The Fall of Family

Chapter Two

But I soon realized that kicking and screaming at life would not work. I remember the day clearly when I was around 4. I asked my dad about where mom went. That hit him in the wrong spot. Drew, who was about 9 at the time, took me out of the room as soon as the question left my mouth and told me why. But knowing the no-nonsense Drew as he is, he did not sugarcoat it.

After that, I remember calmly walking to my dad's rooms with tear-filled eyes and we cried together, side-by-side. After we got done crying, I went to my room and screamed, cried and threw my anger out, after which I cried myself to sleep. That day is always on my mind and it will never leave my memory. It pops in my head every morning, like this morning.

I sit up fast, wide awake in a cold sweat. Breathing heavily, I look down to see my bed and covers comforting me, reminding me I am in the real world, not in a dream. I glance at my alarm clock, which reads 4:16. I lay back down violently and run my cold, shaky fingers through my hair. Frustrated and fatigued, I roll over and try to shut my eyes and fall asleep. In a failed attempt to drift off, my mind floats around.

I think of my parents, of Drew, of school, of my best friend; Stephanie, my phone messages and my breakfast in a few hours. My stomach drifts around queasily, but not nauseously, so I do not worry. I pick at my chocolate mint nail polish and pop my toes.

After around 10 more minutes of failing to sleep, I reach over to my phone and pull it in bed with me, at 100%, I pull out the charger and stare at my background, Drew, Stephanie and me. At my 14th birthday party, holding an illegal beer, we were just having a good time. Sighing, I roll over and finally drift off into a light sleep.

At 6:00, I heard my 21 Pilots playlist starting to begin as my alarm. I roll over, grunting in the process and pick up my phone, turning the volume down so no one else in the house hears me.

I sit up and stare at my penguin pj's and slowly get up, staring at my closet, wondering what I should where today, Monday. I chose a t-shirt and a nice pair of jeans and went to my bathroom and hopped into the shower. Bringing my phone with me and turning up the volume so I can hear it in the shower, I take off my clothes and walk in, letting the warm water flow over my head and down my body.

After finishing my shower, mumbling along to the songs floating through the air the entire time, I put on my clean clothes and put the dirty one in my dirty clothes basket in my closet.

I walked out into the kitchen, opened the fridge and grabbed the first thing that I glanced at, a raspberry yogurt. After about half of the container, my stomach didn't have a desire for food anymore, so I washed the plastic cup out and put it in the recycling.

After that, I went to the bathroom, put my hair in a French braid and brushed my teeth. I grabbed my phone, which was still playing 21 pilots, yelled to my dad to let him know I was leaving, getting a mumbled "I love you" in returned and walked outside into the garage.

I opened the drivers side door with a squeak and threw my 10 pound cement backpack onto the seat and managed my way into the messy front seat. My 2001 Honda was the most hideous, messy and wrecked car at Silverthorne High, but I didn't have close enough money to buy my own, so I settled for my brothers old hand-me-down. I started the car, got what I would call far from a purr, and started off.

At 6:45 in the morning, no one was out at this time, which is why I like leaving early. About two joggers here, a dog walker here, a few cars and a bus were rolling around this early. Peaceful and almost no traffic.

After about the first 10 minutes of the drive, I felt a sharp pain in my chest, which I could only describe as someone slowly digging a pen into it. The pain happened so suddenly, I swallowed my confusion and worry and continued driving. After the pen was hand grip deep, I knew something was wrong.

After fighting the crowd of cars into the school parking lot, I pulled into my parking space. By about this time, my stomach started to kick in and I felt nauseous. I grabbed a Tylenol from my car cup holder and swallowed dry, as fast as I could. As I sat for a few silent minutes in the car, my hand on my stomach, head back into the head rest. After admitting defeat, I; groaning in the process, felt for a plastic bag and started vomiting into it.