My Guardian Soulmate

Chapter 1: Why does it hurt?

 "Artemis!" I hear my name called. "Yeah?!" I respond. "Mom left!" I snap my book shut, and roll off the bed. I quickly trot down the stairs. At the bottom is Althea, my little sister. She has dirty blond hair that comes to her hips and dark blue eyes. Her pale freckles are speckled along her cheeks. "She went out." She says. "And, as usual, she doesn't even tell me. Go figure." I say, rolling my eyes. I slip past Althea and head towards the kitchen where I grab a plastic bowl and a spoon. I head over to my left and open the cabinet that holds the Cap'n Crunch. When I was about 10, my dad went to jail for abusing Althea and I. But ever since he's gone to jail, our mom has been mentally absent. She goes to parties with her friends daily, leaving at 9 in the morning and coming back at 11 at night. She doesn't have a job meaning she doesn't pay the bills meaning that I, the only person with a job, has to pay these bills. My sister, Althea, is 13. She's suffered almost as much as I have. She's always helping around the house, trying her best to make life easier for me. We do go to school because it's required by law but if our mom wasn't so insistent on not going to jail (for reasons I can only be disgusted by) we would still be going. Althea likes to think it's because she still has love in her heart. But I know that the only reason she would let us leave this house is because she would want to get rid of us. And that is a truth i'm willing to accept. I skid on my socks to the fridge and take out the milk. "Only a fourth of a gallon. I'll just have to bite the bullet and hit the grocery store today." I say over my shoulder. I was hoping to just relax all day for once but that was a stupid thought. How dare I even hope that maybe for once, I could be the daughter, not the mom. Althea also reaches up and pulls out a bowl. "I'll come with you. I would love to get out of the house." I look over at her and smile. "Your such a trooper. How on earth do you find a silver lining in every situation?" She laughs and says "Positivity is one of the few things that motivates me. If I was a pessimist like you," she points a finger at me "I wouldn't of gotten up this morning." "I am not a pessimist! I just find it difficult to always see the good in every bad day." I head to the table with my bowl of cereal. "Sure. You totally aren't a negative person." Althea rolls her eyes. "Don't make fun of me!" I protest. She sits next to me at the table, stirring her cereal in her bowl. "Maybe you're just overly positive." I shoot back. "Better to over prepared for life than not be prepared at all. Even though optimism may be ill placed sometimes, it's good to keep a positive attitude everyday because if you always look at life expecting the worst, you'll end up getting just that. Along with a possible case of serious depression." Sometimes, inspirational things like this just come out of Althea's mouth when she doesn't even realize it. "Good point." I reply. As I'm eating my cereal, I think about what famous author Mandy Holds said. I like to think that everyone has a soulmate. Sometimes, it's just harder for some people to find theirs than others. I honestly don't agree with that at all. I have been alive on this earth for 17 years and not once has a guy ever liked me. I've never been in love let alone in a relationship at all. Its like its impossible for me to be happy. Like I don't deserve happiness. And this very well could be true. I haven't done anything seriously wrong like stealing or anything. But everyday, I wonder why me? Why was I cursed with this life? What did I ever do to deserve this? I once saw a quote saying "Happiness comes when we stop complaining about the troubles we have and offer thanks for all the troubles we don't have." Maybe it's my punishment. They say complaining gets you nowhere. But for me, complaining pushes me to think about the things I don't have and strive for a better future for both me and Althea. So I push. I don't give up on life as much as I want to. I don't- I won't- let depression take over because I'm all Althea has left and I'm not about to take that from her.

I finish my cereal and carefully put my bowl and spoon in the sink. "Althea, if you want to come with me, you're going to have to get your butt dressed and ready." I reply, tugging on the ends of her hair. "Alright alright. Let me finish eating." I smile and trot up the stairs. I slip on some khaki shorts and a red T-shirt. I slide my feet into my combat boots and clamber down the stairs. I look through my wallet to see how much I have. $73. "One of theses days, I'm going to have to get a debit card." I murmur to myself. "Ready to go?" I look up and see Althea. Her usual braid is falling down her back and she wears jean shorts, and a turquoise sweater over a plain white T. "Yep."

At the store, we pick up the necessities and we start to head home. "You know" Althea starts "there was a guy staring at you." I give her a quick glance in disbelief. My fingers tighten their grip on the wheel of my moms car (which she did not take with her wherever she went). "What are you talking about?" "At the store. A guy was staring at you." I honk my horn as another car goes on my turn at a four-way stop. "It was my turn, you moron and you're honking at me!? God forbid anyone follow traffic laws around here!" I scream. "Artemis, calm down!" Althea scolds me. "But they went on my turn and almost hit us." I argue. I can feel her giving me a look so I shut up. "Anyway, he thought you were cute." I snort. "I find that hard to believe." Althea smacks my arm. "Stop it! You're gorgeous!" "Yeah yeah whatever..." I roll my eyes. We ride in silence for a while. Finally, we reach a red light. I stop and wait. Then I see a boy start to walk. He looks my age. He passes my car. Then, a car hits him. It seems as though time has slowed. The front of the car slams into his legs with a sickening crack and he is launched through the air. His body tumbles over the car and lands with a thump on the other side. I hear my sister scream in the passenger's seat but I'm too shocked to scream myself. The car that hit him speeds away without slowing down and that disgusts me. I open my car door and jump out. I run to the crowd of people surrounding the boy. I push through and see his pale face. In the distance, I hear an ambulance. I watch the boy with complete shock and silence. He turns his head and he makes eye contact with me and for a moment, I just stare. Then his eyes flutter closed. I watch his chest rise slightly, then fall. In that moment, a sharp pain shoots through my torso and pierces my heart causing me to gasp and grab my chest. "Are you okay?" Althea asks me, clutching my arm. I don't reply. I watch the boy's chest but it doesn't rise again. I shake my head, escaping from the trance I was in. "Um yeah. Sorry. Let's get back in the car." I pull her away from the group of people just as the ambulance is arriving. I glance back one more time, watching as the medics load him onto gurney. I force myself to look away, wondering why I seem to be so interested. And as I drive my sister home, the most confusing question yet nags at me. Why does it hurt?