BROKEN SILENCE

Chapter One

I stared into my baby sisters blue eyes as the grey emerged from the center.

"Mia, smile." I teased her in my baby voice, "C'mon MiMi."

A slight smile appeared upon her face, she began kicking her legs. Then all the sudden, her smile turned into tears.

"What did I do?" I backed away afraid before I saw my mom entering the room with a bottle. Relief was sent across my body, "Thank The Lord." I sighed, "I thought I had just like.. killed her."

"So, I assume you're still getting used to this." My mother said as she began to feed my youngest sister.

"This? This, as in my baby sister? Then yes. Mom, you and dad both know it was much easier with just me and Ri. You didn't even ask me if I wanted Mia." I might've yelled.

"It's not a thing I can just ask if you want, Han. I wasn't even prepared. It just kinda.. happened. I wasn't ready either."

"Life was much happier with just me and Riley. You could've at least, nevermind." I stopped myself before I said something really bad.

"What was I supposed to do?" My mother asked in a stern voice.

"I thought you would know this by now, but there's a thing called abortion." I grabbed my jacket off a chair and ran up the stairs.

"Hanny! What do ya think of my outfit?" Riley yelled into the hallway. I turned and walked into her room.

"Okay Ri." I laughed, "That doesn't match at all."

"I think it's cute." She twirled around in a long white skirt, a pink shirt with Hannah Montana on it, a huge winter coat and sandals on. I walked over to her closet and pulled out a white thin dress with embroidered flowers. "How bout this?" I asked her.

"It's gonna be cold Hanny." She looked at me like I was stupid. Then, I pulled out a cropped jean jacket and pink leggings. Riley smiled and put the apparel on.

"Can I do your hair Ri?" I asked.

"Sure, but don't pull it like you always do." She laughed and ran over to her bed, I sat behind her and began side braiding her medium length, shiny, light brown hair. It was thin and straight while mine was thick and curly. I topped off her braid with a pink headband.

"Hannah, Coletons here." My mom interrupted.

Riley slowly turned around, holding in her laughter. Coleton was a boy I may have talked about a little too much. Riley's eyes met mine and the silence was broken with laughter. I jumped off the bed, "Get your shoes on Riley!" I yelled while rushing out of her room.

"Go talk to your boyfriend, Hanny!" Riley yelled and I laughed to myself as I darted down the stairs. I saw Coleton standing at the door. His flippy brown hair covered his eyes slightly. He wore a plaid shirt and jeans.

"Hi Coleton.." I blushed.

"Hi Hannah." He tried to hide his red cheeks with his brown locks as he looked down.

Riley ran down the stairs and jumped on Coleton's back. He was like a big brother to her.

"Colety!" She had to add a y to the end of everything.

"Riles!" Coleton laughed and supported her weight on his back. I have to admit, I was definitely jealous of my younger sister. She had more interaction with Coleton than I did, more inside jokes, he even gave her a nickname.

On the ride to church, Riley and Coleton had fun laughing over Mia's cries. I sat aside to myself, playing with my golden feather ring, waiting for Riley to shut up.

"Shh Mia, it's okay." My mother reached back and patted her leg.

"Kimberly, could you see who's calling me?" My dad said when his phone vibrated.

My ears rang with my dads ringtone, my moms nurturing voice, Mia's screams and the laughter of two people I loved. I seemed to be the only one silent.

We arrived at church a short 10 minutes later. Coleton held Mia in his arms as Riley skipped behind him. My parents went off to their worship center, and Coleton went to the nursery with Mia. Lastly, Riley and I would be walking into the kids worship center that was rambling with noise. She took her seat on the left side of the room. I searched on the right side for a single seat, and finally found one beside a lip locking couple and a male wearing a tie. A video began on the huge screen, and the preacher began yelling. The lip locking couple crossed me to take their place on the stage. The band played obnoxiously over both of the already-loud-enough words. My heart started racing and I looked over at my innocent sister. Her anxiety kicked in and she turned her head to me.

Mrs. Tammy from the front desk came in with a worried look on her face. She pranced up the steps and whispered something to the preacher. He nodded his head and when she slammed the door, ordered us all to approach the stage slowly. As the room got out of their seats, I looked for my sister. Everyone in the room bowed in front of the stage and got in the tornado drill position- without our hands over our heads. I layed my head on the ground and searched for my sister, finally my eyes met hers.

"We're okay." I mouthed. A single tear rolled down her cheek. Preacher Tim got on his knees and recited a prayer. The video and music had stopped.

Suddenly, the door opened. Riley's eyes plead as the footsteps got closer. I felt a presence behind me and the room became silent.

The silence was broken.. with a gunshot.