Chapter 1A Chapter by Melissa“This may be the
last time I come visit you for a while. I know I’ve practically lived here for
the past few days but they’re sending me to live with Natalie. I haven’t seen
her since she abandoned us. I’m sorry, Mom. I miss you.” The flowers I held
in my hand dropped and landed safely on the grave at my feet. I stood up from
my crouched position and waved goodbye to my mother’s grave before turning away
and wiping the tears from my eyes. My pace on the walk
back to my house is slow and consistent. As soon as the house comes into my
view, I see Natalie and a couple people in suits. They notice me soon after I
notice them. “Are your bags
packed?” my caseworker asks. I nod, holding her stare with my own. “Good,” she
nods. “Go get them.” I break eye contact
with her and turn toward the house I’d grown up in. I lived my whole life in
this house. It’s difficult for me to believe that I’m being torn away from it.
My bags are in my room, and I grab them before taking a last look around. The
room is plain, with white walls and a neutral carpet. A small sigh slips
from my lips as I leave, carrying my two bags. “Only two?” Natalie
asks. I nod, refusing to look at her. My caseworker, Maria, excuses herself and
Natalie stares at me, her blond hair falling from behind her ear. “Listen, I
know Mom’s death was hard, but I’m your sister and I’m trying to help.” “You are only my
sister by blood. I didn’t need your help then and I don’t need it now.” “Hayley…” she
tries. “Please just don’t
talk to me.” My sister sighs
before Maria comes back. She leads me over to Natalie’s car and puts my bags in
the backseat. She closes the door, but I immediately open it again and sit with
my stuff, determined not to be close to Natalie. Maria and Natalie
stand outside and talk for a few more moments before Natalie climbs into the
driver’s seat. “Are you hungry?”
she asks. “Do you want to go out to eat or pick up food on the way home?” I continue to stare
out the window silently, and she lets out a long sigh before going silent and
focusing on the drive. The ride is about
fifteen minutes, but it’s far enough that I would be forced to switch schools.
Natalie doesn’t attempt to begin another conversation, because she’s learned
quickly not to try. The silence is almost eerie, and the tension is pretty
thick. “We’re home,”
Natalie says as we pull into a driveway. I turn forward and my eyes land upon a
very large house. It looks about three stories high and the house itself is
pure white. Slowly, I climb out of Natalie’s car and grab my stuff. The
driveway is long, and Natalie reaches her purple front door before I do She
pushes a key into the lock and leans against the door to open it. “Please take
off your shoes.” I slip my shoes off
and she leads me up to the third floor, where my room is located. She then
opens the door and I’m welcomed by a room with purple walls, and an animal
theme worked in throughout the room. The bedspread is zebra, while posters of
cheetahs, leopards, and pumas lie on the walls. The carpet is black, with small
throw rugs of tiger print throughout the room. “When we were
little, this was your dream room. Remember?” Natalie says. “Yeah, that was
before you abandoned us.” “Hayley, stop it.” I shake my head and
drop my bags on the floor next to my new bed. “Okay, well… I’m
going to make dinner. Hot dogs are okay, right?” “Yep.” She lets out a
small sigh before turning away. After she leaves I get up and close the door.
Then I look around the new room. There are two closets, as well as a bureau. A
medium-sized TV is located near the bed. I open the closets
first. Both are medium-sized and empty. Next I open each drawer of the bureau.
All of them are empty. Finally, I open the top drawer of the nightstand located
on the right. Inside it lays a notebook with a pen and pencil. Next, I open the
drawer under it. Inside it there was a cell phone, will a note that reads: “I figured you’d want to keep in touch with
your friends.” I move on to the
bottom drawer of the left nightstand. There’s a laptop with pink plaid as a
cover, as well as an iPod. Finally, I open the
last drawer. There are pictures inside. I pick them up and see that they’re
pictures of me and Natalie. In them, I’m very young, which makes sense, because
she left when I was eleven. “Dinner’s ready!”
Natalie calls. I place the
pictures down and go down the stairs. Natalie is waiting
for me at the bottom of the stairs. “You haven’t been in the kitchen yet, so I
figured you wouldn’t know how to get there.” My only response is
a slight nod. She begins walking,
and I follow. I’m led through a living room that contains mostly blue
furniture. The door on the other side of the living room leads to a hallway,
which has the front door in it. There’s a door on the other side of the
hallway, and when we walk through it I find myself in a kitchen. The kitchen is
full of orange appliances and furniture. On the table in the
middle of the room, there is food spread out. A plate sits in the middle with
four hot dogs, and buns are in the bag next to the plate. Corn on the cob,
potato salad, pasta salad, chips, and sodas are also there. “Help yourself,”
Natalie says. She approaches the table and picks up a plate before serving
herself. “I made a lot because I remember being hungry a lot after Dad left.” “It wasn’t that
bad,” I say defensively. She gives me a
look, and just sighs. I walk over and pick up one hotdog, and one piece of corn
on the cob as well as a small handful of chips. “That’s it?” she
questions. I nod and she sighs
again before leading me through another door and into a mostly green dining
room. After a few moments
of eating in silence, Natalie begins talking. “So there’s something that we
really should talk about…” “What?” I say
curtly. “I’ve been seeing
someone since college. His name is Jordan, and he’s really good for me.” She
waits for me to say something back, but when I don’t she continues, “He’s
moving in tomorrow.” “Okay?” I question,
wondering why she’s making it out to be such a big deal. “Both his parents
were killed in a car crash when he was 18. Since he was technically an adult,
he was given custody of his two siblings.” ‘There’s the catch,’ I think. “They’re twins.
Katy-Lynn and Jason, and they’re both seventeen. They’ll be in the same hallway
as you, so it would be nice if you’d make friends with them.” I say nothing and
resume eating. “Promise you’ll
try.” “No,” I say before
standing up, throwing the rest of my food away, and walking to my room without
saying anything else, my stomach growling slightly as I walk up the stairs. © 2012 Melissa |
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3 Reviews Added on April 9, 2012 Last Updated on April 9, 2012 Author |