AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Rebecca may look shocked. No one’s sure since her face is filled with so much Botox, it’s stuck in the same position. “Stace, are you serious? It was just a joke. I mean, come on, no one thought they would last—”
“That’s it!” Stacey’s raised voice makes us all jump. “I’ve had enough! I’ve put up with your stuck-up attitude, your rude comments about every single person you come in contact with, and I’ve even sucked it up and allowed you to take part in my shower, which for the record, I do not need my lips done for…”
“No she didn’t,” Kip hisses.
“…but I’m done. I won’t stand here another second and listen to you say another hurtful thing about my family.”
Rebecca clicks her tongue, stunned at the way Stacey’s talking to her. “Oh em gee, Stace. What’s your problem? It was just a suggestion. You’re seriously not going to take her side over mine, are you?”
“Yes,” four male voices reply for her. She gasps, her mouth hanging open, staring down each and every guy. Flipping her hair, she goes back to addressing Stacey. “Girl, it’s fine. Let’s get out of here. I’m actually seeing this great guy who owns an Italian place down the way, Bill’s Pub. We can—”
“Did you just say Bill’s?” Stacey’s eyes pop wide open.
“She just said Bill’s,” Kipley confirms.
“I knew there was a reason why I never liked your plastic ass,” Chase chimes in.
“Get out.”
“What?” Rebecca deadpans.
“I knew I was finally done with you the second you dared walk into my family’s home and insult my sister for the last time. But you just confirmed it the second you mentioned Bill’s. Everyone knows Savino’s is the best. Get. Out.”
Rebecca struggles, but manages to compose herself enough to whip around and storm off.
“Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out!” Ben yells.
We all stare, until we hear the swift slam of the front door. “Well, I think that went well.” Stacey is the first to speak. A little shell-shocked myself, I turn and stare at her, making sure she’s okay.
“I’m sorry, you didn’t have to—”
“I did. I should have done that a long time ago.” She eliminates the few feet separating us and brings me into her arms. Being difficult with the basketball in her belly, I lean forward, wrapping my arms around her. “I’m sorry for never sticking up for you in the past. I’m a horrible sister-in-law. I hope you can forgive me.”
I squeeze her tighter. “You don’t owe me anything, but thank you.”
We stay like that for some time before Chase, being Chase, ruins the moment. “This would be a lot cooler if you two didn’t have your tops on—shit!”
Hannah
Two months later…
Go, go, go…
I’m running so fast, I’m about to trip over my own two feet. The weather today is fierce as the angry rain pours down in thick drops, pelleting my face. The wind adding to the ferocity flips my umbrella inside out. I jump over a puddle as I wrestle with the wires, snapping it back in place.
When I was a kid, I loved the rain. I would sit outside during storms every chance I got and look up at the millions of raindrops, trying to count them as they cascaded from the sky. My mother would chase after me, dragging me into the house, claiming I would get sick being so careless. One time, she threatened to ground me until I was well into my eighties if I went back outside, so I locked myself in my room and opened my bedroom window, sticking my head out as far as I could to catch the raindrops on my tongue. Of course, I stuck out a smidge too far and fell out of my window. Thankfully, I landed on the awning, leaving less of a drop before I bounced off, but still managed to break my arm.
Every time it rains, I think of that memory. How distraught my mom was. My brother’s “You never listen” gripes. The book I found lying on my bed one day a few weeks later, since I was indeed grounded ’til eternity and stuck in the house. A book. Fun Rain Facts for Kids. I didn’t know why it was there or who put it there, but I sat down, and before I knew it, I had consumed the entire two hundred pages. I spent the next two days walking around my house telling everyone simple rain facts. Did you know rain has a smell? The wettest place in the world is a state in India. Did you know raindrops don’t actually fall in the shape of a teardrop? Everyone wanted to murder me.
But that’s not what I remember the most. It was one day when Kip and Levi came home from school, racing past everyone to go do what they did in their top-secret treehouse. It happened so fast, I may have been the only one to hear it, but as Levi passed me, he leaned in and said, “Did you know not all raindrops that fall from the sky reach the ground?” And just as fast, he was gone.
