Riptide

➳3

                                                                 ➳Chapter 3

     The fire is still burning when I wake up.

           When I push the covers off of me to gingerly set my feet onto the cold ground, my head spins for a few moments.

            My throat still aches, my chest protesting with every large inhale, the sensation of drowning clear in my mind.

            Stay with me Rosie.

            Shrugging on a layer of jackets, I cross the short distance to the small stove, pulling out a large pan.

            Rosie.

            It bothered me the way he said my name like that. The last people to ever call me that were my parents.

            I distractedly pull out the last of the eggs and push a few pieces of toast in the toaster. I had to make a trip to town soon and the mere thought of it sent me shuddering.

            The town people hardly knew the definition of privacy. They thought they were discrete with their whispering about a girl who was forced to care for her siblings after the loss of her parents, but they most definitely were not.

            Something loud clatters to the floor from my parent's room and I freeze, going rigid.

            Grabbing the handle of a heavy pan I cautiously approach the door of my parent's room that is half hanging off its hinges.

            The door flies open the second my hand touches the knob and I scream, startling Asher.

            I fly back, the pan hitting the ground with a hard clang as I land on my butt, staring up at a very bewildered looking Asher above me.

            "What do you think you are doing coming at with a pan?" Asher asks incredulous, his eyebrows furrowed.

            Gale starts crying furiously from the other room but I can't register anything other than the fact that my bottom hurts—a lot.

            "Who let you into the house?" I ask, suppressing a groan as I try to stand.

            "I work here, remember?" he says in irritation, hooking his fingers around the crook of my elbow to help pull me up—none too gently.

            I scowl, trying to hide my embarrassment.

            "It's only like five in the morning, you could have woken me up—"

            He scoffs and I stop.

            I was overreacting.

            I turn away and pick up the fallen pan, Gale still screaming.

            "I'm not used to hearing anything coming from that room. You startled me," I say lowly, swallowing hard as I quickly walk into the small room where Gale and Remy are.

            I barely open the door before something small barrels rights into me, making the air rush out of my lungs.

            "Sorry!" Remy exclaims, her eyes wide. "I thought I heard something so I came running—"

            I wheeze, doubling over to try to catch my breath. My body still feels sore from yesterdays fall and I am seeing dots in my vision again.