𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐭¹ − b. allen

∟ 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞. ✔️

the rise and fall of hydro
part one

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ANNA'S HEAD BEGAN pounding as soon as her eyes fluttered open. After getting home from the fight she ditched, Anna cried for a solid hour in Shannon's arms and then the three roommates began drinking four bottles of wine—Shannon and Emily managed to gather the satisfaction of getting wine drunk but the buzz wouldn't hit for Anna and she was pissed. It was that night that they realized that they hadn't had a girls night in months—mostly because of Anna's trip to a lovely coma—and vowed to try to have one once a week, every Saturday night.

Last night, over the hour she had cried in her best friend's arms, Anna let out everything she had been keeping in about her mother; how she still couldn't believe she was gone, how painful it still was to see a picture of her or to hear someone on the street say the name of a loved one who just so happened to carry the same name as her mother, how she missed her more than anything. Shannon knew exactly what to say because it wasn't the first time that she had helped Anna while she sobbed in her arms about her mother.

Shannon had told Anna that no matter what it was going to hurt not having her mother around, but Elizabeth was always with her daughter even if Anna thought she wasn't. Slowly but surely, Anna had begun to come to terms with what had happened fourteen years ago all because of the soft, kind words from Shannon's lips. It didn't take therapy, it didn't take drowning her feelings in alcohol—which she did do later that night—all it took was a friend who knew exactly what to say and when to say it.

The sunlight drifted in from between her curtains and lit up her room with a soft yellow hue. A light breeze blew in from the window and shifted her curtains slowly, pushing them around like the skirt of a dancer doing an elegant, yet complicated, dance for the world to see. City sounds flooded through her window and into her ears, and, thankfully, they weren't loud enough to intensify the throbbing pain in her skull.

Anna propped herself up on her elbows, looking around slowly so her eye movement wouldn't worsen the headache—she wasn't sure if the headache was from crying or the lack of sleep.

The brunette slipped out of bed and stood up, adjusting her pink pyjama pants with white polka dots around her legs. She rubbed her eyes with her fingers and let out a groan, throwing her head back in annoyance which would've caused a hangover victim to scream. "Curse my inability to get drunk," she whispered and made a fist, shaking it up at whoever was looking down at her from the heavens. She ran her hands over her face and shuffled out of her room and into the bathroom where she splashed water on her face and quickly brushed her teeth.