Death and Life

Chapter One

"Kiera!" 

"What?" 

"Get your butt over here right now!" With a long-suffering sigh, Kiera paused her video and vaulted over the side of her bed, padding to the top of the stairs.

"What is it?" she called down. She could see her mother, hands on her hips and flour in her hair. 

"You have to go soon! Don't you remember?" Kiera's eyes widened, and she swore under her breath. "Young lady, you had better not say that again unless you want me to wash your mouth out."

"Sorry, mom," she chirped back, before zipping to her room and hurriedly beginning to change out of her pajamas. She had completely forgotten! She and Micheal had been asked to talk at the grand opening of this avant-garde art gallery, since they were displaying some stuff the two of them had made. You'd think I would've remembered this, of all things, Kiera thought as she stuffed her legs into dress pants. She yanked on her suit jacket and half-ran downstairs, nearly face-planting while buttoning her shirt.

"Are you ready?" asked her dad, who also had dressed up nicely. 

"As I'll ever be," Kiera replied.

"Then let's go!" She slid into the passenger seat of his car.

"We're picking up Micheal first, right?" Her dad nodded, turning the keys. 

"He'll be a mess, wondering where we are!"

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Micheal was, indeed, a mess. Pacing back and forth in front of his house, checking his watch and muttering constantly. When the minivan finally pulled up to the driveway, he threw his hands into the air. 

"Finally! What took you so long?" He slid into the backseat.

"Shut up. At least we're here, huh?"

"Yeah, yeah," Micheal grumbled, folding his arms. He had chosen his outfit carefully. "Oh, this is for you." He held out a purple shimmery pocket square to Kiera, matching his blouse.

"Very nice," Kiera admired, before folding it into her chest pocket. "You excited?"

"Definitely! Did you practice your speech?" Kiera blanched.

"Speech?" Micheal sighed, but waved a hand, unfolding a piece of paper from his bag.

"I should've guessed. Anyway, I memorized both of our parts, so it should be okay." Kiera breathed a quiet sigh of relief. If she had ruined this, he'd never forgive her. Her father's phone began to vibrate, and he picked it up, leaving one hand on the wheel.

"Hello? Oh, hey, Tara! Yeah, sure, I'll tell him." Her dad turned to Micheal in the backseat. "That was your mom. She says you forgot—"

"Look out!" Kiera screeched. He whipped around just in time to see the Hummer smash into the hood of the car.