Last Words First

Chapter 2

KATRINA

"GET UP, SLEEPING BEAUTY!" Someone yells in my ear.

Before I could enjoy the few relaxing seconds between the cool of my covers, my face is being pounded on by a pillow. Now that I noticed, my missing pillow. My palms shield my face from the wrath of being pricked by any feathers that could be sticking out of the pillow's fabric.

In response to this harassment, I only turn my back at who ever the hell has the balls to be at my bedside this early in the morning hitting me with my own goddamn pillows. "Screw you," I mutter sleepily into my blankets and comforters.

"Is that any way to talk to your bestie?" The person scoffs. It's Wilma.

Lord have mercy—

"Wilma, what time is it?" I ask, voice drowsy and muffled from the left half of my mouth being pressed against my bed.

"Katrina Grace Evans, it's about to be 10 a.m.!" She scolds.

How the hell did she get into my room? Did Mom and Dad let her in? Goddammit.

I ignore her attempts to get me up from bed, only pulling the heavenly soft covers tighter around me. A grunt comes from me and I hear her scoff.

"Wilma Jones, it is Saturday. My one day off from work, school, and tutoring sessions for Leah. I am entitled to sleeping past 10 a.m." I snark back, attempting to resume my peaceful slumber that she has so rudely interrupted.

"Well, we have to meet the Evan and Nik at The Spot in half an hour." She says, matter-of-factly.

That sentence makes me sit up from bed almost immediately.

"What?" I half shriek, panic arising like bubbles from a boiling pot of stew, getting ready to spill.

Today. What are we doing today!? What the hell was today supposed to be?!

"Yeah, we rescheduled our study group to today." She stares at me like I forgot her birthday or something, followed by her blue eyes rolling. Her jaw-short blond hair is being mostly covered by a grey beanie with a million pins on it. She's dressed in black tights under jean shorts with a simple white T-shirt and grey jacket. Her small nose is decorated with freckles, as are her cheeks.

"Oh shit, I completely forgot."

"Well be glad that I came," she sits on my desk chair, crossing her legs over one another. She makes herself at home, like always.

My house is basically her second home and has been since we were five. Me, Wilma, and Nik have been friends since the day we could walk. Here in Homestead, the world was extra small. So everyone knew one another and all of us town teenagers grew up going to school together. Nik and his brother Evan are twins, but me and Wilma met Evan later in our childhood because Evan can't walk due to being Wheelchair bound. Before first grade without Evan, it was just me, Nik, and Wilma. Those were the days where we'd run around in pull-up diapers and pull sharp blades of grass from the ground like weeds and then blow on them, making the most ear splitting bird mimicking sounds. We'd sleep over at each other's houses and basically took part time residence in each other's homes. It hasn't really changed. Nik and Wilma comes to my house whenever it strikes their fancy.

Once grade school started, so did our little trio's wide arm welcome for Evan. In Nik's position, many would expect him to be hesitant and embrace resentment while feeling that he might just be dragging around his brother in a wheelchair. But it has never been like that. In all my ongoing seventeen years on this Earth, I have never heard Nikolas complain not once about including Evan in our group. Evan belongs with us. Sometimes there were other six-year old's who tried bullying him, as a result to this, Nik spent most of the year in the principals office for giving half of them bloody noses.