IN MY TIME OF DYING.

04. QUATTRO : murphy's law (n.e)

Cecilia tried to ignore the fact that she had been seen by not only Alice but Rosalie when leaving the hospital. The blonde girl, as Cecilia looked from the corner of her eye, was clearly angry. The furrowed brows and hard set jaw of the flawless girl made Cecilia curious. Now she knew Rosalie was a girl who'd present herself as standoffish and rude, but Cecilia knew she rarely was those things when she opened up toward people.

Whatever seemed to have happened within the past few hours made Rosalie furious beyond her wildest dreams. Maybe it was Bella almost getting hit by a car or maybe it was the fact that Edward had saved her. She didn't know. She was just curious.

She knew now was not the time for talking or being noticed. Sinking below the radar was something that could be easily done, seeing as though most of the student body didn't know she existed. Cecilia let her shoulders slump as she ducked her head down, preferring to stare at her ballet flats instead of whatever was in front of her. All the drama she could avoid just by doing so was something of a miracle all on its own.

The brunette quickly strode toward the exit, passing her favorite blonde without a single look. It was unusual for her not to stop and talk to the girl she'd normally love to talk to, but in this situation, being stuck in the hospital was an embarrassment. No doubt Alice had already told her.

The glass doors pushed open easily as she rushed into the cool air of the afternoon. Grey clouds filled the sky like normal, leaving the sky to match her grey mood. It seemed as if it could rain sometime soon. Knowing the weather in Washington, that rain was almost definite.

Halfway home the light patter of rain soothed her nerves, erasing some of the tension that had gathered in her shoulders. Thoughts raced throughout her mind wondering the reason for her to have another MRI. The only reason she could think of why they needed to do an MRI was because something was wrong. She hoped that wasn't the case, but life never worked that way.

Her life had become the epitome of what Murphy's Law proved. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. It was the sad story of her life. She sighed, tightening her grip on the wheel for a split second, considering whether or not it was worth it to crash into a tree and just be done with everything. It didn't take long to realize what a dumb idea that would be and the people she'd leave behind. Cecilia would never be able to leave the people she loved. She hated seeing them upset because of her.

As she came to a stop in front of her house, Cecilia stopped, staring into the window where she could see her mother talking on the phone, a frown etched onto her face making her look years older than she really was. Slowly, she stepped out of the car. She wondered who her mom was talking to on the phone, but it didn't take a genius to know. She was most likely talking to Dr.Cullen about what had happened.

Cecilia rubbed at the small bandage as she walked up the gravel pathway towards her house. The baby blue that covered the exterior of the house seemed to fade away with age and years of unrelenting rain. Wind chimes fluttered in the breeze, anxiously ringing to the sound of each gust. The cool air nipped at Cecilia's ears and nose and she wrapped her jacket just a little bit tighter around her body. In the distance, the sung had begun to set underneath the layer of clouds leaving a gloomy aura that covered the forest.

She pulled back the wooden door, entering the house only to hear her mother's tired words waft from the kitchen. Cecilia dropped her bag near the stairs, making her way towards the kitchen. Her mother came into view, looking worse than Cecilia felt.

"Another MRI? Does she really need one?" her mother asked, sitting down at the kitchen table. "I see. When is it?" A pause. "Does 4 pm work?" Another pause. Cecilia stood in the doorframe watching her mother. They said they'd call tomorrow, not half an hour later. What luck, Cecilia thought bitterly. "Yeah, thank you so much, Carlisle. We'll see you then."

The moment her mother had put the phone down, both were silent. Cecilia said nothing as she walked forward, sitting down at the table next to her mom. Her own clammy hand grasped her mothers in comfort. Though Cecilia oozed comfort, her face was entirely the opposite. She was scared; scared for her life, her mom, whatever was going to happen to the both of them in the future. There was a right to be scared, a right to be strong and weak at the same time. After all, she was only human.  They still didn't speak. There was a sliver of hope that maybe the scans would come back and nothing had changed, but then again everything could've changed.

Cecilia broke the silence first. "It's gonna be okay. We're gonna be okay. You know that, right?" she questioned her mother who only nodded.

A shaky sigh left her mom's mouth. "How'd we end up like this?"

Cecilia shook her head, standing up. "I don't know, but let's not worry about this now. For all we know it could be nothing. We have days to figure it out."

She watched as her mom's gaze moved to the window, staring out at the grassy porch of their little house. Staring everywhere but at Cecilia. It's like she couldn't bear the thought of having her own daughter be sick beyond repair of anyone. All she wanted was her mom to look at her, to agree with what she was saying. They'd get through it. There should be nothing to worry about.

"There's going to be a time when we can't pretend anymore, mom. You have to know that," she spoke, frustration tinging her tone.

"I know." She wiped a tired hand through her hair, mind racing with thoughts as she looked up at her daughter. Her mother's dark hair, one of the things Cecilia had inherited from her, was falling out of its bun in loose strands. Puffy brown eyes looked back at her own, mirroring how she felt.

"And we can get through this. You know me, mom. I wont leave you alone. I promise." Cecilia bent down and wrapped her arms around her mother who hugged her back slowly but twice as hard. Her mother kissed the side of her head, squeezing her own eyes shut.

"Oh, honey, I hope so," she whispered. Cecilia gave a watery smile because they were still good. There was nothing to be fixed yet. They were still okay, if anything they were better than okay because family never gives up on family, no matter how hard the truth will hit them.

____

Cecilia couldn't figure out how she was going to tell any of her friends. She hadn't even had the MRI yet she still had that nagging feeling in the back of her head that said everything is wrong. A day had passed and Cecilia was uncharacteristically quiet as they sat around the lunch table. While her mouth was quiet, her mind was working a hundred miles an hour trying to figure out how to tell her friends. There wasn't even bad news yet. She didn't say anything about it that day.

The next day they had all left earlier to go on a field trip for their biology class - a class that Cecilia had taken the year before. So she was stuck stewing within her own mind for the second day. The day was eerily quiet, and Cecilia replayed everything that had happened since that morning. She had tried to catch Angela or Jessica before they got on the bus, tried to explain some things that were happening, but nothing had come out.

MRI. Possibly dead. No one left. Friends. Blonde. Love. No one left for her to love. All those things that she wanted to say caught in the back of her throat like a dam was keeping the words at bay. It was bad she hadn't told them yet, but they'd figure it out soon enough.

As she walked into the cafeteria, blonde hair caught her eye from the corner of the room. Cecilia spied Rosalie alone in the corner, brooding in the usual way only without the rest of her family surrounding her. It was a little off putting to see her sitting all alone like she was a nobody.

Before she knew it, Cecilia was subconsciously walking towards Rosalie. Hoards of students passed her by, knocking her off her path, but she merely brushed them off. The blonde didn't seem to notice Cecilia until the brunette was ready to turn away before she actually did notice her. Rosalie, however, looked up with a raised brow right before she could turn.

"Hey," Cecilia blurted out awkwardly, playing with the strap on her backpack nervously.

"Hi" she replied cautiously, setting down the phone she had been frowning at not seconds before. Around them, teens yelled and chatted, making it hard to hear over the bustle of the cafeteria.

Cecilia didn't know what to say, awkwardly standing in front of the blonde. "Your siblings are on the field trip, right?"

"Yeah, so?" Rosalie said defensively. She looked at Cecilia weirdly, confused as to why they were actually talking outside of the English classroom. That was the only time they ever actually talked to one another.

Cecilia played with the frayed string that was connected to her textbook, marking the place where she had last left off. Light pink washed over her cheeks, and suddenly it was hard for her to maintain eye contact. "Well, I figured since we're both sitting alone, I could maybe sit with you." As she spoke it sounded more like a question then a statement, and Rosalie just sat in front of her silently staring. Cecilia looked at the blonde with wide eyes before quickly mumbling an apology. "I mean, you could totally ask me to leave, but what person likes to sit alone?"

"You do it all the time," Rosalie pointed out, looking over to the empty table where she normally occupied it all alone when her friends were off being social.

"And it's not that fun," Cecilia reasoned.

In the back of her mind, Cecilia didn't really know why she was pushing so hard. It was stupid. She was being stupid. Of course she's want to be alone. That's why Rosalie was sitting along in the first play. When Rosalie didn't reply, Cecilia found herself backing away from the girl slowly, hoping to avoid any more awkwardness between the two. She had probably just ruined everything between them.

Cecilia awkwardly jabbed a thumb towards her usual table, slowly distancing herself from the other girl. "Look, I'll just go... now."

Rosalie's hesitation was clear to see, but the girl merely shook her head and gestured to the empty seat next to her that usually held one of her siblings. "No, Cecilia, it's okay. You can sit."

"Thanks," she replied, sliding into the seat next to Rosalie.

Cecilia didn't know what to say and Rosalie had already turned back to her long forgotten phone. The cloudy sky somehow lit up the room, illuminating their table with grey light. She dug into her backpack and pulled out a small sandwich. Anything was better than the cafeteria food. They sat in silence for a bit. The two never really talked outside of English and the cafeteria was all new territory.

"You're okay, right?" Rosalie spoke up after minutes of silence, the forgotten tray of food becoming colder by the second but she didn't seem to care. She stared at Cecilia with worry in her eyes, tracing each feature that covered her pale face. "Nothing happened?"

Cecilia choked on the bit of sandwich she had been eating earlier, her gaze switching to Rosalie with surprise covering her features. "What? Yeah, I'm okay. What do you mean?"

Rosalie looked at the tray of lunch that sat in front of her untouched before looking back up at Cecilia. "My sister saw you at the hospital a few days ago."

"Oh, yeah. I ran into her on my way out," Cecilia dragged on as the blonde raised her eyebrow, hinting to tell her more. "No, I'm fine as far as I know."

Rosalie nodded, a frown etched onto her face. "That's good," Rosalie replied, her tone light but her face betraying the words she said as she stared at Cecilia. It was almost like she knew something was wrong.

____

[word count: 2218]

I'm so confused why are people even reading this story??? It's like I've already hit over 8k and there's only three real chapters. I'm crying. This book is such a mess I can't.

I enjoy writing little snippets of Cecilia and Rosalie together. I promise that their interactions will get longer in the future.