Zero to Nine

Chapter 27

"So this is my bedroom," I said as I opened the door to my room.

"Wow, it's so... big," Kieva said as she followed me in.

"I guess it's bigger than average. So, there's a trundle bed that I'm sure my mom will have set up after dinner. It's surprisingly comfortable. Oh, and I have pajamas, an extra new toothbrush, and just about everything else."

"Oh, great, thank you so much. I was going to ask, but I didn't want to be weird about it."

"No, don't worry about it," I said.

"Yeah, I really didn't want to go back to my house to grab my stuff..." she trailed off.

"No worries. We have just about everything here. Tons of blankets and pillows, and you can borrow my clothes. It's no big deal."

"Thank you again," she said.

"It's really no problem," I reassured her. "Any time."

We continued the tour of my house, and I showed Kieva where all the bathrooms were and where each bedroom was. Our house wasn't huge - it wasn't nearly as big as hers - but I guess you could say it was mid-sized. Just as I finished the tour, my mom called us downstairs for dinner. 

We sat next to each other at the table and served ourselves spaghetti. Soon after we started eating, my dad came home. He had called earlier in the day and said that he needed to stay late for a meeting, but no one got the message until we got home in the evening. 

"Hey girls, I'm home," he said as he set his bags down and took his shoes off by the door. "How is everything?"

To be honest, neither Kieva nor I knew how to answer that question. "It's okay," I said. I didn't want to leave him hanging. 

He turned around from the shoe mat and looked at me. It was that "dad" look that you get when you're sad, or he knows something's bothering you. So, I stood up from the table to hug him. Again, one of those amazing dad hugs. I needed it so badly. 

I let go and sat back down at the table. Dad sat down in his place, which was across from me. "Hi, Kieva," he said. 

"Hi Mr. Ross," she replied. 

"Listen, I'm so sorry about the loss of your brother and sister. You too, Scarlett, I know you were close with them. If there's anything we can do, please don't hesitate to let us know."

"Thank you so much, I appreciate it," Kieva said. "Dinner tastes amazing, and thank you both so much for having me, it means a lot to me and my family."

"Oh honey, you're welcome any time, of course," my mom said. 

After dinner, Kieva and I went upstairs to my bedroom. We honestly spent most of our time on our phones, browsing Snapchat, Instagram, the like. I don't think either of us really knew what to do with ourselves other than that because we didn't want to laugh or talk or play games. It was a sad day, and we just sat together being sad. I don't know about Kieva, but I know for sure that I didn't know how to be sad. It sounds stupid, but when you've never had a death in the family before, it feels like you've entered uncharted territory.

After about a half-hour, I put my phone down and got up to go to the bathroom. When I came back, I walked into my room to see Kieva sitting in the same place she was when I left, except I saw a tear fall from the side of her face. I stood in the doorway for a second, just looking at her, making sure it was what I saw. It became clear when she turned to face me. I stepped closer to her, sat down on the beanbag next to her, and simply outstretched my arms as if I were a child asking for a hug. She accepted, so we sat on the floor of my bedroom just holding each other. 

Kieva and I hadn't known each other for that long. Some might say that we aren't even that close. But, we had this strange bond that made us automatically best friends. She was my person. She was my sister, regardless of how it all went down. That goes for the rest of my siblings too - they're my family, and I love them. No, we didn't all grow up together, but I'm extremely lucky to have all of them in my life. People think it's strange when they hear about our story. Yes, my family is a little bit unorthodox, and we have our fair share of problems and differences, but in the end, we're family. There's no bond stronger than that.