Life Points Onwards[Re-Writing]

Chapter 17

In the attic, I went through boxes and boxes for hours, desperate to find my old diary. Finally, with one final box that was labeled Megan's stuff, I found my pink, leather diary. Hugging it to my chest, I brought it back to my room and flipped to the first page.

July 12, 2016

Dear Diary,

Today was the best day ever! William and my father took me to the beach today, and the water was so refreshing and it was fun to play in it. It's been ages since I'd gotten a trip like this. Mother and father had another fight yesterday, and my mother refused to go on the beach trip with us. Oh well! I wish William didn't have to go to that facility next week. Mother won't tell me what it is, but the tension in the air makes it feel that it isn't a good thing at all.

Love,

Megan Gallagher

After reading the first entry, I felt tears in my eyes. It was the last beach trip I ever took with William and my father. While I was reading the entry, I felt two emotions. I really wanted to throw the diary across the room, but I had spent such a long time looking for it.

I really, really missed my father. I was not given permission to visit him, and it had been two years since I saw him. He lived in Florida, and lived with his new family. It hurt me to see him grow more attached to his new kids rather than me.

But on the inside, he was perfect there. He looked much happier than he ever will be here, and I envied them. Shifting away from the picture, I picked up the next entry for my diary.

July 18, 2016

Dear Diary,

The house is quiet now. It's only me, Janice, and mother. We have a lot of mail, now, too. Whenever I have a sleepover, my mother is very eager to send me along. I have one tomorrow too, with a friend named Terry. Last week, I had one with Luna. When will this end?

Under some stress,

Megan

I flipped through the next pages of my diary, but it started again from 2018. Why had I stopped writing after this last entry? And who was Terry and Luna? No matter how hard I tried to remember, I had no memory of the two girls. Was it because I had fainted and was under too much stress? I gripped my hair. This was so frustrating! I had nowhere to start with this type of lead.

"Megan?" My mother called me from the doorway. I quickly shut my diary and looked over at her.

"Y-yeah?" I stumbled over my words as my mother looked over at the diary.

"Is that your old diary?" She reached for it but I took it back and slid it into my desk. She looked confused, so I quickly explained with a white lie.

"Oh, it just had some embarrassing stuff," I lied while tucking some hair behind my ear. She nodded with understanding.

"Okay. I'm going out somewhere for dinner, so Janice will heat something up for you." Once I gave a response, whether it was physical or verbal, she left the room.

My mother was a woman that said what she needed to and left quickly. She never let me explain, or ask, or even say 'I love you'. All she needed was my thought of 'yes' or 'no'. I had found that annoying ever since I was young, because I had never had a proper conversation with my mother. She found sitting in a room for too long exhausting, and she had to put herself to work.

Janice was a pain, but she was nice when she needed to. Lately, she had been ignoring me for a reason I couldn't uncover, but... she was different when William was still here. I remember the three of us going camping, and we would have so much fun being in one tent together. Together. That was a word I hadn't heard in a long time from my family.

My father is a lawyer. He sends money on holidays and birthdays, but it isn't a lot. As I said before, he has a new family now, so why would we matter to him? I miss the old him. He would understand me, listen to me, laugh with me, but now I can't even see him online.

William. I hope I see him again one day. I don't have much to explain about him. He was just an ordinary boy that lived a good life. I don't know what life is like at the facility, but I'm sure it's not as good as our home. 

- Starlight