The treehouse

Under the rain

I exit the gates of hell also known as school and hold my hands up in the air in celebration. I feel so content even though I know my current freedom is only temporary. My feet hurt like I just walked a thousand miles, but that's the least of my worries because the rain is also pouring hard.

I look at the other children driving away in their fancy cars and wacky smiles. I sigh as I focus on my long walk from hell to yet another hell. But this hell I'm headed to is better than the one I just left.

I'm not in a hurry to get out of the rain because I know I am going to get wet whether inside or outside. The ceiling of the attic, my room has so many little leaks it puts the shower head to shame. It's times like these I wish they had given me the basement for a room instead of the attic. But then again the basement might get flooded and when I resurface from the water I might find myself in Narnia or something. Come to think of it I would rather the talking lion compared to the monsters I live with.

The house comes to view and the dark stormy clouds hovering on top it seem to be darker than the other clouds. I envision lightning striking on the house but living it intact, like in horror movies. Vampires and ghosts mostly reside in such houses but unfortunately in my case it's much much worse.

I near the front door and the figure of a person becomes visible. I double check if I'm at the right house and surely I am. The person has his head held down sitting on the pavement under the rain.

Who is he?

It's not my problem right?

I mean I don't even know him and it's unlikely that he knows me.

I can sneak away and enter the house through the back door. Plus he hasn't seen me and logic states if you can't see me I can't see you (okay that doesn't sound right, but I need an excuse to escape this situation. I have a leaking roof to fix).

I start to tiptoe as quietly as I can. I have always been known for my skills to sneak away undetected. Some even call me the master of stealth, a legendary ninja.

"You still can tiptoe after all these years" an amused voice says and I almost didn't hear due to the rain. The voice sounds familiar, "we always got caught because of you while we were trying to sneak away after stealing cookies".

I turn around to face the owner who is now standing. We make eye contact and I can't hold in my surprise. This is impossible, it can't be. I never thought I would ever see him again in my life but here he is. His brown eyes that used to melt my insides, hold fondness towards me that was absent the last time I saw him. He has grown up now then again so have I. He managed to maintain his good looks while he obtained muscle.

"Jace?" I say unsure.

"Karen" he says back his voice holding a lot of maturity. It is him!

"W-what are you doing here?" I whisper afraid of his answer.

"Come again" he say and nears me. I take a step back for safety precautions. Hurt flashes through his eyes but he quickly recovers. "Why don't we go inside? So we can talk"

"That's not possible" I say looking down at the wet muddy ground.

"Why?" he asks and I refuse to reply.

What do I tell him the truth that I'm not allowed in the living room anymore or any other room except for the attic?

"Let's go to the tree house then, is it still intact?".

Without a reply I lead the way to the good ol' treehouse. To be honest I hadn't gone there in years. So I am as surprised as him to see that it's still standing. Nostalgia hits me hard and I mentally wince. The past is something I don't want to think about.

We both climb up the treehouse and look at the direction of the sea ahead. Just like old times just that back then it was three instead of two people.

"Remember when the two of us fell off the treehouse and broke our arms then our parents banned us from coming here" he says his voice laced with humor.

"It was your fault we fell" I say even though I know it was my clumsiness that caused the fall and I wasn't going to go down alone, so I grabbed the closest thing to me which happened to be him.

"Was not" he defends himself.

"Karrie was so mad that she was also banned from the treehouse that she didn't speak to us for a week" I chuckle and then the realization that I just said her name after so long makes me frown. Jace also stiffens and avoids looking at me.

"What do you want?" I ask irritated, in the few minutes since he has been back I have been forced to face the two things I have been avoiding for so long.

"I want to apologise" he says now facing me. "It was wrong how I reacted and treated you. I was just so angry I needed someone to blame,"

I look at him not knowing what to say.

"You have to understand I loved Karrie and what happened was just to much to bare. And when I heard that you were the reason she-"

"Shut up!" I yell losing it. "Do you think I don't feel guilty? I. Feel. Guilty. Everyday. And people don't hesitate to remind me everyday either. My family wishes it could have happened to me instead of Karrie, I am an outcast in my own home. The kids at school wish it could have happened to me instead of Karrie, the garbage thrown at me proves it. The whole neighborhood wishes it could have happened to me instead of Karrie, their stink eyes as I walk by prove it. And you...." I say tears streaming down my face, all the walls that I had built tumbling down like the walls of Jericho. "you wish it happened to me instead of Karrie, you told me so while you were trying to strangle me to death"

He looks at me with a sullen expression on his face, he opens his mouth to say something but nothing comes out.

"Everyone hates me" I sob falling down on the wooden floor.

All the weight that has been weighing on my shoulders crush on me all to sudden. The memory of that night starts replaying itself in my mind.

You see, Karrie is my twin sister.... or was. Me and her weren't identical but we had similarities here and there. Karrie was always the lovable one and loved one. She was my parent's favorite and they didn't bother to hide it. People in the community adored her. Children wished to be like her. I was always in her shadow. She was the beautiful one, the respectful and polite one, the clever one, the one most likely to succeed. Where as I was the complete opposite, by choice really.

It was always the three of us for as long as I can remember, Karrie, Jace and I. Somewhere along the line I developed a crush on Jace. I confided it all to my sister in hopes that she could give me advice, despite us being twelve years old she was smart. Her advice was for me to let everything play out on its own.

A week later Jace confessed his undying love........ to Karrie. He asked Karrie to be her girlfriend and she said yes. I was shattered to say the least.

My twin sister had stabbed me in the back, that very night I crashed a high school party so I could drink and drown my sorrow away. Even drunk I was still responsible so I called her to come and fetch me (how? I don't know but she always had a plan), she said she was coming.

She never did.

She left the house and no one ever saw her again.

She disappeared.

She went missing.

Five years of searching and she still hasn't been found. If  I hadn't had called her she wouldn't have gone out of the house and encountered whatever horrible thing she encountered.

It's all my fault.

I may not have deserved to be the outcast when she was around but now I deserve everything.

Arms wrap around me as I continue to cry, they rub my back softly.

"It's okay Karen, we were all wrong to put the blame on you" he whispers. "Everything is going to be alright"

"No, nothing is going to be alright"