Latch {Short Story}

Chapter Two

~ September 6th, 1996 ~

I wake to the sound of the birds chirping by my window, dazed by the sunshine in the early autumn month. Everything has been going so nicely these past few days... Almost too nicely. With the world on my side, I slide my legs to the edge of my bed and stand up, stretching gracefully as if in a movie. Carrying on with that grace, I tiptoe down the first steps to my stairs. I'm concentrating so hard on not making any noise (as it would wake my light sleeping Mother up,) that I end up tripping over my own feet and tumbling head first down the rest of the stairs. Smooth.
"Fuck." I curse under my breath, rubbing my temples vigorously to try and numb my throbbing head. I can almost taste the massive bruise that is yet to come.

"Etty, is that you?" My mother calls weakly, followed by the squeaking of her mattress and her heavy footed movement. She ponders out of her room, only to be startled by my dismantled self (not literally) sprawled across the landing floor.
"What on earth happened?" She asks as she hurries to my side, helping me come to with the situation. This was not how my morning is meant to pan out; especially at 9am.

"Nothing, I just fell down the stairs." I groan as I pull myself up from the ground, still with my hand glued to my forehead. My Mum copies my movements and attempts to look at my head.
"It's fine Mum, just leave it!" I snap at her as soon as she tries to move my hand. By now we have both realized that there is blood dripping out of my hands, and that this is more than just a measly bruise. I give in and remove my hand that is acting as a security blanket and allow her to look at the wound.

"Jesus Christ Arrietty!" She proclaims at the sight of the gash above my brow, still with blood seeping from it. "Come on, I'm taking you to the hospital."

My Mother has always been one to overreact over the tiniest of things. I've always been an unlucky person, so these occasions of unfortunate events aren't uncommon, nor unexpected. There is no point in me arguing with her over the gauging wound as she would win anyway. She had spent years in her husbands shadow; so her new found confidence wasn't going to be broken in this current, expected moment of my typical clumsiness.

After a visit to the nearest hospital and getting stitches put in for 15-20 minutes, the catastrophe was finally over and we returned home. The doctor recommended that I stay home to rest in hope that I avoid further injuries; but this wasn't an option as I was going for brunch with the gang, then shopping in the afternoon with Romy and Bea.

In a daze of tired confusion, my Mother returned to bed as she had never changed out of her pyjamas, and she was never one to waste valuable sleeping hours. Before she slipped into her blissful sleep, she warned me not to go out while still in pain, as she wouldn't be there to rescue me. Who does she think she is? Superwoman? I'd finally found a group of decent people who were accepting of me, (some more than others,) and I wasn't about to throw away their offer to meet up over a slight graze. With that being said; I begin my mad dash to get ready, as my fall had stalled me from my wonderful start to a wonderful day.

"Where've you been, petal?" Asks Austin as he welcomes me with open arms.

The gang often meet in "Keiths Chippy" after college as it is convenient, and hardly has any customers. They all notice the obvious plaster on my forehead, but daren't ask me about it; instead making it the awkward elephant in the room.

"Sorry, I missed the bus." I inform them apologetically, paired with a unconvincing smile. I look down at Finn and there's a half grimace on his face; he must've remembered our brief conversation we had in his car about missing the bus.

"No worries my dear," says Austin as he locates me to the seat between him and Bea. She's sporting a tight white crop top, which is paired perfectly with loose denim dungarees and glitter jelly shoes. Her long locks are pulled up into a sleek high ponytail, which often hits me in the face when she turns her head with great force.