My parents had found sugar cookies in the pantry. They told us we could decorate them, but that they were probably not good to eat.
"What do you think?" Andrew held up his cookie. It was a reindeer that was partially covered with runny, red icing. "It's Rudolph after he crashed Santa's sleigh!"
I wanted to slap him. "Man that's depressing," I muttered, leaning back over to steady Gabby's hand.
"Do you like it?" He shoved it in Andrea's face.
Andrea glared at him. "Insubordinate."
"I don't speak vocabulary," Andrew said.
"Good, because that wasn't exactly a compliment," Sadie commented.
"Here," I stood behind Gabby, holding her small hand steady as she slowly iced the cookie.
"Girls," Aunt Lilah said. "Richelle, Sadie, and Gabby come with me."
Aunt Lilah led us into Mom and Dad's bedroom, the only place in the entire cabin that was people-free. Mom and Dad stood there with big smiles on their faces.
"We've been saving these gifts until we believed you were ready," Mom said, smiling at each of us.
I knew what this was. I was the one who had given them these things to hold onto. Dad handed Sadie a box. Sadie opened it to reveal a golden charm bracelet with a microphone attached.
"It was Eva's favorite," I said softly.
Sadie looked at me and hugged the box closely to her chest.
"And Gabby," I handed her a box similar to Sadie's. Eva had asked me to save Gabby's locket for when she was older and ready to have it. Well I thought she was ready.
Gabby looked down at the locket, then up at me. "Thank you Richelle." She turned her head toward the sky. "And thank you Eva."
"And Richelle," Mom handed me a book with Richelle Elizabeth scrawled across the top in bold letters.
I stared at it. Eva had saved this? I opened it and let my eyes pass over each word, taking it all in. I let out a shaky breath and closed the book. "Thank you," I said, running to my parents and wrapping my arms around them.
This summer was, hands down, the best summer I've ever had and surprisingly enough, it might've been because of Miles. Huh. Never thought I'd say that. Miles wasn't overeager to be my friend like Jocelyn, and he didn't try either. He was just... Miles. And I was just Richelle.
I was disappointed when we had to come home. I wish I could've stayed forever in a world where it was just me and my family. But alas, back to reality.
*POV Sadie*
Richelle's next and last cycle of chemo had started just a few days after we got back from vacation, so while she was getting chemo treatments, Mom and Dad took Gabby and I to get our hair and nails done and everything.
I kind of felt bad that while Gabby and I were getting all dressed up and all beautified, and getting our parents' attention for the day, Richelle was in the hospital, getting poison pumped into her veins. They weren't sure on whether to send her into chemo or not, because she'd caught a cold a couple days prior, but they figured her body could fight off the infection, and that the infection had probably run its course mostly.
We walked into the salon, and I was entirely in awe of the place. The only word I could think of was snazzy.
Black and white stripes and polka dots filled the place. Decorated on the walls, on the rugs, even on the back of some of the chairs.
"Welcome, ladies," the receptionist smiled at them. "It's... Sadie and Gabby, right?"
I exchanged a look with my little sister and nodded.
The receptionist smiled brighter. "Great. Come with me, would you?"
"Gabby, come on," Mom pushed on my little sister's back a little bit, prompting her forward. "Contain your awe."
Gabby shook her head and followed Mom. "Right. Sorry." She let out a nervous giggle.
"These are for you," the receptionist handed me a, you guessed it, black and white, polka dotted striped apron with pink sashes. Pink. Ew. But I took it and slipped it over my head, then tied it neatly in the back.
Gabby seemed to be having some problems. She tugged at the apron, trying to get it over her head when Mom laughed. She walked over, pulling it off Gabby's head, then slid it over her head through the hold for her head and not the one for her arm.
"Oh," Gabby giggled embarrassedly. Gabby's giggles always betrayed her thoughts.
"Let me show you to your stylists real quick," the receptionist said. She moved gracefully, her long blonde hair flowing behind her. She led us over to two stations, next to each other, one with a male stylist, the other a woman. The woman had brown, wavy hair, streaked with bright blue. She had, what I like to call, kind eyes. They seemed to smile at you.
The man, on the other hand, had a mischievous smile and a mischievous glint in his eyes. He had shaggy blonde hair that was longer than your average man.
"Climb on up, Gab-ster," the man said. "I'm Jason." He smiled. "Can I call you that?"
Gabby shrugged. "Sure."
"Great," Jason said. "Now, you want pink highlights, right?"
Gabby eyes him suspiciously, which earned a laugh from both stylists.
"I take it that's a no," Jason said. "Don't worry, I wasn't serious. Climb on up, girlio."
"Let's go, Miss Sadie," my stylist said. "I'm Hailey." She leaned forward, her lips next to my ear. "Don't worry, I won't call you weird names. I've told Jason to stop calling people things like that, but he never listens." Hailey rolled her eyes playfully.
I laughed a little. I could feel Hailey spritzing my hair with a sweet-smelling substance. She began humming as she pulled a comb through my long blonde hair.
I glanced Gabby's way and saw Jason pinning her hair up in every direction. Gabby cut her eyes to me, a look of sheer horror on her face.
Hailey wouldn't turn me around until she was finished, because she wanted it to remain a surprise. Jason did the same with Gabby. Now I was kind of worried. They finished in about thirty minutes, whipped the aprons off, and whirled us around in perfect unison.
I was breathless. My hair was pinned up in an elaborate French braid that wrapped around my head like a crown. Two, perfectly curled strands of hair framed my face.
"Whoa," I whispered. "That's..."
"Amazing?" Jason asked. "Perfection? Hailey does a phenomenal job with everyone she touches."
"It's stunning," Gabby said.
Hailey smiled. "Haven't heard that one before."
"Now you have," I said, sliding out of my chair.
"Girls!" Mom put her hands on my shoulders. "You look amazing!" I could feel my mother's hands running over my braid.
"You look beautiful," Dad said, walking over to Gabby. He glanced at his watch. "We've got about twenty minutes before we need to pick up Richelle from the hospital. You girls want to go get frozen hot chocolate?"
"Really?" My eyes widened. Then my face fell. "But what about Richelle? I feel bad going without her. Frozen hot chocolate's her favorite."
"We'll bring her some back," Mom offered. "We promise."
I sighed. "Alright, let's go." I felt bad doing one of my sister's favorite things without her, but if my parents thought it was fine...
The frozen hot chocolate was creamy, rich, and smooth, with even more whipped cream than usual. Just the way Richelle liked it. I shook the thoughts out of my mind. It was just one frozen hot chocolate, right?
I paced outside my sister's hospital room with Gabby.
I could hear hushed tones inside the room betweein Mom, Dad, and her oncologist. We were in the car when Mom had gotten a call. We'd raced over here, and well, here we were.
"Could you chill?" Gabby asked pointedly.
I stopped. "Sorry. I'm just nervous. What's going on?"
"I'm the youngest," Gabby said. "They're not going to tell me. If you don't know, I definitely don't know."
"Oh," I blinked. "Right."
"I hope she's okay," Gabby shot an anxious glance at the door.
I sucked in a breath. "Me too."
The door opened and Mom walked out, looking tired. "Hey girls."
"What's going on?" I asked. "What's wrong with her?"
"They don't know what happened," Mom said. "But her blood levels are way lower than they should be. Her platelet count, red blood cells, white blood cells, it's all low. Right now, the white blood cell count is what worries us, because less white blood cells lowers her immunity and ability to fight off infections."
"And she still has that cold," I said.
Mom nodded. "Yes. They weren't anticipating her blood levels going this low. They shouldn't have gone this low."
"So is she coming home?" I asked.
Mom nodded. "Yes. She's coming home. But we're going to have to be careful around her. They just gave her a blood transfusion, so hopefully that will help. But yes, she's coming home."
I glanced at Gabby. What would happen now?