“CORA, GET UP OR WE’RE GOING TO BE LATE.” My roommate yelled into one of their mic's.

“I’M UP. AND I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO STOP USING YOUR MUSIC STUFF TO WAKE ME UP.” I grumpily yelled back, sitting up.

I walked downstairs to find a bowl of coco puffs already prepared with a cup of fresh coffee. My roommate walked in as a sat down.

“It’s about time you woke up, you sleep like the dead its almost impossible to get you up Cor.”

“Yeah I know sorry, but thanks for the morning brew and puffs Pan”

Pandora or Pan for short is a little weird to most but we met back in high school and I haven’t managed to get rid of them since, and I love them just the way they are.

“Come on Cor, you need to hurry up and quit day dreaming. We need to get to the bakery, or have you forgot we are the only employees.”

“K.” I finish up my coco puffs and coffee before heading to the bathroom.

“I think you mean Potassium.” I can practically hear Pan’s smirk.

“Shut up, you damn nerd.”

“I will take that as a compliment, diva.’

“Screw you” I say tooth brush in my mouth as I pull on my jeans and a blouse.

I tie my hair into a ponytail as I rush out the door to the ’67 Chevy Impala out front locking the door after me and hearing Pan honking obnoxiously. I hop in and Pan speeds away, they turn to me with ‘the smirk’ and before I can object Feed Me Seymore is blasting from the sound system.

“You know the rules Cora.”

“Yep. Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole.”

Despite my objections its always amazing to watch Pan enjoying them self so much.

“Feed me! Feed me! Feed me! Feed me, Seymour, feed me all night long, that’s right, boy, you can do it.” they sang.

After twenty minutes of music theatre we arrived at Zakery Bakery, why is this cute little corner store named this? Back in high school Pan a kid called Zakery and Pan would pronounce it wrong, but one day they started hypothesising about Zakery Bakery and so here we are.

                                               *         *        *

We opened up and within five minuets there were at least twenty early birds in on there way to work, and a couple of the gamers that hadn’t slept for two days in for the hot coco they would need to finally go to sleep. At around ten o’clock it died down a bit and by two pm it was dead.

“Looks like we can close up early.” Pan beamed

“Yep.”

Pan loves the bakery but she also loves to go out and hang around the local Book and Comic shops as well as exploring for things to sketch, so she’s happy if we close early or stay open late. I on the other hand basically just wanted to go home and get some sleep, especially since tomorrow we open early since its check-up day.

Check-up day is the annual government inspection of the populous to find the Living-Death’s or Zombies, as such all businesses are required to close at twelve and proceed to a clinic. Of course, the schools and kindergartens go between eight and twelve so that there isn’t a huge rush and the kids can still attend Maths and English, much to their displeasure.

                                              *            *           *

Upon our arrival at the clinic we here the familiar shrill yell of the receptionist,

“CORA! TIA! Its so good to see you again”

“Hi, Valley.” Pan responds

Pan has hated Valentine since our final year of high school, probably because she never used the right pronouns or name. but Pan dose get Val back by calling her Valley, the reason for the name change was plenty of years not seeing  eye to eye with their mother and over time came to hate the name Tia so Pan decided to go by Pandora instead. We check in and take a seat, in total there is probably only about seven others there as usual Pan and I text each other little made up stories about all the people in the room.

‘You see him over there?’ Pan texts

‘Yeah.’ I respond

‘Well he is the most feared Sea Captain in the pacific, once he killed a whale with his bare hands.’

‘That poor whale.’

‘No, the whale was in pain, it needed to be put down.’

‘Ok. What’s his name then?’

‘Captain Stewart Precibal Neptune’

‘The Forth?’

‘No, don’t be ridiculous…the second’

After a few minutes of that Pan and I were called into the check up rooms, Pan’s are generally really quick but that is a story for another time. And mine, mine is taking longer than usual, the doctors generally judge when they think you’ll begin your decay based on when your parents did, my mum apparently started at twenty-three, my dad well we don’t know, what we do know is that he should be in jail.

“Well it would seem you’ve got your Aunt’s genes Cora.” Doctor Vries tells me with great enthusiasm.

“But what if its my fathers’ genes for all we know I could begin decaying a week from now.”

“Well you never know but let’s say that at sixty you will still be decay free.”

“That would be nice.” I sigh

“Well you’re free to go now Cora.”

“See you next time Doc.”

I exited the room to find Pan waiting anxiously, I suppose I worried them by not mentioning that this year was the long check-up. I mean back when they was born people didn’t get check ups if someone started to decay a melodramatic towns member would yell ‘Plague’ and then the decaying would be killed.

“I was so worried, are you alright? Are they going to burn you?” Pan leaps up

“No, I’m fine it’s just my mum was twenty-three when her decay began so they needed to do a thorough check up.”

“Oh, well let’s go home its movie night after all and I rented out a shit load of horror.”

“Just for once can a movie night not be taken over by more horror movies then we should be able to watch in one night.”

“Well then don’t leave me in charge of renting the movies because that’s the only way to end my reign of Horror.”

I laugh as we get in the car that is before Pan puts on my least favourite soundtrack, Hamilton. Don’t get me wrong its really good but when you hear it over and over, every day you start to dislike it, but they are the driver and as such I must shut my cake-hole. I sigh and look out the window drifting off into my own little world, I think about my mum, and my aunt. Before I moved in with Pan and just life, but then I hear it.

“I will send a fully armed battalion to remind you of my love.” the first king George song being belted out by Pan.

“No, I will not be back. So please stop sending me fully armed battalions.” I respond and they give a little laugh.

I swear our relationship used to be normal, but as we got closer and closer we got more comfortable and slowly became weirder and weirder. I wouldn't change anything though, even if you offered me immortality and the entirety of space time.