·Katie·

My bones crack loudly—but I still haven't exploded. I twist my aching back to one side and the other, invoking a sense of relief. My butt adjusts to the aluminum stool below me. The hot coffee numbs my tongue and it only adds to the pains I am feeling this particular morning.

"And that's why you shouldn't drink on a school night." Ulysses smiles cockily at me while he drinks some yogurt from the other side of the kitchen island.

"Can you lower your voice?" I beg him, pinching the bridge of my nose.

He shakes his head in disapproval. "I thought you've learned your lesson. Tobias isn't a good person now, and his so-called friends are even worse. Did you lose your memory or have you forced yourself to forget?"

The flickering lights from last night mix with the lights from that night I have tried to ban from my mind without success. I swallow thickly, my tongue still feels numb. I wish my mind could feel the same way.

"Dad's not home, Ulysses. Shush it," I complain. My head is killing me, but at least I pushed the flashback away.

He exhales sharply, disapproval shouting through his gestures. "That chick isn't a good influence on you," he states.

"Good morning to you too," Cassie greets us.

My head turns to the entrance, and I see her standing under the kitchen's doorframe.

Ulysses nervously shifts his weight on the stool. "Good morning." He clears his throat.

Did Cassie hear him saying that? I hope she didn't. Ulysses means well. He's just overprotective and he has his reasons for being so.

"Here's some coffee." I slide a mug closer to Cassandra as she sits next to me.

Loud music fills the room making us wince in pain.

"Jon, I beg you. Lower that thing." My eyelids wire shut to lessen my headache.

"Please." Cassandra smiles at him and he immediately mutes the ironically small speaker in his hands. "Thank you," she mutters, sipping her coffee.

I smile at her politely, trying to make up for Ulysses' uncool behavior, but my smile fades away when my eyes are set on what she's holding in her hands.

"How did you- Who? When?"

"Oh, you mean how did I find my dead sister's bucket list under your pillow when I ended up sleeping in your bed last night?" she asks, sarcasm lacing her tone.

A stuttering mess. That's what I have become. "I-, um- I-."

"What's happening here?" Ulysses asks, craning his neck to have a look at the bucket list.

"It felt wrong to throw it into the trash can. I had to do something," I explain to her, ignoring my older brother.

"They found Cassandra's sister's 'before I die' list," Jon fills Ulysses in with the missing gaps. "And then Cassandra tore it apart as if it meant nothing to her. It was damn scary to watch. I wouldn't even try hurting this girl's feelings, brother. She will haunt you, bro." He chuckles loudly.

That comment right there scares the hell out of me. How mad is Cassandra at me right now? And how mad will she be if she finds out what I did?

She stands up, towering over me and sliding the stitched-up bucket list so that it's right in front of me.

"Somehow..." she trails off and then continues, "you felt entitled to put back into one piece this old, glitter-filled paper, and you kept it under your pillow all of this time." Her eyes could be burning me right now.

I need to explain myself to her. "I feel like this is an important part of you, so I just couldn't let you ruin it. I had to fix it." Please, please, don't eat me alive, kill me first.

Her arms make my recently-drank coffee jump to my throat, but I quickly gulp it down. I wasn't expecting her to hug me. My eyes go big as Jon and Ulysses frown at each other.

"Thank you," she breathes against my hair, and my face breaks into an uncontrollable smile of relief and happiness.

"Wait!" I exclaim, grabbing her shoulders and pushing her slightly back. "Does this mean that we're actually doing the bucket list?"

Her dimples show as her lips curl up in a beautiful smile. For the first time since she's been here, I see the happiness lighting up her dark eyes.

"Yes, Katie. I'm doing it. But I need hel-"

I couldn't let her finish that sentence, I had to hug her. I squeeze her not so gently against me, and she grumbles—her own bones cracking loudly under my grasp.

"Okay, enough. That's too much love for me in one day."

"Oh, come on!" I tilt my head, appreciating the change in her attitude.

She pulls her hair up in a knot, taking a seat in her former place next to me. "Besides, don't get too excited." She gulps down some more coffee and then voices, "I'm only focusing on the one item I want to accomplish which is to kiss Tobias in a lavender field-"

Loud coughing interrupts her words. We turn our heads to watch Ulysses struggling to recover from his coughing attack. What on earth is happening to my once confident, older brother?

"You okay, S?" Jon asks, patting his back.

He waves us off in reply—still unable to speak.

"Hello, hello..." Georgina announces as she arrives—another person who doesn't knock on doors before coming in. She's a good person but she's mainly nice to me because she has been in love with Ulysses since forever. My definition of forever is: since they were three-year-old kids, chasing each other around in the backyard.

"How's everyone today?" She beams seating extremely close to Ulysses. "Oh, hi!" She extends her hand happily. "You must be Cassandra."

As expected Cassandra doesn't reciprocate the enthusiasm." Hi," she deadpans, and busies herself with her phone. Georgina's hand lingers there until she finally gets the hint, and retrieves it.

To be honest, it's too early in the morning to be that happy.

"Come on, S, shall we get going?" Georgina drapes a possessive arm around him.

Cassandra produces a small burst of laughter.

"Is there something funny?" Ulysses asks.

"Nop. Just that I'd rather be called 'Bambi', than 'S.'" She covers her mouth, laughing, her eyes stick to her phone.

"It's because her name has three 'Ss'," Georgina explains to her.

"Yeah, and we usually don't have time to call him by such a long name." My fingers rub my chin, thinking of the reason we call him that sometimes.

Jon states, "And it's a cool nickname for the band-"

"JON!" Ulysses, Georgina, and I cry in unison.

Georgina looks at him disappointed. "That was supposed to be a secret."

"Chill y'all. Mum and dad aren't here." He rolls his eyes at us.

Cassandra's mouth hangs slightly open as she does the maths. "Oh, the good boy of the family has a band, who would have said it?" She smirks, letting the flat device on the kitchen island.

"You shouldn't judge, Bambi. I have many secrets, and this one isn't yours to share, am I clear?" he forewarns her. My parents would kill him if they found out that he is jeopardizing his bright future for this pseudo-band he formed.

"Right." She nods her head, smiling devilishly at him. "I noticed you're an expert in getting the most accurate first impressions. Can I have an autograph? For your expertise, I mean. Not for the band."

"Anytime, anywhere, Bambi."

"In your dreams," she contends, dragging the 's' sound of the last word.

"Am I missing something here?" Georgina breaks into the conversation between them.

I think that what's happening it's pretty obvious, but Georgina isn't going to admit it in a million years.

"Nothing at all," Ullyses claims, holding Cassandra's eyes. Maybe Georgina will acknowledge this before my brother, considering how stubborn he's.

Cassandra blinks away, her puzzled gaze briefly connecting with mine. "I just need a minute," she announces. Dragging her stool back, she walks away—the bucket list remains still on the kitchen island. 

What just happened?