What We Lost In The Winter

Chapter 3 (Part 1)

The front door leads straight into a very colorful kitchen. The walls are covered with white tiles, and the cabinets are bright red. A white bar with a wood top sits near the back, I assume there are chairs or stools behind it that I just can’t see. A flowery curtain that screams “Momma Kingser!” covers a window, clashing with the rest of the room. Next to the flowers is a door leading out to the screened-in porch.

“Girls! Come see your new rooms!” Dad shouts, leading us through the kitchen and into the rest of the small house. (I’m pleased to see that there are two wooden stools behind the bar). The kitchen leads to an open cream-colored living room with an open door in the back. It leads to the bathroom, I assume it’s the only one. Is there even enough space for another toilet and sink? Two doors line the other wall. Dad opens the one to the left. It leads to a set of stairs.

“Wait, our rooms are in the basement?” Lily asks. They might be! That would be exciting!

“Yes! Isn’t that great? That other door there is my bedroom,” Dad smiled, nodding to the right-side door.

“That’s awesome!” Lily grins wildly. Her bird’s nest of hair frames her innocent freckled face. She looks like a savage beast discovered from one of those fairytale dark forests. We run down the staircase, our bags bumping down behind us. At the bottom of the stairs was simply a hallway with four doors.

“This first room is your bathroom,” Dad says as he pushes open the door. It looks just like the one upstairs. “Next is Alaina’s bedroom.” He gestures to a different door. “Now, Lil’ Flower, here’s your room.”

Lily squeals in delight at the sight of her new domain. I step inside to take a look at my little sister’s paradise. The walls are off-white, rather plain looking, but within a few days, they’ll be decorated with all sorts of weird things. Two beds sit in opposite corners of the room, a purple flowery bedspread draping over them. Behind each bed is a painting. One has a cartoon octopus, the other a mermaid tail. The wooden floor is the same color as the walls with a red and orange striped carpet in the middle. Lily hugs Dad happily, and then embraces me because she needs someone else to hug. A smile stretches across her freckled face.

“Okay, Becca, ready to see your new room?” Dad asks, turning to face me.

“Sure,” I smile. I’m not as excited as Lily, but still anxious. A storm of nervous butterflies suddenly fills my stomach. What if my room was stupid looking? I shake it off, knowing my dad couldn’t have messed up too bad. But what if? Lily follows us into the hallway as the final door is opened.

My room is smaller than Lily’s, but that’s okay. I don’t need a lot of play-space. The walls are a blue-purple color, the floor a dark wood. My bedding is the same as our old house, white with giant green, brown, blue, and black polkadots. The walls are completely bare, but that’s nothing. Easily fixable.

Sure enough, one week later, my room does not look deserted. My walls are covered in posters from The Hunger Games, Onerepublic, Taylor Swift, and pictures of the Kents, Haley, Chloe, and I. I miss them, but Jackie has made it so that it is physically impossible for me to get away from them. Constant texts every second of every day. I’m glad I haven’t been forgotten.