Was it suicide?

Chapter 16- Why Ava?

***Glass Breaking Noise*** 

Anna's eyes shot open.

***Indistinct Shouting and Screaming***

“What happened now?”, she frowned after realizing that it was her parents. It was a common phenomenon still, Anna wasn’t used to it. She used to feel frustrated every time her parents picked up a fight. Getting out of bed, she tried to listen to, and get to know why they were fighting. 

"If you wouldn't have been immersed in your work so much then Ava would have been with us today!" her mom ranted.

Anna flinched at the mention of her late sister. She hated the fact that every fight between her parents somehow got down to Ava's suicide. 

"How can you use your deceased daughter every time you are losing the argument! What kind of mother are you?" her father yelled. 

The arguments were getting heated up. Anna couldn't take it anymore. She went down to the hall where her parents were fighting. 

"Could you stop digging the past?" Anna shouted.

"What?" her father turned to her. "Behave Anna! Your tone is unacceptable." 

"Oh yeah! And you people using your deceased daughter to win a fight is 'acceptable', right?" Anna scoffed. 

"You stay out of it Ann. Adults will handle this" her father commanded. 

"Adults!" she rolled her eyes. 

"Have you forgotten all your manners Anna?" her mother spoke in her low pitched tone.  

"What-" 

"NO! I don't want to listen to anything from you. Go to your room." her mother ordered. 

"I-" 

"NOW" 

Anna looked at her mother's expressionless face. She couldn't understand what was going on inside her mother's head. Her eyes went to her father who was standing with his hands crossed in front of his chest in an authoritative manner. She tried to look into the eyes of her father but he turned away from her. 

Her mother took a deep breath. "I said, GO TO YOUR ROOM." she spoke through her gritted teeth. 

"NO" Anna gasped and turned around.

"Where are you going?" Her mother called out from behind. 

Anna didn't stop. She slammed the door behind her while she stomped off in a huff. 

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Anna was lying down on the hillock near the river. The water in front of her felt beautifully peaceful. The shimmering reflection of the bridge lightened with dark blue corb lights along with the white and yellow city lights made it a view for the eye. This bridge, which was to her right side, connected those two towns which were completely different in their lifestyles. 

This was one of Ava's favorite places. She used to tell Anna the stories of these two towns and how these two are completely different from each other. Ava loved to go to the other town. She often quoted that she feels free whenever she goes there. After her departure, Anna used to come here every time she missed her sister.

"Why Ava?", a teardrop escaped from the corner of her eye and rolled down by the side of her face, into the grass of the hillock. "Why did you do it?"

"You should have told me that you loved him" she pressed her eyes.

"I would've accepted it. But this…" 

"This is harder"

"This haunts me, Ava!" 

"Everything has changed since you left us."

"Our parents have changed Ava", the cold wind hit her face. The tears on both the sides of her eyes froze on their spot. 

"This is all your fault. Who gave you the right to decide for me? Who gave you the right to ruin all of our lives?"

"Who gave you the right to give it all up Ava?" she started sobbing. She cried her heart out for almost an hour. 

She closed her eyes to calm herself down. Suddenly, she sensed the presence of someone. Turning to her side, she tried to see who it was. Her eyes went to a girl and a boy, probably a couple, who had their backs at her. 

"Why does this person look familiar?" She furrowed her brows and got up on her feet to take a clear look. 

"Joel!" she was stunned. "What the hell is he doing here?" she thought to herself.

"Does he remember that this is Ava's favorite place? How can he bring a girl here?" she got infuriated.

"Is she his girlfriend?" she choked at her words.