Swing Life Away, chapter 4
Immense pain, that's all I could feel. The pain was so great in fact that I couldn't open my eyes. I just lay there wishing the pain would go away, but wishing just made my head hurt worse. I could hear a mumbled voice in the background though.
"She's welcome to stay here... I'm so sorry again. It must be very difficult to lose everything..." whoever it was they were talking about me, but Lizzy certainly wasn't everything to my parents. "... Yes, I understand... Goodbye."
The voice stopped and was replaced with footsteps. Whoever it was sounded really familiar, I couldn't quite place it though.
AN ice cold washcloth was placed on my head, making me snap my eyes open. The sudden light, however, made me snap then shut again. I groaned loudly at the fact that I had no alcohol or coffee in my system.
I eased my eyes open to find myself face to face with Mrs. Copeland, Hannah's mom.
"Hi honey, how are you feeling?" Her voice was drenched in sympathy. The same sympathetic voice that had been on the phone.
I glanced around to see where I was. I was lying on a green couch that was in what looked like a living room. I just lay there looking really awkward. What are you supposed to say to someone who just took care of you after you passed out drunk because you had run away after your sister's death?
A million and one thoughts raced around my head as I tried to think of something to say while making a feeble attempt at ignoring my throbbing headache. What if she didn't want me to stay? Before I could stop myself I started talking, well, more like babbling.
"I'm really sorry about all of this, Mrs. Copeland. I promise I'll earn my own keep. In fact I'll go get a job today! And you don't even have to send me to school if you don't want to, it doesn't matter to me. I'll do chores too! You won't even have to give me an allowance if you don't want to..." My thought trailed off as I glanced at Mrs. Copeland's face for the first time during my 'speech'. She was smiling.
Later that night Hannah and I could be found at the park down the street from her house. We sat in silence with the exception of a few crickets. It wasn't an awkward silence. We both knew what had happened and we didn't feel the need to talk about it. We just sat there, enjoying the feeling that we weren't alone.
The next morning was Sunday. Hannah's family was religious and went to church regularly. This was one thing I hadn't planned on,
After everything that had happened I didn't think I could sit through church without bursting into tears.
Hannah's parents seemed to sense this as they were finishing breakfast.
"Kate, why don't you stay here and rest? A little extra sleep will do you good."
I just nodded blankly and headed upstairs to find some Advil. My headache had yet to go away.
As I fumbled around in the medicine cabinet I heard the front door shut. I bit my lip as I tried to figure out how much Advil to take. I tapped the bottle, getting two pills in my hand. I poured myself a glass of water and took the medicine.
A few minutes after I swallowed the pills my headache was still throbbing, and to top it off my head was swarming with memories. I pinched the skin on my arm and jammed my eyes shut. That only brought more memories on. I snapped my eyes open again and they fell on the medicine cabinet.
Without a second though I had the bottle open and was pouring pills into my hand. It looked like maybe seven or eight pills. I refilled my glass of water.
An hour later, Hannah would come upstairs to find me passed out on the floor.
"Kate..." She came up to me after dinner that night. "I understand that you're going through a really tough time but if my parents found out they would kill you." Now she put on her best sympathetic face while I just sat there. "You're totally welcome to stay as long as you like, as long as you stay clean."
Surprisingly enough, I didn't yell back. I just stared at Hannah for the longest time. I kept staring at her until I found my voice.
"I couldn't agree more... I'll be gone by tomorrow."
Hannah had tried to convince me to stay but I wouldn't agree. It was wrong to just drop in and depend on her family to support me. Anyways now that I knew nobody was looking for me I could finally explore a little. Maybe go to California, Chicago, Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, and everywhere in between. Maybe I could even manage a flight to Europe or something!
So the next morning I let Hannah's parents drive me to the bus station. I thanked them and said a quick goodbye to Hannah and then watched them leave.
"She's welcome to stay here... I'm so sorry again. It must be very difficult to lose everything..." whoever it was they were talking about me, but Lizzy certainly wasn't everything to my parents. "... Yes, I understand... Goodbye."
The voice stopped and was replaced with footsteps. Whoever it was sounded really familiar, I couldn't quite place it though.
AN ice cold washcloth was placed on my head, making me snap my eyes open. The sudden light, however, made me snap then shut again. I groaned loudly at the fact that I had no alcohol or coffee in my system.
I eased my eyes open to find myself face to face with Mrs. Copeland, Hannah's mom.
"Hi honey, how are you feeling?" Her voice was drenched in sympathy. The same sympathetic voice that had been on the phone.
I glanced around to see where I was. I was lying on a green couch that was in what looked like a living room. I just lay there looking really awkward. What are you supposed to say to someone who just took care of you after you passed out drunk because you had run away after your sister's death?
A million and one thoughts raced around my head as I tried to think of something to say while making a feeble attempt at ignoring my throbbing headache. What if she didn't want me to stay? Before I could stop myself I started talking, well, more like babbling.
"I'm really sorry about all of this, Mrs. Copeland. I promise I'll earn my own keep. In fact I'll go get a job today! And you don't even have to send me to school if you don't want to, it doesn't matter to me. I'll do chores too! You won't even have to give me an allowance if you don't want to..." My thought trailed off as I glanced at Mrs. Copeland's face for the first time during my 'speech'. She was smiling.
Later that night Hannah and I could be found at the park down the street from her house. We sat in silence with the exception of a few crickets. It wasn't an awkward silence. We both knew what had happened and we didn't feel the need to talk about it. We just sat there, enjoying the feeling that we weren't alone.
The next morning was Sunday. Hannah's family was religious and went to church regularly. This was one thing I hadn't planned on,
After everything that had happened I didn't think I could sit through church without bursting into tears.
Hannah's parents seemed to sense this as they were finishing breakfast.
"Kate, why don't you stay here and rest? A little extra sleep will do you good."
I just nodded blankly and headed upstairs to find some Advil. My headache had yet to go away.
As I fumbled around in the medicine cabinet I heard the front door shut. I bit my lip as I tried to figure out how much Advil to take. I tapped the bottle, getting two pills in my hand. I poured myself a glass of water and took the medicine.
A few minutes after I swallowed the pills my headache was still throbbing, and to top it off my head was swarming with memories. I pinched the skin on my arm and jammed my eyes shut. That only brought more memories on. I snapped my eyes open again and they fell on the medicine cabinet.
Without a second though I had the bottle open and was pouring pills into my hand. It looked like maybe seven or eight pills. I refilled my glass of water.
An hour later, Hannah would come upstairs to find me passed out on the floor.
"Kate..." She came up to me after dinner that night. "I understand that you're going through a really tough time but if my parents found out they would kill you." Now she put on her best sympathetic face while I just sat there. "You're totally welcome to stay as long as you like, as long as you stay clean."
Surprisingly enough, I didn't yell back. I just stared at Hannah for the longest time. I kept staring at her until I found my voice.
"I couldn't agree more... I'll be gone by tomorrow."
Hannah had tried to convince me to stay but I wouldn't agree. It was wrong to just drop in and depend on her family to support me. Anyways now that I knew nobody was looking for me I could finally explore a little. Maybe go to California, Chicago, Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, and everywhere in between. Maybe I could even manage a flight to Europe or something!
So the next morning I let Hannah's parents drive me to the bus station. I thanked them and said a quick goodbye to Hannah and then watched them leave.
