LOST GIRL

Chapter 1

I was a horrible sister.

    The day that Zalia disappeared was like any other normal day. It was November and we were on Fall break. The leaves on the trees had just turned from green to brown and orange. The weather had turned from the high 80's to the 60's. We were able to finally pull out our favorite fall wear: hoodies, leggings and Ugg boots. The clouds were gray, and the city looked gloomy.

    That morning, we all got up and went by our normal routines. I had planned to go out shopping with my best friend Mila. My parents had left for their jobs at the hospital earlier that morning. And I had no clue what Zalia's plans were. It didn't matter much to me then, but it did over time.

    Thinking back, I wondered if I had just canceled plans with Mila and stayed home with Zalia would things have been different.  But I didn't. I was young and had my own life to live so I didn't care too much to question my younger sister, who also had her own life.

    That night when I returned home, she wasn't there. I still didn't think too much into it, it was always like her to come home late. She always came past curfew on the days she knew my parents would be working late. She knew I wouldn't tell. But I wish I had that night. I wish I had grabbed my phone and called my parent's up to let them know Zalia was not home. I wish I would've pressed the issue right then. They might've put an Amber Alert out for her right then. Maybe it would've spooked her abductor and he or she would've let her go out in the middle of nowhere and she stumbled upon a random stranger's doorstep and they alerted the police for her. Maybe she could've been found.

    I went to her bedroom the next morning to see if she wanted to go and get breakfast, but her room was just as it was the day before. That's when I used my voice and spoke up to my parents. They were more pissed at me than anything. The cops were called and an Amber Alert was issued. One of her gal pals came forward and told us that Zalia was on her way to meet her and a group of other friends at the movies but never showed up. The last time she talked to her, she stated that she was stopping to get gas around the corner from where we lived and that she would be there shortly. I wondered why she hadn't said anything earlier when she didn't show? What kind of friend is that? But I knew I couldn't blame her. She was young, she didn't think too much of it. I mean, Zalia wasn't a very reliable person. The cops went to the closest gas station near our house and sure enough, there was Zalia on CCTV footage coming in and out of the gas station. And that was the last time anyone saw her. She made national news, people from the other side of the United States were reaching out to us via social media with tips. It wasn't long before everyone in the U.S. were sharing the hashtag #BRINGZALIAHOME.

    Here I am 3 years later, sitting in a therapist's office after being convinced by my best friend Mila and my boyfriend, Brian. The office was rather small compared to what I had imagined it to be. There was a couch, but not the soft comfortable kind that you would see people on TV laying on, venting to their therapist. This couch was leather and black and looked as if it was ready to be thrown out. There were many degrees in frames on the wall, basically saying "I know what the hell I'm doing here." He stared at me with glasses that were almost bigger than his face. They reminded me of that film Napoleon Dynamite. He was the average, older white guy with gray hair only sprouting from the sides of his head, leaving the middle bald and shiny. I was pretty sure if I rubbed the middle part of his head, I could've seen my future. As I talked, he wrote. He probably wrote how incredibly insane I was. There's no hope for this chick. Lock her up in a mental institution ASAP.

Our session only lasted about an hour. He sat, listened, wrote and since my talking took up the majority of the time, he insisted that I come back for a follow up and we could go from there. It seemed like a waste to me, but I had nothing better to do. And apparently he is one of the best.