The Importance

Similarity Significance

Jane has dinner already made, but I am adequate with it. It is only 4:00 pm, so it isn't outrageous at her timing. I announce that I am not very hungry and hate the fall of Jane's face. I hate to let people down, but I can't eat, not now.

This always happens!

I head up to my room, already feeling my cheeks growing warm and my eyes glazing over to release the floodwaters. I have never known why. Maybe it is my loneliness, maybe it is the fact that I was happy for a little bit, and then I have to come back into my mind and face the consequences.

That night, I don't sleep much. I can't seem to force myself to, and nothing will make me. At one point, I am sure that I have fallen asleep when my mind regenerates and wakes me up again to spin in a circle and jump into endless black holes and spiraling whirlwinds of overthinking. When I finally fall asleep, it seems as though only a minute passes before I have to rise again and get in the shower to freshen up for the day.

I know that Jane and Peter have plans for me to work a little bit today, feeding most of the animals they have while they are gone for the day. Jane suggested that I have Emma and Alex over so I could have "safety in numbers." I don't favor being unsafe, but I can't be alone. Seeing as they haven't found any suggestions that my mother and father's kidnapper would like to get me, I assume it wouldn't hurt to be alone. I express this to both of my overprotective bodyguards and they disagree greatly. 

I have a few other options; I can go with Jane and Peter to their job with the FBI, which I would surely enjoy. I don't have a very long time to decide though, because Jane and Peter need to get going, but they do need me to help out around here, so...

"I'll stay....." Jane props her hands on her hips like every mother would know how to do. "I...I guess I will also invite Emma over...." and she glares. I reluctantly sigh, "And I will see if Alex can come also."

Unwillingly, I call Emma and ask if she would want to hang out. I know I must sound a bit desperate, but it's loudly forced. I did recently go to her house, but she accepts, to my surprise. Unfortunately, she only agrees to come over after I explain the circumstances around my invitation, and I ask her to bring Alex or ask him if he would like to come. I'm sure she could formulate some drama about my "aunt and uncle" being a tad bit too shielding over me but she gladly doesn't. I'm bewildered that no one has asked why I have been staying with Jane and Peter, who we, mostly just I, have told everyone are my aunt and uncle who just moved over here to watch over me.

My parents have just been "so distant" in the past weeks, and they only needed a shred of time to work everything out. My relatives gladly said they'd take me in for a while so that Mom and Dad could "work out their problems." No one has seen either of my "quarreling" parents because they took a long vacation, not conveying when they would be back. They only wanted to travel the world and see things while they were young.

It is a believable story. My parents have been "missing" from the bustling society of a small town for some time now. Rumors have started to erupt from the ground and that is never favorable. At least my parents aren't that social, so not many people know and care about them. The story we had configured merely had to last for a few more weeks.

Weeks? Months? It's going to turn into years. What then?

My phone suddenly rings and I fumble for it, not comprehending the noise until after a few buzzes. Alex's name flashes on my screen when I pick up my device. 

"Hello?"

"Hey, it is Alex. I was just calling to say that I'll be over a bit after Emma because she is the favorite child and our parents gave me all the chores," he sounds annoyed with his sister, "Sometime, you know. She always gets past while I am stuck doing everything."