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WAKING UP THE NEXT MORNING, Kaliʼs chest felt more hollow than it did when she fell asleep. With everything going on, the group all decided it would be best if they stayed together throughout the night, which meant they were led back to the familiar warmth that only ever came from the Wheeler household. They all stayed down in the basement, staying up for the majority of the night talking. Eventually, all the Freshman kids fell asleep, leaving the adults to do the talking, falling into sad conversations about the future because of this new threat to them.
Kali woke up early, earlier than everyone, meaning that she only had forty minutes of sleep in total. It shocked her to the core. The past few months, she'd spent nearly all her time in bed. Currently, she was restless. Her eyelids stung and they were drier than a dessert, but no matter what she did, she couldn't shut her eyes for longer than a minute. So, she turned around on the couch she rested on, seeing a digital clock by her side. Her heart shook when she saw the date underneath.
Cole would've turned eleven today.
She stood in the bathroom she once knew so well, the one where she was tied up when flayed, when Nancy held her in her arms for hours as she sobbed. Kali remembered brushing her teeth every morning in this bathroom, arguing with Mike over how long she spent inside. She remembered lifting Holly up so that she could reach the sink without a stool, she remembered holding Nancy by the waist as she watched her check herself in the mirror. This house brought a million different memories to her heart, and picturing them all made it squeeze a little.
However, standing in there today was nothing to do with reminiscing in the old times. It was Coleʼs special day. It would've been his special day if it weren't for her. He was going to have a party. His very first one. With all his new friends and a huge cake — for the guests, not him, because he didn't like icing. He could've had such a good day, but he wasn't able to be there to celebrate it.
Sighing, Kali stared at herself in the mirror. Comparing herself to the last time she watched herself under this very light, she was unrecognisable. Her skin was paler, her eyes seemed dead, her lips were plumped up and sad, her jawline full of spots. She wasn't taking care of herself and everyone could tell. Today was going to be hard on her, and she wasn't even going to be able to speak to Cole because they were too busy working on this new monster. This was supposed to be his day, a day to remember him and celebrate his life, but now it was just a disaster. Kali doubted that the others would even remember Cole by now, not with everything that was going on.
She dug her hand into the pocket of her shirt, taking out a small figurine. It was one of Mikeʼs old ones, the one Cole stole from his bedroom on their very first night at the Wheelersʼ. Kali remembered how happy he was to have a toy — how shocked Nancy was to find out that he'd never owned one before. She remembered Coleʼs grin, how excited he was to have stolen something. He was desperate to show Kali, desperate for his big sister to tell him how proud of him she was. Coleʼs smile could've brightened up even her worst of days. Because everytime he smiled, it really meant something. He never faked it. Not once. When that boy was happy, he was really happy. And everybody could see it. Everybody adored it.
