The Boy From my Childhood

Ally

I stood in front of the school entrance. My body wouldn't move and my eyes laid on the sign steadily. My feet felt so heavy.

The other students glanced at me and snickered as they walked right on through the gates. My hands gripped onto my backpack straps tighter and tighter as my heart pounded uncontrollably.

It wasn't a choice to go through this gate. I had to. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

And took a step forward into my new life.

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~ 2 weeks ago ~

I opened the front door to my apartment and glanced inside.

"Uncle?" I said. "What are all these boxes in the living room for?"

I walked over the mess and toward him on the other side of the room.

Uncle was packing his clothes into a cardboard box. "Ally, we're not staying here anymore."

"What? We're moving?" I said, "But it's so sudden..."

"I'm sorry. It just that there was something that came up suddenly..."

I looked at his face trying to interpret him. Uncle wasn't being clear and wasn't looking at me. There was something else he was hiding.

"Uncle, please tell me. What's really going on?"

He closed his eyes for a second.

"I don't want to leave you alone after I die, Ally."

"What? Why....why are you saying that so suddenly?" I asked.

He opened his eyes and looked at me directly. My heart dropped. I've never seen him look at me with those sunken eyes before. For the first time, he looked so aged. Uncle slowly sat down on the couch with a grunt.

"The doctor told me that my cancer is not and won't ever get any better. I have been in the third stage for a while already. I'll be gone in less than a year and you'll have nowhere and no one left. No family...no relative."

"No..." I said, "don't say that... Don't joke around like that Uncle."

"I'm not."

"Why are we moving then? Are we going so that you could get better treat--"

"We aren't moving in the same place. We're going on separate paths. You're going to a private school with a dormitory while I go to New York," Uncle said.

"Wait, what? Didn't you say that you didn't want me to be alone? But--but here you are, Uncle! You're sending me off to some unknown place while you go to New York! I... I don't want to leave you, Uncle! You said you have little time left, so let me be there with you as much as I can. Please don't do this to me. I rather be with you than go to some stupid private school! Is sending me there worth more than family, Uncle?"

My eyes were getting watery. I wiped it with my sleeve and stared at Uncle. It was silent for what seemed like forever.

"Ally..."

I held my ground holding in my tears.

"What if I told you that you had a father and brother two years older than you?"

My body stiffened and Uncle smiled sadly at me.

"If I told you that I'm going to New York where your father went missing to find him or that I'm sending you to this private school called Westerville Academy to go get your brother, what would you think?"

I clenched my fist and looked to the floor. My throat was tight.

"Those are lies. My dad went missing?" I said. "When? Mom told me that he died in a car accident when I was young."

"No, Ally. What your mom said was a lie. I'm sorry. It was before you were born when he left her side. He doesn't know about you yet. He might have not love your mother anymore, but I doubt he would reject his own child."

"And my brother? Why isn't he here with us? Why is he at that prestigious academy?" I said with a hint of anger.

He sighed and rubbed his scruffy chin.

"Well, a long time ago on the news, a six year old boy was said to be found dead in the river with his body beaten beyond recognition. My sister, or should I say, your mother, was waiting for your brother, Andrew, to arrive home from the school bus that day. When the bus arrived and your brother didn't come out, we all feared the worst. But, we kept denying that the dead boy was him for a while. We searched and searched for Andrew everyday for months but he never appeared and so in the end we gave up and accepted what we thought was the truth back then. We assumed that the murdered young child was him."

"But, he's alive?"

"Yeah... It turns out that the deceased boy was named Calvin Heartwell and he was the same age as your brother. His family was one of the most elite and influential of this region and they hired someone to kidnap another child to replaced their dead child. And so they kidnapped your brother, Andrew, because he looked so similar to Calvin."

"Why didn't you get him back if you knew about all of this?"

"Please don't make me out as the bad guy, Ally. I just found out recently too. I saw a picture of him on a newspaper and did some researching because he reminded me of your mom. In the past, I never thought I had a need to tell you that you had a brother because what good would that be if he's already gone. Why should I let you grieve about a brother you never knew? Why should I cause unnecessary sadness for my only niece?"

"I'll go to the private school then."

He gave me a small smile.

"Yeah, I'd knew you would agree in the end. Just remember that your brother, Andrew, currently goes to Westerville Academy under the name of Calvin Heartwell."

"Then, what do you want me to do when I do find him?"

His face hardened.

"Tell him that his whole life was a lie."

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~ now ~

I stood staring at the tall buildings surrounding me. I touched my cut hair with the tip of my fingers. My face was getting hot.

Why did...

Just, why did Uncle had to tell me at the last moment that Westerville Academy was actually an All-Boys School?!