collarbones

20 ~ returns

“Annabelle!”

Anna awoke with a jolt, her face the picture of surprise as she awoke to find her mother standing over her bed eagerly, smiling at her oddly.

She squinted up at her mother as she placed her head back down onto her pillow, yawning as she did so.

“Get up, you lazy oaf,” her mother chided, grunting as she moved Anna’s legs so she could sit on the bed with her.

Anna smiled at her idly in response. “What time is it?”

“10am,” her mother told her, sending her a reproachful look as she nodded towards the clock on her bedside table.

Anna sighed. “More sleep,” she muttered, turning over and waving her mother away. “I need more sleep.”

Elise protested immediately, tutting in disapproval as she dragged Anna’s body back so she was facing the ceiling.

Her movements were returned with a loud grunt from Anna.

“Leave me to be free in my sleep,” she moaned, trying to return to her comfortable position on the bed.

She was met with silence as Elise crossed her arms and stared at her disapprovingly, shaking her head in disbelief slightly.

Anna heard a faint giggle from downstairs and immediately shot up in surprise.

She looked at her mother inquisitively. “Who’s downstairs?”

Elise smirked at Anna, before turning around and walking towards the door. “Get ready and find out,” she called over her shoulder as she left Anna’s room.

“I hate this family sometimes,” Anna mumbled, throwing her covers off of her body before she padded over towards the bathroom.

She looked in the mirror and almost recoiled in shock. Despite having a shower last night, Anna’s hair had dried overnight and was now sticking up in the oddest of directions. Anna slowly raised her right arm over her head, smoothing down one lock of her chestnut hair which had somehow folded in on itself, trying to tame it without using her comb. She huffed in defeat as it stubbornly remained in its abstract position, running into her room and grabbing her comb before combing her hair in the bathroom once more.

“You look like hell,” a voice told her.

Anna threw her comb towards the source of the noise in shock, gasping as it hit Katie in the face.

Unsurprisingly, Anna found that the comb was hurtled back in her direction, hitting Anna on the forehead as a loud ‘thwack’ resonated around the room.

Katie glared at her, placing her hands on her hips. “What the hell Anna!” she moaned.

Anna made a ‘tsk’ noise, waggling her finger at Katie. “Now, now dear, no cursing in the morning!” she berated in a posh accent, picking up her comb and placing it by the sink.

Katie laughed, charging straight into Anna as she hugged her.

“I missed you, Anna!”

Anna wheezed in response; Katie’s grip was extremely tight on her waist, so tight that Anna found she really couldn’t breathe.

“Why are you making weird noises?” Katie asked stupidly.

Anna simply hit her repeatedly in response until realisation finally seemed to dawn upon Katie and she released Anna, who exhaled loudly in relief.

“Whoops,” Katie sheepishly said.

Anna shook her head in response, still processing Katie’s sudden arrival. Katie was dressed in a sleeveless coral blouse and navy-blue jeans, her auburn hair flowing in waves as it framed her tanned skin. Katie’s sky-blue eyes seemed to radiate with warmth, framed by her long eyelashes.

She looked, to simply put it, beautiful.

Katie scrunched her nose suddenly. “You smell, Anna! Have a shower or something,” she reprimanded.

Anna glared at Katie, who shrugged innocently, before rolling her eyes and walking into her bedroom, gathering her toiletries as Katie spoke.

“I’ll be downstairs eating some pancakes,” she called, walking towards the stairs.

The sound of retreating footsteps could be heard as Anna walked back into the bathroom, stripping quickly before diving into the shower.

Her shower was quick, as always, partly due to Anna’s desire to minimise the amount of time that she was left alone with her body.

She didn’t want to be reminded of what lay underneath the surface of her baggy clothes.

Ignorance is bliss, she thought as she exited the cubicle, blindly reaching for her towel. She quickly dried off before dressing into her comfortable leggings and dress, grabbing her comb on the counter as she combed her hair once more.

Anna completely ignored the noticeable increase in the amount of hair that collected in her comb, blaming the rate at which her hair was falling out on stress.

She knew better.

She’d been showing a lot of the signs for malnourishment lately, but she’d ignored them all.

“Malnourishment is good,” she murmured to her reflection. Her face was definitely paler than usual, her damp hair hanging loosely on the sides of her face, which was gaunt and ghost-like. Her cheekbones were high and wide and her jaw was slightly more defined.

She smiled forcefully, her dull grey eyes lacking the mirth they once held.

She’d definitely lost weight, but why did she feel like her appearance had deteriorated?

“Anna?” Katie’s voice called. “Hurry up! The pancakes are ready!”

Anna smiled properly this time, throwing her things into her room before running into the kitchen.

Katie stood by the counter, holding a plate stacked with at least five pancakes, and nodded her head towards the empty plates and cutlery on the side.

“We’re eating in your room,” she told a confused Anna. Anna nodded in understanding before grabbing the plates and skipping upstairs, placing them on her bed lightly before putting away her towel and clothes that she’d discarded earlier.

Katie followed not soon after, sitting on the bed next to Anna and distributing the pancakes.

She closed her eyes and sniffed her plate, moaning in delight. “These smell so good!” she complimented, beaming at Anna.

Anna grinned. “Mum’s a great cook, isn’t she?” she commented casually, cutting into her pancake as she did so.

Katie hummed in response, already halfway through her first pancake.

Anna laughed in disbelief. Together they emptied the plate of pancakes, placing everything to the side as they faced each other on the bed.

“How was Portugal?” Anna asked, initiating the conversation. “You got quite tanned.”

Katie grinned. “It was great, thanks. All we did was eat, sleep and sunbathe so I definitely relaxed,” she told her, rubbing her stomach in delight.

Anna chuckled. “That’s good to hear,” she told her. “I missed you, especially because I couldn’t tell you about everything that had happened.”

Katie snapped her head towards Anna, her eyes widening in excitement. “No,” she whispered in disbelief, already catching on to Anna’s implications.

Anna nodded her head, smiling widely at Katie. “Yes,” she confirmed.

Katie squealed loudly before rugby-tackling Anna into her bed sheets, releasing her quickly as she bounced on her bed ecstatically. She stopped suddenly, grabbing Anna by the shoulders and shaking her wildly.

“Tell me everything,” she commanded.

And, true to Katie’s demand, Anna did just that.