Chapter 1

A Chapter by Kayleigh

I was sitting in a lifeless room and my thoughts were louder than the grandfather clock next to me. The walls are painted a gloomy blue and the floors made of shiny oak wood. The room was depressing, yet comforting. I heard two knocks on the door and my older sister Quinn came in. “Bay, everyone is waiting for you to come downstairs.” she said. “I am staying up here and I would appreciate it if everyone respected that.” I replied. She started at me, sighed, and left the room without saying another word. A few days ago I was living a normal, somewhat happy life until my Dad called me and said that my brother, Chris, was in the ICU due to a drug overdose. Hearing that hit me with a huge wave of overwhelming sadness, but I knew I had to stay strong for my dad. He needed me. The story was that my brother was at someone’s house and took one too many dose of heroine. When the ambulance showed up, Chris was passed out on the floor and no one was found in the house. They had left him. My dad told me that he only had a 20% chance of living. Chris never woke up.

I heard another knock on the door. A boy opened it this time and uttered, “Hi… are you Baylynne?”. “Yeah.” I answered without making eye contact. He walked towards me and pulled up a chair. I felt like he had his eyes glued on me so I looked up and spoke in the politest way possible. “Can I help you?” He looked at me and didn’t say anything. He just stared at me. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. After a minute of silence he spoke. “I’m Nate. Our brothers were really close. Chris helped me through the loss of my younger sister…”. I looked at him and saw something that I had never seen in anyone else. I could not pinpoint an exact thing, but I knew he was different. “Oh.” I said. “What happened to your sister?”. I felt really nosey asking, but he seemed like someone that would talk about it. “She was riding her could never imagine something so tragic happening to my little brother. He is 8. “I’m so sorry.” I said. When we made eye contact, a tear fell down his face and he immediately wiped it off. “Anyways, if you need anyone to talk to here is my number. I have to go but it was nice metting you”. He gently placed a piece of a napkin in my hand. Before I could say anything he stood up and left. I examined the number written down, debating if I should take him up on his offer. I programmed the number in my phone. I sent him a text saying “Hey its Baylynne. Can we grab a coffee and chat sometime?” A few minutes later my phone vibrated.