Fighting Angels
Dawn sighed and looked up at her sister, Hope's blonde hair had fallen in front of her half transparent figure. Dawn leaned back on her bed and set down her book. Just as she was about to speak the phone rang. Jumping up, she grabbed her small Blackberry™ and answered cautiously."Hello?" She asked, dreading the answer.
"Dawn-y!" Dawn flinched at the shrill pitch her friend's voice took as she pulled the phone away from her ear. Settling in, she leaned up against the wall.
"Liza, hi," She greeted her friend, glancing up at Hope's I-told-you-so look and glaring inwardly. Why did the dead girl always have to be right?
"So listen," Elizabeth started, "My parents are gone this weekend and I thought we could have some fun over here, ya know?" Dawn knew exactly what her friend was getting at, and that Hope would not approve, but she went with it anyway.
"Yea," she shrugged, glancing at Hope again, she didn't want to give anything away. Not yet.
"Great! So I'll get a ride in tomorrow and you'll drive us both back to my place!" Elizabeth hung up, no questions, no goodbyes. Dawn pressed the little END button and flipped her red-gold hair out of her eyes before setting her phone down on the nightstand with her book.
"You are not ditching with her tomorrow!" Hope exclaimed, clearly Dawn's plan hadn't worked; god dead people had good hearing. Dawn stood up and went over to her dresser, pulling out flannel pants and a large t-shirt with a bunny on it. She headed for the door, turning her back on Hope.
"Yes, I am. I have no choice," She stated matter-of-factly. Dawn left the room and went to get dressed in the bathroom, leaving behind a sour and disappointed Hope.
But she knew the conversation wasn't over, the moment she went back in there it would start right back up again. She was right, Hope didn't even give her any warning.
"But you do have choice Dawn-y. You can stop being her friend!" Hope said the moment Dawn came in and shut the door. She sighed and rolled her eyes, giving up.
"Fine," Dawn flipped off the lights and crawled into bed. Dreading what would happen tomorrow, even though she was anxious, she closed her eyes and tried to sleep.
Dawn turned into the school and slowed down in the front driveway. She waited patiently, her car idling as she watched kids file off the buses and into the school. She heard a loud knock on the widow and jumped, hitting her head on the roof. Dawn turned to see Elizabeth open her door and climb in. She shifted into gear and drove off, Elizabeth resting her feet on the dashboard. Dawn rubbed the top of her head as she turned out of the school.
"So," Elizabeth said, setting in, "what would you like to do? Pool party, guy bash, shopping spree…" Elizabeth's dad was the mayor, so they could pretty much do anything and not have to worry about consequences.
Her house was a lot like Dawn's, but had a maid, cook and a pool with a spa-worthy Jacuzzi. It was the perfect place for a party. Well, so Hope had said before the accident…
Dawn wished she could think of something other than her house or her sister. God, Hope would have killed herself if she knew, not that you could kill a dead person. She was suddenly aware of the awkward silence that had filled the car. Obviously Elizabeth had asked her a question and was waiting for an answer. Dawn sighed and turned onto the freeway.
"Dawn-y, are you okay?" Concern filled her friend's voice and Dawn turned to look at her for a second. Looking back at the road she answered animatedly, wishing she wasn't lying, and hoping that later she wouldn't be either.
"Yea, I'm fine. Let's go shopping," She turned the wheel and headed for the mall, trying to forget the anger that awaited her later. When they got there, though, she felt even worse than before.
Dawn slammed the front door on Sunday night when she got home. And she prayed Hope had heard it, she wanted to get the yelling done and over with.
"Do you want to wake dad up or something?" Dawn grinned smugly as Hope appeared at her side. Thank God for thin walls.
"Or something," she replied, provoking her sister.
"This is no time for jokes, Dawn, did you talk to Elizabeth?" Dawn stomped her way up the stairs and opened her bedroom door.
"Oh, yea," she turned to Hope, "We had a nice long talk at the mall all day Friday, you know. 'Should I buy this, or does it show too much'?" She smiled triumphantly when her sister's annoyed look turned to anger.
"You didn't…" Hope sounded shocked and hurt. "How could you!" Dawn suddenly felt bile rise in her throat, but she quickly swallowed it. She wouldn't let Hope get the best of her.
"Easily, I just stayed in the car till she got there and then drove off." Though 'easy' didn't really describe it.
"You lied to me," Hope accused her, making it harder for Dawn to keep her cool as she sat down on the bed.
"No, I simply followed my gut and had a spectacular party on Saturday too," Hope rolled her eyes and drifted away to the other side of the room. Instantly dawn felt bad, but it didn't last long.
"We had it all planned out, you were supposed to tell her!" Hope whirled around and Dawn could have sworn she saw a hint of red in her eyes. Sometimes being followed by your dead sister could be creepy.
"I didn't have a choice!" That was not what Hope wanted to hear and she knew it. Dawn turned away from her sister to hide the tears as they came to her eyes.
"If you stopped being so full of it long enough to realize how horrid she was you could see you did have choice! Why can't you admit she makes you totally miserable?!" Hope screamed in frustration when Dawn didn't answer.
"Well maybe if you were alive you could make me," Dawn said, barely above a whisper, through her sobs. That made Hope stop; she came over to Dawn and embraced her in a surprisingly solid hug.
"Oh, Dawn-y, you know I wish I was," Dawn could feel Hope star to fade and saw her disappear in her side vision. "I'm sorry," She heard her sister's voice ring out around the room, though the accident hadn't been her fault, "I'm sorry," And, somehow, Dawn knew that was the last she would see of her dead sister again.
The End