Oh, Heather

Chapter Twenty-six

It was officially Saturday, and all Heather wanted to do was sleep. She had a very eventful week, and that was enough for her. Heather woke up much earlier than she planned, and she couldn’t go back to sleep. She walked into the kitchen, making herself a bowl of cereal. It was almost noon, and her mom still wasn’t awake. Heather thought about calling Leo, to ask about what happened with Vance, if he ever answered. But she wasn’t sure if he was awake either. She decided she would just stay in her room for the rest of the day.

If her mom needed her, she could walk into her room. If her friends wanted to talk to her, they could call. Heather put her dishes in the sink and walked tiredly back to her room. She pulled the blankets over her legs, grabbing a random book from underneath her nightstand. She flipped the pages, she wasn’t awake enough to properly read. But she had reread this book several times, Heather could recite it front to back. The spring breeze blew through her window, waving the pages from side to side. 

“Come on,” She complained, resting her phone on the other side of the book. 

No matter what she rested on the other side, the pages still found a way to blow around. She lightly hit the page of her book and put it back underneath her nightstand. She laid on her side, trying to fall back asleep once again. But her phone started ringing.

“I swear, the universe is out to get me.” She groaned, picking up the phone.

She didn’t pay any attention to who called, but she knew who it was the moment she answered.

“Hi Heather!” 
“Hi Miley.” She replied.
“Are you okay? You sound annoyed.”
“Yeah I just don’t want to be awake right now.” She said.
“To be fair, I don’t think anyone wants to.”  
“Yeah. Did you need something?” Heather asked.
“Do you want to stay at my place tonight? You haven’t met my moms yet so I thought this was a great way for you to meet them.”

Heather was confused. Miley hadn’t given her any idea that she was no longer upset with her. She wasn’t complaining, she missed talking to Miley, but it didn’t make much sense.

“Are you sure? I thought you were still upset with me.”
“I’m not. I get that I was kinda overreacting a bit. Leo was okay with it so I shouldn’t have made a big deal about it. I just hated seeing Leo get bullied.” 
“I see where you were coming from, you were just looking out for Leo.”
“Mhm. So do you wanna come over? Leo is too but he has to find a way to get away from his dad.”
“Does his dad not like you or something?”

Heather didn’t know much about Leo’s home life, she felt it wasn’t her business to ask, but the way Miley worded it made her curious.

“I don’t really know. His dad just kind of sucks. I only saw him once and it wasn’t fun,” Miley said, “But we can talk more about that at a later date.”
“If my mom doesn’t have any plans with me and my brother this weekend I’ll go. I’ll text you when I find out, okay?”
“Okay, my moms will pick you up if she says yes. Bye Heather!”
“Bye Miley.” She smiled, hanging up the phone.

Heather tossed her phone in front of her, watching her curtains wave. Her mom had to be awake by now, but it didn’t seem like she had gotten out of bed yet. She walked into her moms room, slowly opening the door.

“Yes Heather?” Her mom said, looking up from the book she was reading.
“Is it okay if I go to Miley’s? She invited me to stay the night. And she said her moms would pick me up.”
“Honey, you're 18, you don’t have to ask me to go to a friend's house.”
“I still feel like I should.” 
“Well don’t. Each time you do I’ll throw a pillow at you or something,” Alyssa laughed.
“Got it.”

Heather walked back to her room, telling Miley what Alyssa said. She didn’t receive a reply, but Miley read her message. She tossed her phone back onto her bed, looking around her room for something to pass the time. She opened the drawer in her nightstand, checking for her brother’s tablet that he never uses. She bought it for him for his 2nd birthday, she even tried to teach him how to use it, but he didn’t seem to like it. She eventually found it, buried beneath a few books. It had been in there for at least a year, it would need to charge before she could use it. 

“Do I really not have anything?” She questioned, searching in the drawers under her bed.

She found nothing to pass the time. Sure, she had her phone, but she was always on it and yes she had books, but you can only reread a story so many times before you get bored. For Heather, it wasn’t that she got bored, she just wanted something new, something with an unexpected ending. She sat on the side of her bed, impatiently tapping her heels against the wood as she waited for an idea to pop into her head. She could play with her brother, that was always fun. She walked into his room, where his head was buried into a picture book

“Starting early huh?” She asked, sitting on the edge of his bed.
“Hi sissy!” He replied, not talking his eyes off the book.
“What’re you reading?” 
“I don’t know. Momma gave me it.”
“Can I see it?”

He handed the book to her, tilting his head as she flipped it over. 

“The cover isn’t on,” She said, “What’d you do with the cover buddy?”
“The cover?”
“It says the name of the book on it.”
“Momma gave it to me like that.”
“Well, you keep reading your no-name book, and I’ll go figure out what it was.” She said, ruffling his hair.

He nodded, taking the book back from her hands.

“You lost my page.” He said, pouting at her.
“I’m sorry buddy.” She laughed.

He huffed, looking back at his book. She rolled her eyes playfully and walked to her mother’s room. She was smiling at her phone.

“What’re you smiling about?” Heather questioned, leaning against her door frame.
“Nothing that you need to worry about,” Alyssa answered. “Are they here?”
“No, not yet. I wanted to ask what book you gave Corey. I guess the cover fell off.”
“I don’t really remember. I found it when I was cleaning my room.”
“Do you still have the cover? Or did you throw it away?” 
“I probably threw it away. I don’t remember seeing a cover.” She answered.

“How do you lose a cover? It’s supposed to be attached.” 
“I don’t know honey.”
“Well, I’m gonna go play with Corey until they get here.” She said.
“Okay,” Alyssa replied. “Tell me when they get here so I can say hi to her moms before you guys leave.”
“Alright, I will.”

She walked back to her brother's room, bouncing onto his bed. He didn’t turn to look at her, he seemed lost in the book. It didn’t look like he had flipped the page since she left. Heather watched him trace over the sentences, mumbling some of the words. He was very good at reading for a 4 year old, then again, Heather didn’t know many people anywhere near Corey’s age. He kept rereading the page, and it didn't seem like he even wanted to flip the page. 

“Are you stuck on a word?” She asked, peering over his shoulder.
“I don’t know this one.” He mumbled, pointing to a word.
“Elephant.” She said.
“But that’s not a f.” He said, pointing to the ‘ph’ in the word.
“When p and h are together it makes the same sound an f does.” 
“But that doesn’t make sense.” He pouted.
“I know C.C, it doesn’t make sense to me either,” She said. “Are there any other words that you mess up on?”
“This one.” Corey replied, flipping the page to one of the last pages.

“That one is ruffled.”
“Oh,” 
“Why does that one confuse you?” 
“This part.” He said, circling the middle of the word.
“Can you tell me why that confuses you?”
“There’s an L. And you said it funny.”
“That’s just how it’s pronounced in that word.” 

He nodded his head and closed the book, putting it on top of his nightstand.
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A little bit more of Corey!!
This update is a bit early, but I'm at my dad's rn so id rather this be early than never!