Lost and Found

Chapter Three

No one notices your tears, no one notices your sadness, no one notices your pain, but they all see your mistakes -author unknown

***

Paul gave me the traditional goodnight kiss. And the next two weeks were filled with dates, late night phone calls, and being walked to class. Everything was great - aside from my home life - I'd never been this happy. Well other than with Ethan.

Then, once again, Hailey was digging through my clothes to find me an outfit. She had talked to Dylan and we were all going on a girls night out.

"I don't even get why I have to go?" I whined.

"Because Jessica is going and we don't want to have to entertain her," Hailey responded.

I let myself flop onto my bed. "But Hailey, you know how much she hurt me," I responded. My sister sighed and sat down next to me.

"I know," she whispered. "And, 'cause of that, I asked Layla to come."

I smiled. Hailey may sometimes have reflected my mother but, unlike my mother, she always tried to have my back.

At this time the doorbell rang. Hailey jumped up. "That's her. I'll get the door while you put on that," she said as she pointed to the outfit she picked out for me.

I rolled my eyes but still got up to do it. As I slipped on the skinny jeans and burgundy crop top that looked like a t-shirt, I saw something that I never noticed. It was a white envelope with my name on the front. I grabbed it and opened it. The minute I saw Ethan's name at the bottom I threw it back into its envelope and into the box in my closet.

The box I have is filled with things that may be important but on first instinct made me want to punch something. In the box I have the first two books I wrote with Jessica, Ethan's phone number, and the address of the graveyard where my dad and his wife are buried.

All the sudden a painful memory hit me full force.

"Juliette, Piper and I are stuck in traffic so we won't be home for another hour," Dad told me.

"Okay, love you guys," I responded, sitting on the floor of my room with the dogs.

"Love you more," Piper cut in. I heard Dad chuckle.

He told me, "There's pizza in the fridge."

"K. Bye," I said before I hung up the phone.

Tears started to prickle my eyes as I thought about my last conversation with them. Piper had always been like the mother I never had and my dad was the best I could ask for. I wiped the tears away as fast as they came. This was why I had the box. My past was too painful. I just wanted to forget about it.

Everyone already said that I was depressed before they died. Which was technically true. Apparently, I had situational depression because of a life dealing with my mother. When Ethan and I first stopped talking for some reason I started to believe some of the things my mother told me. Such as; all my friends hate me, I'd never have a future, nobody cares. But, when I lost my family, I developed full-blown clinical depression.

Luckily, Ethan and I became friends a year earlier, almost at the same time Jessica and I stopped talking. Everything started to snowball, from losing friends to a family, I almost gave up. I became so depressed that after a year of dealing with me, Ethan decided he had enough. He already had done this once so when he stopped texting, I knew we were done.

"Juliette!" Hailey yelled, interrupting my thoughts. I ran downstairs, grabbing my black Converse on the way.

At the bottom of the stairs was tall, blue-eyed Layla. Her fawn hair was more curly than usual. She was wearing dark jeans paired with an orange shirt. On her feet were one of her many pairs of shoes.