.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

CHAPTER TEN

x. cockroaches

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APRIL ENTERS HER HOUSE with a smile, a cheeky one that caused her eyes to crinkle and the corners of her lips curled up. Looking back once more before she shuts the front door shut and waving lightly at Bill, him returning the gesture with the same smile before biking off. She wouldn't be able to shake the feeling she got in her stomach at the sight of it for the rest of this night, it was fluttery and made her giggle.

Gently closing the door and being sure to lock it, she scrapes the bottom of her shoes against the mat before leaning down at untying the neatly tied laces, slipping one shoe at a time off, picking them up and dropping them onto the shoe and rack and exiting the foyer.

"Oh, good, you're back!" She hears a voice, instantly recognizing it as her mom, rushing from the kitchen with a mug in her hand and hair poking around her knit cardigan. "What happened? What did you do? Did you have fun? That Bill, he seems like a nice boy, letting you ride on the back of his bike like that," She babbles as she sits herself down on the living room couch and beckons her daughter over.

Scoffing lightly in amusement at her moms excitement, April walks into the living room while brushing her bangs out with her fingers casually, tired from the activities and more wanting to go lay down but nonetheless sits herself down on the couch next to her mom, her eyes twinkling still from Bill's acceptance of her bracelet.

"Well?" Her mom asks excitedly, patting her hands against her daughters thighs in a rhythmic beat.

Shaking her head, a smile on her face, April shrugs first — growing worry in her stomach because she knew she'd have to tell her mom a lie. "It was amazing," She begins, which was true, it was.

She couldn't tell her mom what they did at the Barrens — she was a terrible liar but that didn't mean... Never mind that, April was also terrible at twisting the truth. "We biked around town and... And, went to the park! Played games... Like, hide-and-seek," She stumbles over her words repeatedly, using large hand gestures as she attempts to prevent her foot from twitching, a common tic she had when nervous.

"How were they! Were they nice? That Bill boy, he's handsome," Her mom went on with a smirk, her excitement blinding her from her daughters terrible attempt of lying.

If there was anything someone should know about Josephine Ambrose is that she was there to support her daughters through all that made them happy and in all honesty, April has always been happy but ——she's never glowed the way she was now. It was peculiar, she thought. The way that April was gleaming now, she's never seen it before.

A light blush splaying across her cheeks, April plays with the hem of her tank top shyly. "They were! I had an... Incredible time. I think, it was the best day I've ever had," She responds, stumbling over her words — her moms comment about Bill making her have a fluttering sensation in her belly, it wasn't a bad feeling. She's never felt it before but she wasn't sure if it was... A right feeling? "I'd suppose, yes. He's easy on the eyes," She goes on, shrugging lightly — too shy to actually say that she thought he was cute.

"That's all? Easy on the eyes?" Her mom teases, laughing at the way her daughters cheeks burned darker. Shaking her head, she waves her hand. "Never mind that, what did you do? Where did you go?" She presses, curious of what adventures April has gone on that day — she knew for certain it'd be more infesting than Holly's.

She was up in her bedroom and had been all day, besides for around noon when she got Cain to drop her off at the library to pick up a book on his way to work. She had gotten a, what was it? Biology textbook? Josephine wasn't exactly sure why she was still bothering herself with textbooks, she'd think that Holly would be busying herself by going out with that boy, Alexander. But, yet, she was in her bedroom teaching herself about cells and DNA. 

Humming, she runs her fingers through her hair again. "Just around town, by the pharmacy on Main. We hung around and biked. It was fun," She responds, not exactly lying. Sure, she went to the Barrens but her mom didn't have to know that. She pauses for a moment, remembering the plans that were set for tomorrow. "Oh, can I go out again tomorrow? Bill said he'd pick me up at noon," She asks lightly, a smile on her face.

Josephine smiles back, the glow in her daughters eyes too bright to resist and nodding. "There's nothing planned for tomorrow, go ahead. Do you know where you guys are going?" She asks, ruffling April's hair as she stands up with her mug still in hand — her tea was finished.

"The Quarry, then I'm not sure where after," April responds as her mom nods, beginning to walk towards the kitchen to put her mug away.

Stopping in the archway between the kitchen and the living room, Josephine smiles one more before nodding. "Alright. Go change out of those clothes, you've probably been playing in the mud!" She teases, April looking away as subtly as possible. Sewer. She corrects in her head.

Nodding her head, April stands up as her mom turns to the kitchen. Walking towards the staircase, April clambers you the steps slowly. Hearing the sound of muffled music from Holly's bedroom which was next to hers. She saunters through the hall and towards her bedroom, throwing the door open to her pale pink bedroom and shuffling in humming the tune to 'Build Me Up Buttercup' by The Foundations.

Shutting the door behind her and locking it so that Holly wouldn't barge in like she usually does, she begins by pulling her tank top off — she wondered how much germs she had come into contact that day. Clicking her tongue against her mouth, she twirls the tank top strap around her finger and begins walking towards her woven hamper in her bra. She lifts the lid up, her mind idle as she already begins to unbutton her jeans before suddenly looking down into the hamper and freezes. 

Her eyes going wide, lips parting and skin beginning to crawl as she stares down into the once nearly empty hamper overflowing. But, not with what would be expected. Not clothes. Bugs. Cockroaches.

She drops the lid and the tank top to the ground with a quiet thud, stumbling backwards and onto the ground as a quiet shriek escapes her mouth, her hands shaking. Her arms frantically pushing down against her hardwood floor repeatedly, pushing herself father and farther away from the hamper and closer towards the corner of her bedroom. She felt bile rising in her throat, the taste of acidic liquid bubbling.

She pushes back into the wall, her bare back slamming against it as she just suddenly realizes how exposed her top part of her body was. Her breathing heavy and eyes wide, there was a lull in the air, comfort for a moment. Just a split moment. Next thing she knew, the hamper toppled over and out flooded thousands of cockroaches onto the floor.

All of them scampering towards her with their thin legs, April beginning to feel increasing more sick at the sight — paralyzed in fear against the wall, unable to even make a sound to signal her parents for help. Hot tears fill her eyes, ten cockroaches crawling up her socked foot and beginning to trail up her leg and towards her bare stomach. "Oh, my God!" She swats her hands at them as more and more begin to crawl up her.

"No! Get off," She swats her hands over and over, finding her voice still caught tight in her throat as she feels their tiny legs a beginning to tickle at her stomach, one crawling over her bellybutton and she swears she's never wanted to die more.

She's sweating, tears dripping down she cheeks as she continuously attempts to screech our loudly but all that comes out are wheezes and quiet retaliations. Feeling herself want to vomit, she attempts to keep it down, swallowing it down as dozens and dozens begin to crawl up her neck and another dozen around the waistband of her jeans and another around her bra.

Sucking in a deep breath she puts her hands over her face, telling herself in her head to stop. To relax. She needs to stand up, tell mom. Not just sit here and let these... These monsters crawl all over her body. But, she's never been so scared as a cockroach reaches her hand on her face and she shakes violently, throwing her hands away from her face and jumping up, shaking around and attempting to swat the bugs off her body.

"Get off, get off!" She mumbles, tears streaming her cheeks as she scratches at her forearms and collarbone where bugs lined them. Digging her nails in and pulling along her skin util she felt the soft skin break. Her eyes slipping shut tightly and she clenches her fists.

Her skin crawling with the bugs on her skin before she opens her eyes once again and there was nothing in her room at all. Leaving her standing in the middle of her bedroom, breathing heavily and tears falling down her chin. And, most noticeably, two bleeding wounds on her forearm — one in the shape of an 'I' and the other in a 'T'. IT.