Ethereal Love

Fire Drills and Fighting

"Nini, come on, you have to come to the fire drill! It's compulsory!" her mom yelled, yanking the cover over her head. Nini groaned, pulling them back.

"There's not going to be a fire, mom, I'll be fine. Please don't make me!" she whined. Carol shook her head.

"I'm going to get dressed. If you're not ready to go when I'm done, I'm dragging you out there in your pajamas. And it's cold outside." She warned, before disappearing into the bathroom. Nini sighed, curling up in the warmth of the covers and drifting back to sleep.

She was rudely awoken two minutes later by her mother pulling her out of bed and out of the cabin.

"Mom! Mom, stop! I'll get dressed! I'm sorry!" she squealed, trying to wriggle out of her grip, but her mom was too strong.

"I told you I'd do this if you weren't ready. The alarm is going off in ten minutes, and I have to go through all the instructions; you don't have time to get dressed." She said. Nini sighed, halting in her struggling to wrap her arms around herself to fight the chill. She was only wearing a SpongeBob tank top and yellow boy shorts and it was only around 50 degrees outside. They're from Salt Lake so 50 degrees shouldn't seem bad but it was. They were in the mountains.

"Mom, are you trying to kill me?" she asked, shivering. Carol sighed, shrugging off her cardigan and handing it to Nini. It was only a thin one and it only really covered her arms, but Nini was grateful for the added warmth.

Her mom finally let her go when they reached the crowd gathered around the main stage. Nini hung back, promising her mom not to disappear, and watched as the older woman climbed onstage and everyone instantly quietened.

Her mom ran through the drill quickly, but Nini tuned it out. She figured she could just follow everyone else, and focused on warming herself up as much as possible, staring down at her feet as she drew a heart with her toes.

"You do realize it's 6am and the sun hasn't come up yet, right?" a familiar voice said from behind her, making her jump. She whirled around, scowling.

"Yeah, actually, I'm not quite that stupid." She spat.

"Then why are you dressed like that at six o'clock in the morning?" he asked, eyebrows raised. She sighed loudly, turning her back on him.

"Because I wouldn't get out of bed." She muttered.

"Huh?"

"I wouldn't get out of bed and get dressed, so mom dragged me out here in my pajamas."

"Oh, I see...wait, is that why you're here? Is Carol your mom?" he asked, surprised.

"Yup. Although right now, I wish she wasn't."

"Wow, it's a small world...I've been coming here since I was eleven, and I've known Carol for as long, and I never knew she was your mom." She smiled tightly.

"Well, I guess you do now."

"How come you've never come here before?"

"Because I've never been in so much trouble that my other mom sent me here for the summer as a punishment before." She muttered sourly. He chuckled.

"I heard about the car incident. What happened?" he asked. She rolled her eyes.

"I thought it was yours...so I totalled the car." She admitted. He laughed loudly then, causing a few heads to turn in their direction. They must have looked odd, Nini refusing to turn around and look at him but still participating in the conversation.

"Why would you do that?"

"I don't know, I guess it was something to do with the homeroom incident, but maybe I was just PMS'd." she replied sarcastically, spinning around to glare at him. He winced, looking like he'd forgotten about that.