KATELIN

Sunday’s are sleepy, quiet; nothing happens on sunday’s. I call it the sunday rule, but there are some exceptions.
I live in a small town up in the mountains. The town used to belong to the hippies, now it belongs to weed smoking teenagers who adopted the hippie lifestyle. Tapatries line the walls of their bedrooms and elephant pants decorate the floor. The teens of the town routinely follow their high minds to monstrous rock structures or run down buildings to feel what it is like to be free. On that sunday, my best friend and I sat atop a mossy rock that looked over a large aspen grove. The leaves had started to change color, they were a beautiful mix of green and yellow that made you feel calm. Sandy blew out a large cloud of smoke, sighing as she did. Her wild dark hair framed her face perfectly. Her blue eyes added to her bright face, making her look curious but also mysterious. We had been discussing her life and how bad it was, as most teenagers in the town did. I was one of the lucky ones, my parents hadn’t come to the small town to become con artists or drug addicts as most others did, my parents came to raise a family in what seemed to be a small town where nothing ever happened. In reality, this town was a center for future criminals. Sandy, on the other hand, was not as lucky. Her parents tricked one another constantly and screamed at their kids as often as they threw plates at one another.
“They destroyed the kitchen yesterday and broke all the glasses, and you know why?” Sandy said as she inhaled.
“All because the silverware drawer wouldn’t open!” she said with a sort of morbid chuckle. She motioned her hand in my direction, the one that held the half smoked joint. I shake my head and look back towards the swaying leaves of the aspen grove. I don’t know why she still offers, she knows I will never take it. Sure, it's not like I haven’t thought about it, especially when my mom screams at me and I can’t scream back because I know it won’t help. Sandy inhales once more and shoves the burnt paper into a small hole in the rock that has becomes teenagers makeshift ashtray. She stood up and took a deep breath, having a coughing fit in the process. Sandy has asthma, but that doesn’t stop her from breathing ash into her lungs. I move to stand as well, titering side to side as I do. We walk down a path that has been carved out by curious tourists that leads back to the main highway. The silence of the forest is calming, Sandy and I walk without saying a word, just enjoying each others presence.
The roaring of the highway quickly ends the peacefulness. Cars and semis filled with wood speed past us as we walk along the highway. We reach the front stoop of Sandy’s small cabin that she shares with her parents and her older brother.
“I will see you at 4?” I say as I turn back towards the rumbling highway.
“See you then!” Sandy yells over the revving of the highway.

SANDY
I shut the door quickly, praying that Katelin didn’t notice. Yelling comes from the kitchen, which is nothing new. The smell of spice fills my nose as I quickly walk down the hall. As hungry as I am, I know I can’t stop. I walk past Marshal’s door, it is cracked open and I can see him sitting on his bed with his headphones on, drowning out the shrieking as best he can. He catches my eye and smiles, his smile feels like a ray of sunshine during a storm. I give a weak smile back, trying my best to hide the sunkenness of my face as I do. Reaching my door, I analyze the things I have seen since childhood. The notches in the door were my parents used to keep a tally of how tall we were getting, the last one is from three years ago. The door creaks as I open it, revealing the tattered rug and the paintings that Katelin had painted for me, mostly elephants. I let myself fall onto the bed, sighing as I do. Tears well up in my eyes as I stare at the ceiling. The paint is starting to peel and the hideous drywall is being exposed. I cover my face with my hands, taking off the mask that I wear to make others not worry. My body aches, I shake uncontrollably. It feels like I am tied to a weight and I can’t come up for air. Tears run down my face as I sob, silently. The muffled yelling outside my door intensifies and I cry harder. A bottle of vodka sits in on the table next to me. I stole it out of my dads truck before he left the other day, hoping that I could get a moment to myself with it. I get up slowly, feeling numb. I don’t feel any emotions, not mad or sad, all I feel is the buzzing in my head of static. I pick up the bottle, staring for a moment, thinking about what I’m about to do. I turn towards the desk on the other side of my room. I slowly walk over to it, taking in every step.I want to remember what is feels like to exist. I open the lower right drawer and push past the loose papers that swim freely throughout the drawer. I suddenly hear rattling, thats the sound I wanted to hear. I pick up the source, a travel sized bottle of Advil PM. I kept it in there for nights that I couldn’t sleep, the yelling came stronger at night, or because crying myself to sleep wasn’t working. I return to my previous position on my bed. I take a moment to breath, trying to burn the memory of the air into my mind. Tears begin to well up in my eyes again. I open the Advil bottle before I can change my mind. ‘Two at a time’ I tell myself, ‘it will go quicker that way.’ I wash the pills down with the vodka. It burns as it runs down my throat, begging me to turn back. I’m sobbing now. I finally reach the final two pills, I swallow them and stare at the wall. ‘It's better this way.’ I think to myself as I crawl under the covers of my bed. I make myself comfortable and stare up at my ceiling, letting my eyes glaze over. I close my eyes, hot tears fall down my face as I do. I exhale, trying to relax. The static is gone, now I feel like waves are hitting the sides of my skull. Slowly, the yelling turns into the silence of the forest and I smile.

KATELIN
As I walk up the front stoop of Sandy’s house, I notice that I can’t hear any screaming, which is unusual. I let myself in. Sandy’s mom stands over a large pot in the kitchen; she seems happy, which I haven’t seen her be in a long time.
“Hi Ms. Delos.” I say to make my presence known.
“Oh, Katelin, hon, I think that Dave and I came to an understanding.” she replies with a huge smile on her face.
“That's amazing!” I say as I set my backpack on the couch.
“Things are going to get better.” she says, not to me, but just to the air. I nod and head down the hall towards Sandy’s room. I wave at Marshal through the open door, he smiles back and waves. I open Sandy’s door only to see her fast asleep in her bed. I sigh, she didn’t get any sleep last night, I don’t know what I expected. We still have a couple of hours before we have to leave, so I will let her sleep. I make myself comfortable a top her desk chair, scrolling through my phone.
About ten minutes later I look up, scanning the room. I hear Sandy’s mom shout that dinner is ready.
“We’re coming!” I shout back as I walk towards the bed.
“Sandy, food is ready.” I say quietly as I shake her lightly. No response. I shake a little harder, she doesn’t move. That's when I notice her lips are blue, her face is pale. I feel my chest getting heavy.
“Sandy?” I say more ernstly. Her arm falls limply off the bed. I sit down and pull her into my lap.
“Sandy!” I shout as a shake her. Tears fall down my face. That's when I notice empty bottle of Advil that had been tossed onto the floor, slightly rolled under the bed. My heart races, this can’t be happening.
“Sandy!” I scream with tears streaming down my face. I hold her to my chest.
“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no…..” Marshal finally bursts into the room. He doesn’t fully understand what is happening until he sees Sandy limp in my arms. His eyes focus, almost like he has tunnel vision, his shout is muffled in my ears. I can only see his blurry figure through my tears as he lurches for the bed. He grabs Sandy out of my arms and runs out of the room. Everything feels like it is slow motion, I still feel her in my arms even though she is gone. All I hear is the glass shattering scream that erupts from the living room as her mother sees her limp body in Marshalls arms.