Thirteen's Thirteenth (NANOWRIMO 2019)

Chapter 1 - Happy They're Dead

Chapter 1 - Happy They're Dead

Listening to: Two Ghosts by Harry Styles

"Breaking news. Fatal car crash kills Family Thirteen members."

It was inescapable. Every news channel was broadcasting the story, and the principal had canceled lectures so classes could listen in. Anne and Christopher Tretten: Dead after a highway collision. It was a day for the history books, a cause for celebration, and the world rejoiced at the news. The deaths of my parents could very well be a national holiday.

I buried my face in my textbook, trying to drown out the noise. While the story broke early this morning, the crash had happened weeks ago, just down the street from my house. From my bedroom window, I had seen the smoke billowing over the treetops and heard the sirens flying to the scene. My parents didn't come home from work that night. Or the next. I tried to pretend I didn't see charred pieces of their blue Sudan being towed away or the gossip of my neighbors, but it was unavoidable. My parents were gone, and I was alone.

Pulling the shades and locking the doors, I didn't leave my house for twenty-four hours. Being a part of a family plagued by misfortune, I knew it was only time before the day would come, but that didn't make it hurt any less. The tears were uncontrollable. I soaked through t-shirts, sweatshirts, and blankets, cried enough to fill a swimming pool, and I did it all alone. I couldn't let anyone see my anguish, or they'd realize that those victims, those members of Family Thirteen, were my parents. And that would make me part of the family too.

I was good at hiding; I had done it for seventeen years. A long sleeve shirt easily hid the identification tattoo of the number thirteen drawn on my left wrist. I went by a last name different to the one I had been given at birth, as did my parents. Tretten was a name everyone in the country knew. It was a name that carried disgrace, sickness, and misfortune. I had spent my whole life running from it, and to hide our identity, my family adopted a new name: Dretein.

That's how our neighbors and friends new us. It was our most well-kept secret and one I was tasked to uphold, even as I sat in class, listening to my peers slander my real name. I couldn't muster up the strength to cheer and laugh to fit in with the rest of the room. Instead, I remained quiet and eavesdropped on people's conversations.

"I heard they were going over 120 mph."

"Probably. They were drunk."

"No, no, a tree broke and fell on them."

"How unlucky."

Lies, lies, so many repulsive lies that I couldn't help but groan. One could only handle so much slander on their loved ones, and my limit was quickly approaching. My parents were good people. Never broke a rule a day in their lives. They weren't speeding, nor were they drunk. Someone else had hit them. The news forgot to mention that bit.

"Are you alright, Evie?"

Maybe I had groaned a bit too loud. God, don't give me attention. Not today. I pulled my head up from my book to meet the concerned gaze of Caroline Guthrie. "Yeah," I said with a weak smile. "I just don't understand this material."

Chuckling, she snatched the textbook from my desk and stuffed it in her backpack. "Calculus doesn't matter right now. Today's the day for celebrating. Tomorrow we can worry."

Beside her, Eddie Quill piped in. "Come join us!"

The two sat in a circle of desks with a couple of my other friends and classmates. Caroline shifted her seat backward to make space and accommodate me. Eddie did the same, and to avoid any more questioning looks, I reluctantly joined the group.