Between You and Me

Chapter 1

"I love this house so much!" Johanna screamed when she first stepped foot in it again as the new owner, just three days after her grandmother's funeral.

She remembered as a kid running down the long hallway and screaming for no reason. The living room, the separate dining room, a den, and a large kitchen all had doors, so when they were closed, there was a booming echo through the old rickety house.

The kitchen was so large it was the size of half their old apartment. Many things were outdated in the house, the stove, the fridge, the sink, and even the cabinets. It may have all been original, and the house was over a hundred years old. There was a first floor full bathroom that looked like something from the seventies.

Off the side of the kitchen was the laundry room, not huge, but it housed a washer, dryer, and an ironing board. It was stuffed with boxes that were her grandmother's she would have to go through.

Then there was the huge porch and backyard. Her grandmother had a nice-sized garden where she grew various greens, tomatoes, and bell peppers. She nor her sister had a green thumb, she had no idea what they would do with that.

All the furniture in the living room and dining room were old, but still fairly newer than the kitchen. Maybe ten or twelve years old, she remembered when her grandmother switched everything from her old eighties setup. There was also a basement she used to hang out with her father when he was off-and-on living there. They would build rocket planes and boats and he would talk about fishing and things to do if he had a son. Neither of his daughters was interested in those things.

Upstairs was where all the bedrooms were. Each room was huge. There was a master bedroom with a connected bathroom that was her grandmother's. Then two other bedrooms shared a connected bathroom. The fourth bedroom was the smallest, but still a nice size. Seems like her grandmother used it for storage, there were plenty of old clothes and boxes in it.

It was a lot.

"What do we do now?" Zee asked her, holding a large box of her things. Zee had a ton of things she packed in her little blue Chevy Sonic.

Johanna barely had anything outside of clothes, and not much of that.

"It's weird staying in GiGi's house without her here."

Zee dropped her box. "She left it to us. Us! It's ours. We own a house. Do you know how many people our age can't move out because they can't afford rent and food at the same time?"

Zee cackled at that. She wanted to move out soon after graduation and did, but only lasted six months trying to balance bills and barber school. She was back and more than happy to share that small bedroom with her.

As for Johanna, she never thought of moving out. Maybe once she finished college. It was not something she even thought would happen.

"This is just so weird!"

"I know right." Zee headed up the stairs and Johanna followed her into their grandmother's room "GiGi had the best room. I remember thinking she was a queen living in this big room with this big bed and-"

"You want to take her room?"

"What? That's crazy. I...could I?" Zee looked around the room in disbelief.

"I think GiGi would have wanted it. Take this room, I'll take another." Her sister had more things, and she was the oldest, she deserved the bigger room.

Whenever they came to visit, it would depend on who else was staying in the house when she came over. If any of her cousins were there, she was in the end bedroom, facing the front of the house. If it was just her and her sister, they were in the middle room, next to their grandmothers. She liked both rooms and could not choose.