Beyond Castle Walls - The Princess and the Skater Boy

Pets are Awesome

Sam's POV

My sister told me how Ellie and her became friends at social media. I checked it out to see if it was real. To my surprise, it is real. I scrolled through her profile. She looked lovely like a princess. She wore this beautiful dress on one of her birthdays. While scrolling through her profile, I accidentally pressed add friend request which is immediately accepted.

"What?" I said out loud. Now I could not undo my careless act. "What should I do?" I asked myself. Maybe I should cancel it. But doing so would definitely gonna start world war between us. Should I chat her? What if doing that give her a hint that I'm stalking her? I stared at the blank textbox for two minutes until I came up of something to say.

Sam: Hi

Ellie: Hello!

Sam: (typing for three minutes....)

Sam: What a cute cat you have

(I am seriously slapping my face right now. That was hella awkward and hella stupid of me.)

Ellie: Oh!

Ellie: Thanks. I didn't know you are interested in my cat.

Sam: It was cute. Can I pet him?

Ellie: Sure thing. I can take him to the park this weekend.

Sam: Great. Pets are awesome. (Jesus, what am I saying?)

Ellie: Ikr? Well, see you tomorrow.

Sam: Yes! See you tmr. *smile emoji*

Oh god. That was the most awkward chat convo I ever had. Why on earth?

After finishing my homework, I heard noise downstairs. It was my dad again. I went to check up on him and saw him wasted again. There are nights that he went home feeling OK. But there are nights like this. I helped him up and walk him to his bed. He was so drunk he can't even manage to move. Dad, I know mom was gone. But we are still here. It's no use. Telling him these words wont make any difference. Jane just looked at us from a small opening on her room. I don't want to make my sister sadder than she is right now. After tucking my own father to bed, I went back to my room and read some more. I averted my eyes back to my phone and checked Ellie's profile page. She just updated her picture. She is wearing that hoodie again. It was a green hoodie with a small name on the bottom as "Sam". She looks cute in it. I really want it back but after seeing that on her, I try to convince myself that it doesn't belong to me anymore. I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

"Sam, can you get the cheese, honey?"

"Here. Mom, are we making pizza?"

"Yes, baby."

I'm 14 now and she still calls me baby. Mom used to be the best cook. She was making pizza that day. The glow in her eyes was still there. It has been a year since she was diagnosed. It was the worst news we ever received. My mother just hugged me and say, everything will be alright. We are trying to do the best we can to spend every single day to make her happy. There are times when the pain is so great, she can't sleep at all. Dad would tell us to go back to bed and sleep. I went to my bed hugging the green hoodie she gave me. I wish everything turn back to normal. Today is our birthday, me and Jane. Dad took my sister to the shops to get some stuff. I was with mom trying to help her with the food. I was in charge of the grill. Dad prepared all the barbecues and all I have to do is grill them. I turned the radio on and started singing to the beat of the music. I regret everything. The last thing I heard was glasses shattering to the ground. My mother collapsed. I immediately run into her.

"Mom! Answer me!" I was shaking her restlessly. "Mom!" I cried.

Dad arrived at the house too late. We tried to take her to the hospital. She was pronounced dead. I was standing there on that room looking at the door. The void started to swallow me. Darkness surrounded me. Everything went silent.