Happy Endings

Number Two

I woke up at approximately 6:23am.

My eyes were red and puffy, my skin a pale sickly color, and my chestnut hair still damp.

I got out of the dirty tub with weak legs, grabbing a towel on the sink and making a beeline towards my room without giving myself time to look at myself in the mirror.

When I got to mine and Kelsey's room, I spied her sleeping form curled on the bed, her pink fuzzy pajamas curled into her frame, her hair still frizzy from last night.

"Hey sissy!" Kelsey came in the room, her smile glowing.

I softly smiled at her beautiful blonde hair and bright eyes, noting her girly white pants, flip flops and pink shirt that showed her curving frame.

"Hey, Kelsey. How was school?" I asked, my hand dipping into the hot sink water to wash the dishes.

"Great! I made a new friend today." I rolled my eyes playfully, laughing.

"You make a new friend every day."

She pouted, but ignored my comment.

"His name is Felix, he's super nice to me, and he's really funny." She explained, and I nodded, listening to her rant on her day and how she met him.

And to think she was only in seventh grade.

"That's wonderful, Kelsey. I'm happy you've got friends." I replied after she finished, putting a plate on the drying rack.

She beamed up at me, her eyes popped with the new mascara she had gotten form her friends.

It made me frown.

"Why do you wear mascara? You have such pretty eyes already, you don't need it." I said, making her twirl her thumbs, shrugging.

"I dunno. I like to look girly." She explained, and I nodded. It's going to be hard to be girly in this lifestyle.

"You wear what you want, okay, Kels? I just don't want you to listen to other people if they say you need to do things." She nodded, grabbing the drying rag and began drying the dishes.

"Yeah, okay."

"Oh, don't wash the knives okay? I don't need you getting cut-"

Kelsey screamed as she slipped on a splash of water that dripped on the floor and fell forwards, the knife sticking up in the drying rack tearing through her forearm flesh.

I dropped the bowl, shattering it in the sink as Kelsey fell to the floor, bloody flowing onto the floorboards.

"Kelsey!" I quickly bent down, rolling her on her back.

"Oh my god, oh my god." I scrambled up into the top kitchen cabinets, grappling the bandages and a bottle of emergency liquor we kept hidden from our dad.

"Shh, shh." Kelsey laid, crying quietly underneath me, her tears smearing her mascara.

"It hurts, it hurts, sissy!" She cried, and I shakily piped off the lid off the liquor, trying to quiet her down.

"This is going to hurt just a bit, okay? I need you to stay still. I'm going to heal you." She nodded, biting her lip and sucking a breath as I sloshed some liquor over the edge and watched it bubble on her arm, ridding of infection.

She yelled, writhing in pain as I wiped the blood I could from her arm, pouring more on.

"Sh, Sh." I tied a rag above and below the cut, slowing the blood flow as I wiped her arm as clean as I could get.