Dream Big (Sequel to Dreamer)

Chapter Sixteen

Tia's POV

I sighed, staring at the screen in front of me. "River" by Eminem and Ed Sheeran playing on repeat through my headphones. Tomorrow would've been her birthday. Tonight was my first night at Chandler's. Norman, Jeffery, and Katelyn had all gone back to their hotels for the night, and I was laying in bed. Chandler was asleep in his room, oblivious to my silent tears. I did something along the lines of this every year. Her mom's birthday was yesterday. I heard a knock on my door, and I forced the tears to stop. I wiped my face, and told him to come in. "I thought you were asleep." I said, and Chandler came closer, and I turned my phone off after pausing my music. "The walls are paper thin." He said, and I nodded in shame. My face turned red, and I sat quietly. "What importance does 'River' have to you?" Chandler asks me, and I shut my eyes tightly. I've never said it out loud. "That's... It's a long story." I tell him, and my phone lights up. A calendar notification: "River's First Birthday" it read. "Who's River?" Chandler asks, "Part of the long story?" He questions, and I nod. "I wasn't always an only child." I tell him, and he scoots closer. "I had a younger sister." I start, clearing my throat. "Was her name River?" He asks, and I shake my head no. "No... Like I said. This is a long story." I answer, and Chandler nods. "My sister... her name was, no, is Aria." I start once more, "She fell in love with my best friend, Nathan. They were the cutest couple. He was older than her by about a year, but it didn't matter. They were perfect together, but there was this guy... his name was Jackson, I think. He was obsessed with Aria. He was a senior, he was older than all of us. When Aria didn't return his affections, Jackson began to stalk her. It started with little stuff. He'd occasionally pass her in the hallway, looking at the direction she just came, but it got worse. Next he would walk her to each class Nathan didn't, even when she insisted he didn't. He would trail behind her. Then, even the ones Nathan walked her to, between each class he would follow her. Then it got worse. He would would each cheer practice, each gymnastics practice. He was always there. He started leaving her notes in her locker. Aria told the principal, and he got suspended but that didn't do anything except make him mad. Jackson started following her home. Nathan followed her everywhere as well, but that only made things worse. He would sit on the gutter in our front yard, that way we couldn't tell him to leave, since it's technically public property. You could see her room from there. She started leaving her blinds and curtains both shut, so he couldn't watch her. When our dad finally went to the police about him... that's when things got real bad. He ignored the restraining order... he cornered her in the parking lot at school on a day that Nathan was out sick. He..." I gulped, tears flooding my vision. "River was her daughter. Jackson... he told her that if he couldn't keep the baby for himself then she needed to..." I gulped again, "Aria and I... we don't believe in that... She... she told Jackson that, and..." I sniffed, Chandler wrapping his arms around me. "Jackson kidnapped her, took her to another state. There he made her pose as his wife. He worked at an abortion clinic, learned how to do abortions. She would go to the doctor, and she even got to find out the gender of the baby. The day she found out it was a little girl, that was the day Jackson decided that he knew well enough how to do one to Aria... Once it was over she was let go... she brought River with her... I found her in the front yard, her baby in her arms... she was barely alive at that point... Jackson had beat the crap out of her before he allowed her to leave..." I sobbed, "Her last few words were...Her name is River Grace... don't give her her father's last name... She passed out at that point... I called an ambulance... after a few days in the hospital they allowed her to leave for River's funeral, but she disappeared afterwards... Nathan, he never really recovered from that... I mean, he was a freshman in high school, so was his girlfriend... That's... That's not..." I broke down sobbing, unable to form words anymore. Chandler began to sing to me, and I listened.

"I've been a liar, been a thief,
Been a lover, been a cheat.

All my sins need holy water, feel it washing over me
Well, little one, I don't want to admit to something
If all it's going to cause is pain