A Twist of Fate SERIES (Pentatonix)

(13) Rather Be

( KIRSTIE )

"I hate bills," I say with a small laugh as I throw my auto bill down onto the table. Mom raises her eyebrows in agreement as she takes a sip of coffee from her mug. She reaches forward to grab the paper, her eyes scanning the final price printed in bold on the bottom.

"At least we have insurance, though," she remarks, turning the bill around and pointing at the total price without insurance. I grimace, reaching for a piece of bacon to try and distract myself from these too-large numbers.

After a few more minutes, Mom pushes her chair back as she stands up, and says, "Alright, honey. Karen should be here in a couple of minutes to head to work." She comes around to the other side of the table, planting a kiss on the top of my head. "Just rest today, okay? I know I'm leaving my car here, but that doesn't mean you can take it."

I roll my eyes, taking another piece of bacon from the paper towel-covered plate. "I know, Mom. I won't."

She smiles at me, then goes to grab her purse. Momentarily, a car horn sounds from right outside the house, and I glance out the window to see that it's Karen's—one of my mom's coworkers—car. "Okay," she says, coming back over to kiss the top of my head again. "I'll be home at five. Text me if you need anything before then."

"Okay, Mom," I tell her quietly with a smile, and then I watch her leave. When the car is out of sight, I sigh, pushing all of the bills to the side of the table; I don't even want to begin to have to deal with those right now. Olaf starts barking from outside, and I turn around to see him standing happily at the door. "You wanna come inside, boo boo?" I call, going over to the sliding glass door to let him in. Pascal comes running, too, and, after I close the door, I turn around to see both of them sitting by the table, enthusiastically wagging their tails as they hungrily stare up at the bacon.

I roll my eyes, locking the door. "Oh, I see. Grandma leaves, and so you think you can play me like that, huh?" I walk back into the kitchen. "Had she abandoned you for those couple of days I wasn't here? You poor things." I shake my head, grabbing the two pieces of bacon that are left on the plate; I hand one to either of the pups, and then watch with my hands on my hips as they devour them, eagerly looking back up at me for more. "I'm sorry, babies. I don't have anymore for you."

I kneel down, pulling both of them into me and petting them roughly. "Oo, I love you, guys. Yes, I do." After a moment, I lean back and say, "So. Grandma doesn't think I should exert myself, ya know? But today is Special Needs Kids With Pets Day at work, and you know what that means, don't you?" They continue panting happily, their tails wagging. "Well, if she asks, I'll just say that you two insisted we go, sound good?"

I stand up, sighing. "I'm gonna go get ready, and then we can head out, okay?" I pet either of their heads again, and then head over to the stairs; both pups are right on my heels, running ahead of me as I make my way up the stairs and then turn into my bedroom—all of my childhood decorations still the same as when I was eighteen.

I pull on a pair of yoga pants and one of my work shirts, pinning my name tag over the pocket on the left side. I head into the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face, and then I pull my hair up into a ponytail. As I examine myself in the mirror, I can still see the faint yellowish bruise that's across my forehead, the deep cut that was held together with fifteen stitches on the right side of my face, a bandage still covering the left side of my neck.

Tears unintentionally fill my eyes when I think about the morning I received all these scars and bruises. I had had a rough day, and had decided to go out for a drive to clear my head. I was too preoccupied to remember to turn on my headlights,—all of the streets were vacant anyways, considering it was midnight—and little did I know that it would change my life forever. And the fact that Mitch, too, had been driving, sans headlights, on the same dark street, for the same reason, is just weird, too.