Page 1 of Revelry
PROLOGUE
Tate
SIXTEEN YEARS AGO…
“Tate!”
I jolted as my mother’s shriek rang out from upstairs. I leapt into action, running around the kitchen, grabbing her pills and crushing them up. I fumbled them in my hurry and cursed at my shaking fingers as my anxiety flared.
White dust sprayed across the clean countertop and I stared at it, torn between wiping it up and starting again.
My mind raced with different thoughts,grab a cloth and wipe it up, then dry it, then get two new pills, crush those and make sure you don’t drop them.
Get Ma some fresh water because now it’s been sitting out too long and it’ll be warm, she won’t like that.
Then make sure her food hasn’t gone cold and don’t forget to put the laundry out as it’s been sitting in the machine while you’ve been doing this. The longer you take on this, the more it’ll sit, then it’ll smell and you’ll have to rewash it which means you can only do two loads and you need to wash her sheets because she doesn’t like it if they’re not fresh so you need to—
I clicked my fingers three times, snapping myself out of my spiraling thoughts. I tried taking deep breaths. I’d read on the Internet that that helped, but my mind just reminded me that taking deep breaths to calm down was wasting time and delaying everything I needed to do.
“TATE!” Ma yelled again. I snapped to it, clearing up the messI’d made and starting again. I poured the crushed powder into her water glass and stirred it in well, knowing she didn’t like the taste. I could hear her crying out in pain so hurried out of the kitchen and up the stairs, spilling some of her water. I paused, needing to mop it up but did I take Mom’s medicine upstairs and then come back and clean it or did I clean it and then take her stuff up?
“TATE HURRY UP!”
I wanted to cry.
I couldn’t cope with the pressure. Why was it all on me? I was too young for this. I should be out with friends having fun, not here trapped in this house. I didn’t want to be responsible for another person anymore.
“Coming Ma!” I called back, my voice shaky. I quickly wiped the side of the glass on my t-shirt to dry the spillage; she wouldn’t want to touch a wet glass.
“I need my pills, Tate!” she said as I rounded the stairs and went into her room. “What took you so long?” She glared at me with red-rimmed eyes, her mouth twisted in a grimace.
“I’m sorry, I spilled them and had to start again.”
Instantly I knew I’d said the wrong thing. She bolted upright in bed, her stare wide.
“You spilled some? How many? Can you save them? You know these need to last until the end of the week!”
My stomach clenched in fear. “I’m sorry, Ma.” What if she ran out of pills before she could get back to the doctor? “I’ll check how many we’ve got left.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You’d better hope it’s enough! Now give them to me.”
I held out the glass and she snatched it from me, pulling it to her mouth and taking desperate gulps, flinching. “It’s too warm, Tate! Are you trying to upset me?”
Of course.“I’m sorry, I thought it was cool enough.”
“You thought wrong. God, you can’t do anything right! Luckily for you, because you took so long, I’m too desperate to make you start over!”
I bit my lip, trying not to cry. “I’ll do better next time, I promise.”
She gave me a look that said she didn’t care before she downed the rest of the water and handed me back the glass, wiping her mouth then gagging. “I could taste the pills, Tate. You know I don’t like that.”
“Maybe you should try taking them with juice or something?” I offered, anything to make this better for her.
“Don’t be stupid, I need to havewater.” She eyed the duvet cover, white with burgundy flowers. “This needs a wash.”
“I know Ma, I’m just about to put another load on before I go out.”
Her stare snapped to me, the duvet forgotten. “You’re going out?”
