Chapter 18

A Chapter by Melissa

I didn’t leave my room that day. I didn’t leave my room the next day either, forcing Natalie to call me in sick at school. On the third day Natalie knocked on my door at four in the morning. That’s even earlier than I would normally be up for swimming.

“Please open it,” Natalie whispers.

I let out a soft sigh and drag myself out of my bed. I unlatch the lock on my door before climbing back to my bed. Slowly, Natalie’s fingers turn the doorknob and she pushes it open. She’s holding a bowl with Fruit Loops in it.

“Are you feeling better?” she asks me very quietly.

My response is a shake of my head.

“I’m sorry. Jason told me that there was something going on between you two… I understand. He says that nothing happened between you though… so what happened? What’s made you… become like this?” she asks trying to sound gentle.

I look at Natalie for a few moments. Her normally smooth skin is wrinkled with stress, probably caused by me. Her normally flawless makeup is absent, she has nothing on. It looks so free of makeup that I almost doubt she wore any yesterday. Her back is hunched over, seemingly because of stress as well. Even though I dislike her, she’s my sister, and I can’t cause her pain like this. My decision of what to do is made for me, there’s nothing else I can do.

“Can you do me a favor?” I ask, softly.

“Sure, anything,” Natalie responds, desperate for me to be okay.

“Tell Jason I’m sorry. Tell him I’m not coming back.”

“Not coming back? What…” Natalie trails of as I stand up. I’m weak from lack of food, but due to my old life before my mother died, I’m accustomed to it. I grab a suitcase from my closet, and it clicks in Natalie's head. “No, Hayley… don’t go.”

I remain silent as I start to fill my suitcase. I try to keep it light, as I’m not sure how far I’ll be walking. I put a couple pairs of jeans, a casual shirt, a dressy shirt, a skirt, a pair of pajamas, underwear, my toothbrush, my hairbrush, my small amount of makeup, and then I prepare to close it.

“Hayley… at least… take this stuff…” Natalie gasps out between sobs. She points onto my bed, where she seems to have gathered a few things. The first is a picture of Katy, Jason, and I when we first became friends. We’re smiling, with our arms around each other. The second is the picture of Natalie and I when we were kids that I found in a drawer in my room when I first moved here. She also took out my laptop, its charger, my cell phone, its charger, and my iPod and its charger.

I nod curtly and put the stuff in my suitcase. Natalie continues to cry as she throws her arms around me. I stand stiffly, awkwardly. I resent Natalie, for the way she left me when I was little, but also because I know she’s been trying to “save” me. And I don’t need saving.

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