Almost There

I stared at the sky, pulling the blanket closer around myself. It was chilly in the morning, even though it was spring.

"Don't hog the blanket Raven!" Audra hissed, tugging on the edge groggily. "You drag me up here for what? To stare at the sunrise and yet I have to freeze. I should be in bed." She stated, pulling on the blanket and laying down.

I smiled and shook my head. Only Audra could sit on the roof of a mansion during the sunrise and not even care. I turned my face back to the sky and soaked in the warm sun beams coming down as they wove through the thick mesh of colors making up the sky. It was a gorgeous sunrise, one that Audra was missing.

With a smirk, I yanked the blanket all the way off of Audra, wrapping it around my shoulders like a cloak. A loud slap rang out, startling a family of birds who flew from their tree in a panic.

"Fork it over."

"Look at the sky, would you?" I replied and with a heavy sigh, Audra rolled over and looked up. A flash of awe crossed her face before the bird family landed again.

"It's pretty. Hold on." Audra pulled out her phone, posted a picture to Instagram that said #waytooearly and then held out her hand to me. I huffed and let out a heavy sigh, but I was smiling as I handed Audra the blanket.

"Go inside," I said with a chuckle and at that Audra practically lept off of the roof onto the balcony outside of my room and through the glass doors. I stared longingly at the sky for a little longer before sliding down the black roof and landing gracefully on the pile of blankets and pillows we kept for moments like this. The marble of the balcony was cold on my feet so I dashed inside, carefully closing the French doors behind me so I wouldn't wake Audra up. She was already sound asleep in the middle of my king-sized bed with about seventy blankets piled high around her.

I fidgeted with my lip ring, spinning it and biting it for a moment before I headed to the bathroom and put in my contacts.

At this point in Senior year, I'm not sure that anyone other than Audra knew what color my eyes really were. The summer before Freshman year my parents had thrown money at me so I'd stay out of the house for their fancy dinner party. I'd decided to buy purple color contacts to see if they noticed. Wearing them became a habit, although I don't think my parents have noticed it yet. My older brother James noticed but never mentioned it to them. It was his Senior year and he just wanted to get out of the house.

The summer before Sophomore year was when I got the lip ring. The same thing had happened, but this time my parents noticed. They already didn't like my refusal to wear skirts and heels, but the words they used to describe me after I got the lip ring will be forever stamped in my mind. That is always why I still have it. Other than I like it, obviously. Anything to screw with the parents.

After their blow up about the lip ring, Audra and I had played it a little safer when I spent my money, buying purple Converse high tops and more hoodie crop tops. It was my uniform, if I wasn't wearing a crop top and some purple high tops, people might think I was ill.

Rinsing the contact solution off of my hands I grabbed a grey hoodie crop top, and my favorite high waisted jeans before hopping in the shower. I was a morning person, much to Audra's dismay. Audra could stay up until four in the morning, but waking up at five was a death sentence. Besides, she could sleep through a World War, so I never worried about waking her up as I belted out the lyrics to every One Direction song known to man.

I stepped out of the bathroom to the wonderful smell of pancakes and bacon. Beaming, I shook Audra out of her sleep, her dyed black hair lay in tangles across her face.

"Hmm nahh no." She grunted. I launched my purple hairbrush at her, making her yelp and sit up. "What was that for?" Audra whined, rubbing her head, but I saw her perk up when she smelled the food. "Five minutes, give me five minutes." She said and began raking the brush through her hair while sorting through the clothes in the extra dresser.

Audra has had a dresser in my room since we were about ten. My parents noticed she was here a lot and didn't like finding her bags around the house so they got her a dresser so that she wouldn't make the house look cluttered. While the reasoning had annoyed me, they had also let us go shopping and get her new clothes to keep at my house, so I never said anything about.

I pulled out my phone and scrolled through Instagram, liking a couple of pictures until Audra came over, dressed in her typical ripped blue jeans and a hoodie over a tank top.

"Ready!" She cried and we raced down the stairs, sliding into our chairs at the table in the kitchen just as Gidget, our cook, put our plates down.

"Here you go, ladies" Gidget said with a warm smile.

"Thanks!" Audra and I chorused.

"Oh, I meant to tell you earlier Raven, my mom wants me home after breakfast," Audra paused so we could both roll our eyes. Audra had the world's most strict parents in existence. "She wants me to go help out at my grandma's."

"Fine. Not like we have an option anyway." I said with a huff. I always hated being in this house by myself. It was huge and there wasn't much to do when I was alone.

Audra chuckled and we ate in silence. After she finished, I hugged Audra and stood by the door as she pulled on her Vans and headed out the door.

Once she was gone, I spent the day reading and working on some new playlists for classmates who had requested them. It was something I'd started doing Freshman year after our DJ never showed up at homecoming and I's ended up picking the music.

Finally, after an awkward dinner with my parents I went to my room and flopped on the bed.

Two hours later, I realised I wasn't sleeping tonight. I slipped out onto the balcony and climbed from my balcony onto the guest room balcony below and then dropped to the ground, remembering to bed my knees on the impact. The grass was cold and wet, almost sticky, like worms were inching across my bare feet at all times. I shivered and dashed down to the pond, sitting in the swing. I sighed, my breath clouding in the air, and stared at the water. One more week of school and I's be out of here. The man in the moon looked upside down in the water, and maybe that's why it looked like he was smiling. It didn't matter to me though, it gave me comfort. Almost there.