Maybe You Can Change Me

The Reason

"Let's go!" Bianca yelled from downstairs. "Coming!" I yell back, putting on my tie. I run downstairs and go to Bianca. "Finally Nico, mom's waiting in the car," she says while fixing my hair. Mom honks the horn and we go to the car. "You took a long time, I'll be late for my meeting," says mom. She was going to this thing for her work, I didn't really know what, but we had to go all fancy. "Sorry mom, but it was all Nico's fault," says Bianca. "Hey," I say, punching her arm playfully. She sticks her tongue out and turns back around. Mom starts driving and we leave to the meeting. When we get there, we are greeted by a bunch of workers. We get out of the car and into the building. It had a huge chandelier i the center, many fancy couches, some tables with Italian food. Some dude comes up to us and greets us. "Benvenuto di Angelo, la sala conferenze è laggiu," he says, motioning to the conference room. We walk over there and see many weird people walking around, fakes pretending to be royalty or something. I look at Bianca and I know she's thinking the same thing 'What are these weirdos'. "This is going to be fun," she says, grabbing my hand.

After the meeting, we left the place to go home. "That was...interesting," I say. "I know you guys think was weird, but that's how I get my money to care for you," mom says, smiling. "We know and we love you for it," says Bianca. "Well I love you too guys, don't ever forget that," says mom. We drive for about five seconds before Bianca yells and all I see is white. That's it, I don't remember what happened after the truck hit us. I wake up in a white room with beeping machines. I look around and see that I'm in a hospital. I try to move but as soon as I try, every bone in my body hurts, letting me paralyzed. I had bandages all around me. I try to sit up again, but a woman comes to me and gently pushes me back down. She was dressed with a white dress and her hair up in a bun. She was blond with blue eyes.

"Sit down, you might get hurt," she says.<

"Who are you?" I ask. She smiles and shows me her tag. It said 'Anna'.

"Where's my family?" I ask. Her smile leaves her face and she lowers her head. "I'm sorry, they didn't make it," she says. She actually looks pained and really sorry. I feel a tear run down my cheek. I start sobbing quietly. She puts a hand on my shoulder and rubs it. "I'll leave you alone so you can think about it," she says and leaves the room. I think about everything, my whole life. Think about my happy life, now the two people I ever loved are dead. Why does this happen to me? This is not fair, it should have been me. They had beautiful lives, and I was just the weird kid that loves Mythomagic. I start crying loudly, bringing my hands to my face, even though it was painful. I cry until I fall asleep, dream about them laughing.

About two weeks later I'm released out of the hospital. I have no other family members, so I'm put in foster care. I went to many homes, but ended up running away, just to be found somehow and be sent to another house. I was like that for years. Five years to be exact. I was nine when that happened, now I was 14. I went to two houses per year, so about ten foster homes. I had changed completely since the accident. I burned all my Mythomagic cards. I wore black clothes with skull designs. I was very thin and was ghostly pale. My hair had grown more and I didn't have enough decency to cut it. I wore an aviator jacket that was a few sizes bigger than me and a skull ring.

Some of the houses I went to were great, loving family. But I feared that if I got to close that something would happen, so I had to run away, even if it hurt. I wasn't the happy, geeky kid from before. Now I was the creepy emo kid that likes to cut himself. The one that didn't want to live. I've been bullied a lot because of that. Many people called me 'fag', 'loser', 'suicidal freak', and many more horrible things. That wasn't helping with anything.

Juni came to me and pulled me aside to talk. "Nico, I've got great news," she says, smiling widely. I cross my arms over my chest and raise an eyebrow. "What?" I ask. "Apparently you have a half sister from your father's side. Her and her mother found out about you and would really want you to go live with them," she says. "Will my father be there?" I ask. She stops smiling and looks down. "No," she whispers. "Then yes," I reply, trying my hardest to smile. Juni always wanted to help me, she was basically my only friend. Even if it was her job, she still did it because she wanted to. She looks at me and gives me a small smile. "Nico, please, these people were really excited. Don't run away, try it. I promise you will love it," she says. It was hard not to say no to her. "Will I see you again?" I ask. She nods and pulls out a phone. "Here you go. My phone number is in there. You can talk to me whenever you need anything," she says, handing me the phone. I take it an thank her.

After I pack up the next day, she takes me to my new home. We make it to this big house painted in blue. It hard a huge front yard and a pool on the back yard. In the steps of the front door I see a girl with cinnamon colored hair and hazel skin smiling widely at us. She looked about my age. I couldn't believe we were related, we didn't look alike at all. She was next to a woman that looked she was in her thirties, with long dark hair and same color skin as the girl. They were both smiling and waving. Juni parked the car and helped me with my bags. We walk to the girl and the woman sitting in their front porch. "Hi," says the girl, "I'm Hazel, you sister." She smiles at me and shakes my hand. "I'm Marie, Hazel's mom," says the woman, shaking my hand as well. "I'm Nico, but I guess you already knew that," I say. They laugh and shake their heads. "Nice to meet you Nico. You have no idea how long I've wanted a brother," says Hazel. I give her a small smile and turn to Juni. I throw my arms around her. "Call me when you want, I'll always answer," she says, smiling at me. I kiss her cheek and turn around. "Welcome home," I mutter to myself and go inside. I go up to my room and drop my bags. I look around and close my eyes. I promise myself that I won't run away from this house, maybe if I don't sees it now, these people are my family. I came here and I'm staying here.

This is for Juni, for Hazel, and Marie. This was for Bianca and mom. This was to prove to my dad that I don't need him. This is a test, and I'm determined to pass it no matter what. Even if I'm messed up, I feel like I'll be accepted. I'll change.