Falling Slowly

Pt.3|Ch.1

February

•••••Austyn's Perspective

I thought I'd wake up that morning to the annoying sound of my alarm.

Instead, I woke up to the annoying sound of my cousin's voice.

"Wake up, wake up, wake up!" He chanted at the top of his lungs, jumping up and down on my bed.

"We're gonna get complaints from the neighbors." I groaned, sitting up and turning my lamp on.

"Doesn't matter!" He said in a sing-song voice, hopping off my bed to run around my room in circles. "We'll be gone before they can even make the phone call!"

"Hey, Sky?"

He stopped running. "Yeah?"

I climbed out of bed and walked over to him, putting my hand over his face. "Shh,"

"But I—"

I shook my head. "Shh,"

"We have to go—"

"Shh,"

"Okay!" He whispered loudly, raising his hands in surrender and exiting my room. "Yeesh, remind me never to wake you up at five a.m. again."

I stared after him incredulously. "Is there anyone that you can wake up at five a.m. and get a good response?"

He paused and leaned against the doorframe. "Let me think...uh, Josh just falls asleep on me again, Ben doesn't even acknowledge my presence, oh, and Aiden'll punch me."

"And what's the lesson we learned from those experiences?"

He grinned and pointed at me, backing out of the doorway. "That I can count on you if I ever feel like waking someone up at five a.m."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." I replied, closing the door behind him.

After getting dressed and pulling my dark, curly hair back into a ponytail, I double-checked my suitcase.

Everything seemed to be in order: books, headphones, clothes, etc.

What else could I possibly need?

"Are you all packed?" Sky asked when I walked into the kitchen.

I nodded, taking a seat at the counter. "Are you?"

He rolled his eyes. "No, Austyn, I completely procrastinated yesterday and have nothing packed because I am a five-year-old inside a 22-year-old's body."

I sighed. "That's exactly what you did, isn't it?"

He nodded. "Yep."

"Alright," I stood back up. "Come on."

"But you haven't had breakfast yet." He protested.

"We need to get you packed up first. I'll eat later."

He gave me a beaming smile. "Thank you, best friend!"

"You owe me." I mumbled, making my way down the hall towards his room.

"Okay, but please actually remember to eat something, because Ben will slaughter me if you skip a meal."

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't stop myself from smiling.

Even though my mom's death had happened a few months ago, and I'd recovered from my short little health scare, Ben hadn't stopped making sure that I'd eaten three meals a day.