times a week. Apparently all kids hate school just as much, but I completely disagree. I've tried to express that it could be something deeper than simply not liking school, from her delay in speech and complete lack of social interaction. No one seems to see it.
