Sisters by chance - The beginning

The Day After

Sofia's POV

My whole bedroom is spinning and, it feels like my body is buried under a boulder. Despite this, I refuse to promise myself never to drink again. I would never keep that promise anyway. Instead, I lie with my eyes closed and try to breathe slowly to calm intense nausea. My head hurts and, even my scalp throbs with pain, my eyes sting from the remains of my mascara.

The sun shines bright through my curtains. My pillow smells of sweat and party. ‘Ugh,’ I hate the day after. I wonder how Hannah is doing? She and Sam danced last night when Erik and I left. When we came back after our sneaky deviation, Hannah was leaning over a chair and, Sam held her hair. He patted her awkwardly on her back until I took over. Max helped Dad into the house and laid him on the couch before they thanked us and were on their way. After helping my beloved sister with clothes, hair, and makeup, I put her in her bed with a bucket next to it and a bottle of water on the nightstand before I allowed myself some sleep. The memories from yesterday come back slowly. Had my head allowed it, I would have laughed at mine and Erik's clumsy quickie. At the same time, I am disappointed with how it turned out and how little I got out of it. And I can't shake those eyes out of my mind. If it even were eyes, I mean who would stand in the woods and watch when others have "fun"? Could it have been an animal? No, it was probably nothing!

After falling asleep and then waking up again a couple of times, I finally get up and take a long shower. When the water starts to cool down, my self-pity decreases, and I finally feel like a human again. With my hair in a towel and in clean underwear, I walk through the house to my room with my cell phone in my hand. I scroll through the pictures from yesterday and smile to myself, some turned out well but most are total disasters. After changing the bedding and throwing everything in the laundry, I dry my hair and put it in a messy bun before I get dressed. A simple white T-shirt and my favorite skirt, it’s black with a high waist. Summery but not too girly! It's already lunchtime and my stomach is rumbling loudly. I can hear my mother down in the kitchen, I'm not looking forward to meeting my parents right now. Mom's complacent face and condescending tone over my partying are gonna be overbearing. Hannah is the perfect child and can’t do anything wrong, but with me, it's a different story. But hunger overcomes everything, and I must admit I am defeated. I sneak down the stairs. Dad is lying on the sofa with a pitiful expression, he has one hand over his eyes and a glass of juice in the other dangling over the edge. Mom mutters annoyed at the stove and glares angrily at him. Without a word, I walk in and start setting the table, then I help myself to some of yesterday's leftovers. We eat in silence unless mom's sighs count of course. Afterward, I escaped the kitchen with a plate for Hannah. She is probably still asleep. My phone vibrates softly as I go up the stairs. *Slept well? How about pizza and a swim tonight, u on? *

Oh perfect! With a little dance of happiness, I throw Erik a short replay

*Perfect, time? *

* 7, our usual place! *

Great! Now my only problem for the rest of the day is to decide if I should have pizza and fries tonight or just pizza...

***

"I'll never drink again…" lamented Hannah, still in bed. Her room is dark, warm, and smells stuffy. I can’t help laughing at my somewhat childish little sis, "Oh, don't be a baby, you haven't even thrown up!" I say, holding up the bucket from the floor showing her. She grumbled in response and turned her back on me still in bed. “You! Freshen up! We will meet the others down at No. 1 at 7 o'clock. And mom will kill us if we don’t clean up the garden before we go.” I say merely to annoy the s**t out of her. 

"I don’t wanna!" She whines childishly.

“It doesn’t matter what you want! Rise and shine lazyass!" I slap her on the thigh and leave the room laughing. It's hot today, so before I go downstairs I go to my room. I throw off my clothes on the floor and put on my bikini. Time to clean the garden and get some sun!

When the garden has been cleaned, mom looks a little happier. Her condescending face has softened and she doesn't sigh as harshly and loudly anymore. Dad has become human again and clears the wagon off balloons and birches. Hannah and I have picked up all the rubbish and brought chairs and tables into the garage.

Hannah has also opened all the gifts from yesterday, a lot of “moving from home” stuff but also some nice jewelry. Right now she is sitting in the sun on a blanket and looking at the charm I gave her, a little bear in silver for her bracelet. I lie next to her on my stomach and enjoy myself in the sun. Summer is the best time of the year. I love the sun, the heat, the smell from the forest, freshly cut grass, and all the little buzzing sounds. Despite all of this, I have an uneasy feeling of being watched that’s bothering me. I searched the treeline around the grounds looking for the source of my discomfort, I’m shading my eyes with my hand. 

"MOM! We're going to meet the others tonight, for pizza down in the village!" Hannah shouts, almost bursting my eardrum and making me jump a bit by surprise. Mom answers something inaudible which we interpret as a yes or something, It takes a moment before she comes out bawling. "Did you hear me?"

"What?" we answer with one voice and confusion.

"You can go, but you are taking your bikes."

"Unfair!" Hannah grizzlies as if her world is collapsing. "Why?"

"Because you're still drunk." Mom answers imperiously. Hannah throws herself down dramatically on the ground and pouts. I ignore her and mom, riding a bike, when it's summer, I don’t understand why she is upset! I just turn around to lie on my back instead to let the sun do its job. While ignoring the feeling of being under supervision, it's probably just mom still glaring at me. 

At six in the evening, I take a quick shower, throw on the same swimwear and clothes as before and pack my bag with a towel and a green and black flannel. My hair is wet and I stand in front of the mirror and untangle it when Hannah comes in. She is wearing a sky blue knee-length summer dress and a white swimsuit underneath, her hair is wet like mine but she has it in a braid down her back looking adorable.

“ Makeup or not?"

“No" I answer her a bit distantly while thinking of the wonderful food I am about to devour. The crisp sound fries do when they are newly made and still hot, the taste of salt! Heaven. I see Hannah's gaze through the mirror. She looks worried, pulling slightly at her braid.

"Darling, you look perfect. Don't worry, okay?" I say softly while swiftly putting my hair in a messy bun. I turn around hugging her.

"Now, let's eat!" I say grinning, she smiles faintly and nods her head. I put my hands on her shoulders, turned her around, and pushed her out of my room in front of me. I pick up my bag and close my door behind us. I'm not sure what's up with her but it could be something simple, like 'she doesn't feel like riding a bike' or 'really wants Sam to like her' if she wants to she will tell me! We wave goodbye to mom and dad who watch TV. Hannah has this annoying expression on her face when she throws her bag in the bicycle basket and jumps up. It takes about twenty minutes to get to the village and it's downhill all the way. We can basically roll there and just enjoy the sunny weather. I'm enjoying it, Hannah is huffing and looking sour. When we arrive, we park the bikes, Hannah scowls and her every move is with an angry twist to it. She puffs lightly.

"Hey sis, you really look adorable when you're sour!" I say trying to lightning things up, and as expected she cracks up with laughter. "Oh no, where's that pout?!" I say with a smug face taunting her before I throw the bag over my shoulder and walk towards the entrance. Erik, Sam, and Laura are already sitting at a table talking. It strikes me that Laura is sitting very close to Erik, brushing her shoulder and knee against him. She laughed a little too enthusiastic at something he said and put her hand on his arm. How about that, she finally has the gut to show some interest! I feel a bit split about it, I'm not the possessive type and my mind races thinking about ways to approach this moment. Sam spots us and waves. 

"Hey, Lovely ladies!" he hollers with a big smile. Laura jumps a little in her seat and backs up. Hannah takes the seat next to him and he puts his arm around her. She blushed slightly but smiled at him. Erik turns on his seat and grabs me by my hips pulling me down onto his lap.

I put my arms around his neck and kissed him. Through my eyelashes, I can see Laura frown. I pull away giggling.

"So, where is the food I was promised?!" I ask with a pout.

"We didn't dare to order, what if the French fries would have gone cold?" Sam answered while faking fright "I don't have a death wish you know!" 

Erik nodded affirmatively, hugging my waist. 

"Very wise gentlemen!" I confirmed with a fake upper-class British accent. I’m feeling uneasy in Erik's lap with a prickly Laura beside us so I try to move but Erik holds me down.

I don’t even bother scowling him about it. We ordered and talked about yesterday while waiting. Hannah starts telling about her gifts and shows her charm. Once more I try to get off his lap, it's too uncomfortable, I feel ungainly and like I don't fit. I'm glad when the waitress comes out with our orders. It's warm, greasy, salty, and heavenly. Erik needs to reach the table so finally, I'm off to my own chair. We all eat slowly, savoring every bite. There is no need to hurry. Conversation flows easily, we talk about the graduation and Sam's birthday next weekend. Laura keeps glancing at Erik and hastily looking away when I spot her. I can’t help the smirk on my face, this is quite funny!

"Hey, where did you two go, you disappeared and were gone for a while yesterday…“ Sam has a smug smile as if he managed to put us on the spot for something.

“Why? Are you jealous?" I said slyly and winked at him. His slightly pink cheeks betrayed him.

Satisfied with the result, I put another french fries in my mouth.

He knows very well what we did. He should know by now that I don't care about what others think they know about me. If I want something then why be embarrassed about it? We continue to eat, talk, laugh, and drag out the time. We mustn't be seen later.