#helltownhqstarters

the world around her felt like static, words and sounds and thoughts buzzing in her ears like the wings of pestering gnats and yet elodie mcneil could make sense of none of it.

all she had ever wanted was to escape the shadow kayla had cast upon her; to free herself of the burden that came along with having an elder sister that lived for others. the elder sister who was good at sports, good at socializing, good at making friends . . . the only thing elodie had accomplished in comparison to kayla was outliving her.

sat atop one of the park benches, knees curled to her chest, jacket-encased arms wound around bare shins as a pointed chin rested atop knee caps, elodie allowed herself to zone out. eyes, dreary and distant, concentrated on the erecting of tents and the marking of walkways for the fundraiser her mother was hosting. the woman floated atop sun-warmed grass and pointed with a manicured finger, cradling a clipboard to her blouse-encased breast. elodie saw her mother's painted lips moving, but couldn't read them. for a woman in mourning , kenndy mcneil sure looked . . . put together.

feeling a shadow beside her, elodie pressed her lips together, blinking away the dissociative clouds that had polluted her vision. she didn't shift her gaze to whomever was looming beside her, but she did acknowledge their presence with a heaved sigh.