AT LAST, I COULD BREATHE | billy hargrove

debatably the worst monday ever.

chapter song: Walk This Way - Aerosmith

debatably the worst monday ever.

Monday mornings normally come way too quickly for my liking, and this one was no exception. But perhaps this Monday morning was worse than the others because now I get to go prove someone right. I hated that shit. And I hated that it was at my expense.

"Bo!!" Shawn yelled through my door, scaring me a bit to wake me up. I jumped out of bed warily and hit the floor straight on my ass as my vision went a little blurry because of how quickly I got up. "It's 7:00, you need to get up!!"

"Fuck you, Shawn!!" I yelled back in my groggy morning voice, one eye closed and the other half-open with drowsiness.

My door opened to reveal my mother with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised at me. I took my bottom lip in between my teeth and looked at the floor in guilt, feeling a bit like a five-year-old.

Before I continue, I just want to give a short description of Ms. Leanna Hughes—aka my hero. She's about 5'4" with dark, dark hair like mine that went to her shoulders in a feathered style. She had the kindest brown eyes and her voice was incredibly sweet—it wasn't a stretch to say she was the perfect woman to be a nurse. She always taught me to be the politest I could be in any situation (look how well I took her advice, unfortunately), and she always sees the bright side of things which can be quite aggravating if you're trying to brood (like I often do). But I do love her—she's the strongest person I know.

"Why are you so mean to your brother, Bernadette?" Her soft voice scolded.

"I—sorry, mum. He just woke me up really obnoxiously and it scared the crap out of me and I fell off my bed so I got mad. It won't happen again," I replied, eyes still glued to the floor by her white nursing shoes.

She took a few steps forward to stand in front of me properly and she put both of her hands on my shoulders. I shifted my gaze up to meet her eyes at last and I saw the sincerity in her eyes when she spoke again.

"That's no way to get through life—by exploding as soon as you're provoked, you know that," she declared with a solemn look. I knew that was in reference to my father, which made me quite sad that I had reminded her of him even if it was just for a moment.

"I know, but Shawn's just my brother, and—"

"Bernadette," Mum interrupted sternly. "Cherish your time with him, you know he's being stationed in Guam soon."

I knew she was right, but Shawn and I were siblings and he knew I was just kidding. At least, I hope he does. Otherwise, he's a softie, but he's the one who taught me how to hold my own so I highly doubt that.

"Sorry," I apologized again, looking back down at our feet.

"It's alright, dear." My mother enveloped me in a hug that I sighed into, knowing this was probably going to be the best part of my day. "Have a nice day, I'm going to be working late tonight so no shenanigans while I'm gone, okay?"

I nodded, wondering why in the world she would think Shawn and I would get into any shenanigans. We pulled out of the hug and she left my room quickly to get to her job at Hawkins Lab. I sighed again and ran my fingers through my hair anxiously before heading downstairs after her to fuel up.

Shawn was sitting at the counter on a stool watching me go through the fridge, then the cabinets, then the drawers for something to eat, while he chowed down on a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios. I went back to the fridge to repeat my cycle and he decided to make a comment.

"Why did you go back to the fridge if you were just in there?" He asked despite his Cheerio-filled mouth. "Are you expecting more food to appear?"

"Precisely," I replied dryly, to which Shawn just scoffed and went back to eating and reading the newspaper. I decided on oatmeal and while I let the kettle heat up on the stove, I went upstairs to pick out an outfit.