Octagon Project 1: Melody Halloway

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"Oh, no no no!" Kaylee began to exclaim, grappling from her kitchen bar stool after the leafy patterned, green vase that their mom loved so much as it shook; and as slumped footsteps came from the staircase behind her, the vase began to spin and topple across the dark granite counter. Kaylee tried to grasp for it a few times, but it toppled from her reach at every attempt.

Her older sister came bouncing down the stairs sluggishly in a blue oversized T-shirt, and short grey PJ shorts that showed a few scars on her thighs the doctors discovered when she was found after missing for two months. Just by the insane state of her frizzy hair, it was obvious that she just woke up. She walked into the kitchen at the same time as the vase reached the far end of the counter and Kaylee scrunched up her face, covering her eyes with her hands; waiting to hear the crash. When it didn't come, she peeked through two of her thin fingers to see her older sister raise her hand, holding the bottom of the vase. She shook it at Kaylee a couple of lazy times disapprovingly and put it by the sink across the kitchen from where Kaylee sat with large brown eyes. Her sister opened the fridge and stuck her head in as she looked for something to eat even though she knew she wasn't going to grab anything.

"Thanks, Mel." Kaylee sighed, dropping her tense shoulders. Mom would have killed her if that vase broke. She watched her older sister's back as she shrugged, still looking around inside the fridge. "How are your reflexes so fast when you just woke up though?" She inquired.

"They aren't. " Mel replied curtly. Her voice was still groggy from sleep and sounded more monotonous than it already did during the day if you tried to strike up a conversation with her. Without even taking her face away from behind the fridge door, she held up a hand and caught the bright red apple Kaylee silently tossed at her from the fruit bowl next to her on the counter. Kaylee's breath caught in her throat even though she did that just to prove her point. Mel didn't seem to pay any mind.

"Thanks." She grumbled, closing the steel fridge door and taking a bite from the bright fruit. "I was wondering where they were." She took a seat on the stool opposite the counter from her younger sister. Beside Mel's jade green eyes and taller figure, she and Kaylee looked nearly like a mirror image of each other. Which was rather frustrating when you are on the same track team during the spring and have the same weight trainer during the summer. Then the name mix-ups just get agitating.

"You two better get ready. It's a school day." Their dad said, walking down the steps while trying to roll up his white button-up shirt sleeves.

"It's only six!" Kaylee cried. Mel just sat there, finishing off her apple and staring at her little sister with a bored expression.

"And you need to be at school by eight. C'mon. Just because it's Friday doesn't mean you can be lazy."

"I have to be at the college by seven." Mel informed them blankly. Their dad used that as a reason to give Kaylee a look that said that she'd better stop complaining.

"I'm leaving at six-forty-five. Be ready or you can walk." He said sternly, running his hands over his short dark brown hair. A feature both the girls got from him. Their mom's hair was blonde, and Mel got her green eyes from her, whereas Kaylee got their dad's light chocolate brown eyes. Sighing, both the girls trudged up the sandy carpet staircase and split into their separate rooms across the hall from each other.

"Today's gonna suck..." Mel grumbled to herself as she stared into her closet for a brief moment before pulling out a pair of dark jeans and a tight black long sleeve. Thank goodness it was cold this fall. Mel did all she could to not look into the mirror as she got dressed and pulled on her black and white converse. She tugged her long hair into as slick of a ponytail as its fizziness would let her and grabbed her ragged black backpack before hopping down the steps as her dad grabbed the car keys off the oak wood dining table.