The Brightest Stars

Annabelle

It's been three days since my asthma attack. They keep saying "my death," but I don't want to call it that. Is it really death when all I remember is darkness? No. It wasn't just darkness. I saw water. I remember clearly. It was clear water around me until it turned pitch black.

But then I saw my eight-year-old self finding a hand underneath the water. A hand so familiar that I tremble at the memory of it. It wasn't Kristen's hand...

It was AJ.

I see it every time I close my eyes, but not right now. I'm very much awake as I look at my sisters and my father. I sigh at his angry tone. He points angrily at my sister, Hannah, asking why she let this happen. I've tried to step in and defend her, but they barely listen to me. Instead, I look through my phone for my final grades, SAT and ACT scores.

For sure, I passed Theatre. I smile to myself as I see that I have passed all my classes with high scores. My heart jumps at the SAT and ACT scores. Perfect scores. In your face Kristen! I wonder what she got...

"Wait. You're participating in a Dance Show?" I look up to see Hannah's tired eyes looking at me.

I clear my throat and sit up straighter. "Um. Yes. I was gonna tell you the night before as a surprise but I guess...surprise!" I do small jazz hands and give her a fake smile. My tease disappears when Hannah sighs tiredly.

I feel bad for her. It seems as if every person that takes me in ends up getting hurt or stressed. No wonder my mother tried to get rid of me. Now that Ashley has left for Chile this morning, Zack took out Christina for a little hot chocolate date. And Diego decided to play basketball with Max; most likely because he heard that my father was coming over to discuss my incident.

"Are you trying to kill yourself?!" my father angrily says this time. This makes my blood boil, but I cross my arms on my chest instead and keep quiet. "Do you not understand that you need to take care of yourself?"

"Look. Dad," I sternly say. "I'm not a child anymore and I'm not the child you once lied to."

"Are you really going to make it about that right now?"

I scoff at him and shake my head. "You just don't understand. Dance is the only thing true to me! If you also take that away from me, I will never forgive you."

"Oh! And what else did I take from you?"

I furrow my brows at him and chuckle. "Are you serious? You took everything from me! The truth about myself. My whole life was a lie!"

"Haven't you ever thought that maybe I made it into a lie so I could protect you?!"

"You were never supposed to decide that for me. And even if you refuse to let me see my mother, I will find her myself. You will not take dance away from me, too." My ears burn and my jaw is clenched.

My father stares daggers at me, but deep down in those dark eyes is the love of a father. He nods and puts his hands on his hips. "Very well then. If you don't want to hear from sane adults, then listen to professional opinions. As a doctor, I say you quit dance and take care of yourself. Ainoha?"

I look over at Ainoha who has been quietly observing the whole time. Her dark blue eyes look between my father and I. Her mind is at work as she sighs. "Are you asking for my professional opinion or my opinion as her sister?"

"Both," my father angrily says.

Despite of the tension in the air, Ainoha stays calm as she crosses her arms on her chest. "As a sister I want to back up Hannah here." 

Hannah gives her a thankful smile as Ainoha looks back at me with firmness. "As your sister I think you should lay it off a little and continue once your lungs are stronger." She's stay silent as her dark eyes go back to my father. "As for my professional opinion I would go ahead and allow her to continue dance." She gives me a small smile and I return it with a much bigger smile.