Chapter One
8.30am Summers P.O.V
I feel kind of strange. I can’t feel the mattress beneath me which is weird. Actually I feel kind of chilly. Don’t you hate that, when you wake up because your cold, like you kicked the blankets off your bed in the night or something? I better get up anyway, I have school today, We have another one of those pop quiz things about trigonometry, Mr Fullagar gave me a warning because I am one of his favorites. I groan and open my eyes. What in hell?
Sorry, I don’t usually use curse words but you would too in this situation. I am lying in my front yard on the pavement and a bunch of random people are staring at me, some have tears running down their face, one looks really pale and like he’s in a lot of pain, oh wait that’s Jack!
“Jack, are you okay, whats wrong?” I ask quickly, he really looks quite traumatized.
He doesn’t say anything. I get up and sit next to him wrapping an arm around his shoulder. he doesn’t even acknowledge that I have moved. He won’t even look at me, it must be bad this time. A lot of things have happened to Jack in his lifetime, he has had to grow up a lot quicker than other people his age, that’s why not many people at school understand him, I think if he just opened up a little the other kids would be much nicer, I mean its not as if he’s an ugly boy, not with that dark hair and those brooding blue eye’s, it’s more like his intensity scares them off abit. As I was saying, I think if he made the effort with people, he’d do fine. He hasn’t told me the full story of his past but I know he has things to deal with that he shouldn’t have to. That no one should have too.
“Jack come on, what’s wrong? come inside, I’ll make hot chocolate” I try to pull him up. He doesn’t budge. He is still looking away from me. looking at something the crowd has surrounded, what are they looking at? I don’t care, right now I need to take care of Jack and frankly I can charge them for trespassing.
“OII!” I yell. “can you please all get off the lawn, this is trespassing” there’s so many of them. what are they even looking at? I press through to the front of the crowd to see what they are looking at. I receive a mix of emotions; shock, nausea and above all despair. And then, just like in a cliche teen novel; I black out.
One Hour Later ...
My eye’s are adjusting, I have opened them again now but I can’t even think. The only thing rushing through my head is ‘why?’ ‘why her?’ ‘why my beautiful sister?’
Why Wynter?
Wynter, always the confident twin, so sure of herself, so free. Never feeling guilty about anything she thought or believed.
I push my self through the crowd for a second time, it takes longer this time, the crowd has grown considerably and it has widened to include paramedics, police, I can see everyone I know except Jack. These are the only things I notice as I push and push, trying to reach my sister. My fearless sister. My brave sister. The only person on this earth I completely trust. But now she is gone. I reach the front of the crowd. And look to the ground.
My heart fills with joy. I must not have seen anything properly before, Because thats my Wynter, sitting up, breathing. In one piece. And most importantly; alive. It is because I am so happy right now, so elated that what I saw before was just my eyes playing tricks that I do not notice the obvious things for quite a while, the obvious things that mean something is not okay. Like my sisters expression. An expression I never want to see again, an expression I want to lock away in box and hide in the bottom of my cupboard. Because this expression is so raw, so in pain that I would not wish it on my worst enemy. It is at this moment that I notice the second obvious thing my brain should have picked up on. The reason for this expression on my twins face. The reason for this crowd and the reason that even now I can hear a car door slam and I can see my parents rushing towards us. All because the thing my sister is clutching so tight to her chest. Is me.
