Everything Has Changed

One

I awake at seven A.M., on a Thursday, February 19th, to hear my brother Trent screaming at my dad.

"If you must know, I went to a party at Jacob's cousin's house. I'm just a little hungover, I can handle school. Now, please old man, leave me alone!" I hear him slam his bedroom door and turn on loud rap music.

"You open this door this instant, Trent! I'm not done talking!" Dad screams back, beating at his door.

"Jason, give it a rest. He was just having fun with his friends." Mom says in a quiet voice.

"I don't care, Heather. He's eighteen and still in high school.  He does as I say and I expect him to follow the rules. What would people think if they found out that Doctor Madison let his own son go out and get drunk? That would ruin my reputation and I'd lose my job! Trent is a senior, for god sakes!" He yells at mom.

I can hear my father yelling bye before he leaves to go to the hospital.

I look at my phone on my bedside table and groan. Eighteen messages from my ride or die, Sam. Sam has been blowing up my phone ever since eight last night.

She got a harsh talking to from her parents after she had her boyfriend over yesterday while her parents were at work.

Her dad, David, is a police officer and the pastor of our local baptist church in our small town of Grace, California.

Her mom, Meryl, is a pharmacist for Grace Pharmaceuticals.

Sam is an only child, although she did have a baby brother but he passed away last year at six years old from Leukemia, a form of cancer that starts in the bone marrow. He was doing good, until the chemo stopped working. I remember that day. February 20th.

The day before his seventh birthday. I had woken up as normal for school, and was getting dressed. Until I got a call from Sam, she was hysterical, screaming and crying. I got in my car and drove as fast as I could to Saint Jude's but I was too late.

Jackson was gone. I walked into the room only to see Meryl cradling her baby in her arms and David talking to her, telling her it was going to be okay. Sam ran into my arms and sobbed. I could remember just three days before his passing, Jackson telling me that he wanted to be a police officer like his daddy, who he idolized.

We were cuddled up on the hospital bed together watching old reruns of Barney. And then, out of nowhere, he looked at me and said "I'm not scared to die, because Jesus loves me." And I just hugged him and said "Jackson, you are like the Hulk. He's strong, you're strong. You can beat this." Only if three days later that would have been true. Back to the present.

Sam: Hey bae, so I'm grounded. Apparently, my parents found out about Jacob sneaking over all the time when they're at work:( I can't go to Michael's party on Friday. Tell him I'm sorry.

And then a text from ten minutes ago. It's from Michael.

Hey ugly ;) Are you coming to my party tomorrow night? Zander and my cousin Tristan will be there. Brody won't be there, he'll be at a frat party at ASU, celebrating their win over Barton's football team. See you there:)

I put my phone down and get up. 7:15, I have fifteen minutes to get ready for school.  I go grab a sweatshirt and joggers from my closet and hop in the freezing cold shower. The cold water on my back wakes me up.

After I get out and get dressed, I pull my soaking wet hair into a messy bun. Five minutes later, I'm walking downstairs and grabbing a cup of coffee and a plate of pancakes that mom made.

"So, Erica, how'd you sleep? I'm sorry you were woken by your dad and Trent. Dalton cannot be late. He has his fourth grade science project presentation this morning. And, please, don't forget your lunches. Love you, see you tonight!" She calls out as the front door shuts behind her.