I woke up at six in the morning and rushed to my little portion of roofing just outside of my bedroom window. With my cell phone in hand, I climbed out and settled onto the roof with my back pressed against the wall. I quickly dialed Jason’s number in hopes that he was already awake.

Ring.

Ring.

By the third ring I heard a very groggy Jason answer the phone. “Verity?” He asked tiredly.

“Hey Jason, did I wake you?” I asked, knowing that I most likely woke him up.

Jason grunted out a tired yes before asking “Why are you calling so early anyway?”

With hints of hesitancy, I replied “I need a favor to ask you and you can’t ask questions about it.”

There was a long pause between Jason and me before he finally said “Fine, what is it?”

“I need you to pick me up the morning after pill.” I answered while cringing.

“WHAT?! Verity, you can’t be serious! Did you just have sex?! Unprotected sex?! It was that Tony kid, huh? When I see him I’m gonna kick his fucking ass!” Jason’s voice erupted through the phone like bullets firing from a gun. I had to hold my cell phone away from my ear, in fear that if I held it any closer he’d blow my eardrum out.

“I didn’t have sex!” I managed to cut in through Jason’s rant.

This stopped Jason mid-sentence. “So why do you need the morning after pill?” He asked.

I rolled my eyes. “I said you couldn’t ask any questions.” I pointed out before saying “Just trust me when I say that it’s not for me.”

Another wave of silence hung in the air. “Fine.” Jason mumbled.

“Thanks.” I smiled then added “I’ll see you later on today.”

“Yeah, I’ll bring the steaks.” He replied before we hung up on each other.

I grabbed out my pack of cigarettes and lit one up. Inhaling deeply, I let the smoke curl and pollute my lungs before I breathed them back out. It’s been a while since I’ve actually had a cigarette and I had to admit that I’ve missed smoking.

“V?” I heard a groggy Callie ask from inside of my room.

“Out here.” I answered while blowing out the smoke through pursed lips.

Callie climbed out next to me, grimacing slightly at the sight of the cigarette positioned between my lips. “Why do you smoke, it’s disgusting.” She commented.

I shrugged. “After the stressful few weeks I’ve endured, I figured a cigarette is well deserved.”

“Did you talk to Jason yet?” She asked hesitantly.

I smiled. “Yeah, it made for an interesting morning conversation.”

Callie laughed. “I can only imagine. So he’s gonna pick it up for me?”

“Yeah, I mean I think he believes it’s for me, but he’ll do it.” I answered.

“Thank God.” Callie mumbled out.

I smirked. “No need to thank me, I’m just doing my holiest deeds for your best interest.”

Callie rolled her eyes at me as I flicked my cigarette off into the dampen bushes near the fence.

“Breakfast?” I asked.

“Breakfast.” Callie agreed.

---

Callie and I were in the midst of changing our clothes when my mother knocked on my bedroom door. After making ourselves decent, I opened the door to find my mother in a nice sun dress with her purse in hand.

“I’m on my way to pick up your sister.” She told me before adding “And I just spoke to Tony’s mother and invited them over for the day. I think it’d be nice to finally get to know the Perry’s.”

It was a lot to register so early in the morning, not to mention that it seemed so sudden and out of the blue. “You invited Tony and his family?” I asked skeptically—mostly because I thought I heard wrong at first, so I was just fishing for clarification.

My mother smiled saccharinely. “Of course. Now that you two are back together, I took it upon myself to invite them.” She answered.

I couldn’t help but wonder if there was some other discreet ulterior motive to my mother’s hospitality, but with a shrug I managed to say “Okay.”

And like that my mother left me and Callie alone—well, besides my father who was working overtime in his study downstairs. Turning around, Callie gave me a quizzical look and a smirk.

“That was weird.” She commented.

“I didn’t even know she knew how to get a hold of them.” I remarked.

Callie laughed. “Well at least she’s not wheeling out a wagon of hatred towards the guy.” Callie replied optimistically.

“I still think something weird is going on. My mother seemed awfully nice.” I pointed out.

“Nice is better than bitterness.”

“Not always, but I guess it’s a start.” I shrugged.

The two of us spent an hour catching up on our homework before heading down to the kitchen to get started on the salad. Since my brother was bringing steak—again!—and my father will most likely be working the grill, that means that my mother and I and of course Callie will be manning the healthy entrees for the cook out. Callie loved making Ceaser salad while I specialized in pasta salad. It wasn’t long until my mother came back home with Ronnie in tow. Stopping what I was currently doing, I quickly wiped my hands on the kitchen towel before pulling Ronnie in for a well deserved hug.

“I’m so glad you’re here!” I nearly squeal, and to be frank, I hardly ever squeal.

Ronnie chuckled. “Me too V.”

We stepped away, smiling at each other. Ronnie looked healthier; still thin, but there were hints of gained meat lurking on her arms and face. It was nice to finally see my sister’s face fill out a little rather than the hollowed skull it used to resemble.

Callie was next to hug my sister. “You look so great!” She gushed.

“Thanks Cal, you look amazing as usual.” Ronnie complimented before poking her head around the kitchen. “So what concoction are you two making?”

“The utterly predictable.” I answered with a smirk. “You should make something too.” I suggested.

Ronnie smiled. “You know a part of my recovery process is to prepare meals and stuff. Moira even issued for me to start a small garden just outside of my window.” She replied.

“Cooking and gardening as a recovery process?” Callie asked. “That sounds kinda strange.”

“I thought so at first, too.” Ronnie chuckled. “But after spending hours upon hours working in the kitchen, I realized that I’m pretty good at culinary.”

My mother smiled broadly. “You can go back to school to get your culinary arts degree.” She suggested.

Ronnie nodded. “That’s what Moira told me. She’s even talking to the community college admissions to see if I can take a class for next semester, just so I can get a feel on what the culinary arts is like.”

I felt a weird sense of awe towards my sister. “I’m so proud of you, Ronnie.” I said sincerely.

“Thanks V.” She replied. “Anyway, I’ll probably make a vegetarianized kous kous meal. Believe me, it’s to die for.” Ronnie added while grabbing one of the extra aprons from the kitchen hook.

My sister proceeded to putter around the kitchen, looking for ingredients and the right kind of kitchenware before she laid it out on the counter top. By then mines and Callie’s salads were neatly placed in the refrigerator to get nice and chilled. I watched my sister without any hesitancy. I took notice to the way she no longer cringed while holding food in her hands or how she didn’t flinch at the slight smell of food cooking. I knew she was still going through recovery, but in this moment I no longer saw the ghost that used to be Ronnie. She wasn’t the temperamental skeleton anymore. Now, she was the Ronnie I’ve always known, the Ronnie who was slowly but surely beginning to fill out her baggy clothing. Jason and Cassandra arrived a few hours later. It was about the same time when Ronnie had finished the final touches on her kous kous dish.

Jason quickly tugged me aside from the kitchen when he arrived. Pulling me away from Callie, my mother, and Ronnie, he took me to a quiet part of the house before shoving the brown paper bag into my hands.

“Explain.” He said in a low and stern voice.

I rolled my eyes at him. “It’s not for me.” I answered blandly.

“Don’t lie to me Verity. I’m your big brother and I can tell when you’re lying.” He warned.

I scoffed. “Well then your superhuman lie detector must be broken because I’m not lying.”

Jason continued to stare at me.

I sighed. “Fine.” I said in a low voice. “It’s for Callie.”

Jason’s eyes grew wide. “Shit.” He muttered.

I rolled my eyes again. “What’d you do?”

“I may have told mom about our arrangement.” He replied both hesitantly and sheepishly.

My eyes grew wide as I felt a wave if annoyance wash over me. “Are you fucking kidding me?” I hissed.

It was then that the doorbell sounded throughout the house, that I was startled by its sudden sound. I scowled at my brother before I realized that my mother had invited Tony and his family over for the day. I inwardly cringed at the thought of trying to explain this to her when she probably thinks that Tony had already deflowered me.

Fuck!

Notes

Thanks for reading guys! <3