Autumn (GirlxGirl) | #FREETHESKITTLES

eighteen

        Somehow, entering my house felt slightly different. After spending pretty much the whole day at Amanda's minus the sleepover, part of my nostalgia screamed for me to go back there. It had always been like that— stay over at Amanda's almost every night, come back in the morning or after school the next day, then again either that night or the night after. No explanation was needed to be given to my mom too.

        "How was it?" Speak of the devil. Her voice bellowed from the kitchen, and the smell of bacon followed.

        "Breakfast for dinner?" I asked with a sigh, diverting the subject away, which somewhat failed.

        "Yes, breakfast," she affirmed and just as I entered through the doorway, she spoke again, "How was it? Did you see Stacy as well?"

        "Yeah," I responded nonchalantly, pushing my bag through the slit between the table and chair. "She's just like she always had been. She made us supper," I continued, plopping myself down on the chair by the dining table. Habitually, I checked my phone for any notifications, only to be disappointed.

        "Okay, so more breakfast for me then?" She snickered while transferring the bacon strips onto a plate. When she turned around, I pulled a pout. I would give anything to have breakfast all day, even if I had already eaten. She retaliated by laughing at me and saying, "Alright, fine. Here's yours."

        "Thanks!" I exclaimed dryly, proceeding to hop to the other side of the island counter, sliding the plate to my side. I took a piece and crunched a bacon strip in my mouth. I always loved how crispy she made them.

        "There's hashbrowns there too," she pointed at them with her tongs and I got even more excited at how it was starting to feel like the Stella's meal I had with Autumn. My mom continued frying the other bacon strips while I transferred some of the hashbrowns onto my plate.

        "She has a tarantula now," I spoke after I got back to the island counter. I noticed her squirm and look around her surroundings, holding the tongs up as if it was a fly swatter. "Mom, calm, obviously it isn't here," I snickered, even more when I had a mental image of the tongs flying back to her face in the aftermath of swatting at the wall.

        "It won't hurt to be a little cautious, honey," she spoke slowly, taking one more look around, then putting her attention back on the bacon. It was silent for a while apart from my chewing of potatoes and bacon and the sizzling of the pan she was using. I was about to talk about the rest of my day when the doorbell rang, which caught both of us off guard.

        "I'll get it," I said, already pushing myself off the stool and towards our front door. It was only a little before eight, we were not expecting any visitors. Well, we did not expect visitors, period. Pulling the wooden door wide open, my heart almost stopped.

        "That's a face everyone would like to see," the green-eyed tomboy chuckled, pushing my chin up with her finger. She leaned over slightly and pointed towards the direction of the kitchen. "Is your mom here?"

        "Yeah, why?" I asked before I could even invite her in— well, I didn't have to. She already did herself the honor. Her intriguing scent just about appeased my craving, leading me to follow right behind her.

        "Good morning!" Autumn exclaimed almost too obnoxiously, raising her arms up as she trudged towards my mom. If that was a family reunion, that would be every uncle whose positivity about life never declined. I would know since my uncle Harvey always did that during our annual Christmas gatherings. I cringed inwardly at the comparison, even more when I realized that Christmas was a few months away.