My name is Peter, I'm 16 and have brown eyes and hair. I have this little sister, Patricia, we get along pretty well...but...there've been some "family troubles" recently, it's been pretty bad for the two of us, not to mention high school was starting back up tomorrow. Patricia was going into her freshman year, I was gonna be a sophomore.
"Hey Peter, what's high school like?" Patricia asked. I turned to her and said.
"Total pain in the neck." this made her giggle.
"Do ya have any friends?" she asked.
"Of course I do, there's Phillip and Nick and the rest of the people in my class." I replied, counting the names off in my head.
"Wow, can't wait to go!" I smiled at her but then saw the clock.
"Hey, it's 9, we should probably get some shut eye."
"Go to sleep, at 9 pm?" she questioned, giving an 'are you serious?' look.
"Yeah, 9, we have a big day ahead, now come on."
"Ugh, fine..." Patricia grudgingly got up and followed me upstairs to our rooms.
Little did I know just how right I was...
The next morning was a bittersweet occasion, first day of school. I mean yeah, you get to see your friends and all that, but it's school. Our mom didn't want us taking the bus for now, (don't ask, I have no idea why) so she drove us. It was a quiet ride, Patricia looked out the window and I was plugged into my iPod the whole time. When we got out and Patricia saw the school and her jaw dropped.
"Whoa, this place is HUGE!" she exclaimed.
"Have fun you two." Our mom said before driving off. I waved her goodbye before turning back to Patricia who was frantically looking for a map, muttering things like "Wow, I'm sooo gonna get lost here..."
"No worries, I'll take ya to homeroom." I said
"Really? Thanks bro!" she replied, a smile on her face.
"No prob, it's what brothers are for." I replied, returning the smile. We walked for a bit before she asked.
"Um...hey Peter, what's going on with mom and dad?" she was trying to sound nonchalant but failing miserably at it. I had to tell her the truth about the divorce...but I couldn't...not yet...
"I have no idea" I replied instead. We came into the main area of the school where people just hung out and Phillip came up to me.
"Yo Pete, did ya have a good summer?" he asked.
"Sure did, hey, Phil, remember my sister, Patricia?" I asked, gesturing to her.
"Yeah. Patricia, you excited to go to school with your brother?" he seemed to be treating her like she was younger than she was, not that Patricia minded, she liked to play the sweet, innocent, lil kid.
"Of course I am." she replied sweetly, I smiled. I loved my sis a lot and if anyone hurt her in any way they'd be buying themselves a nice little chat with big bro (If you know what I mean)
"Alright, let's go. Bye Phillip, see ya later." I said, walking away.
"Byyyyeeee." Patricia said, also waving.
"Ok, what homeroom you have?" I asked Patricia, she looked at her schedule before responding.
"Mr. Brennan, room 305."
"Ah, cool...wait, that's the same homeroom as me!" I exclaimed
"Awesome!"
"Mhm." I said as we walked in, ah, the guys, they hadn't changed a bit.
"Hey Pete." Nick called, Nick's a good buddy of mine, and he loves writing.
"Hey Nick." I said, walking over to him, Patricia not far behind.
"So, this is your little sister, huh?" Nick asked, looking over at her.
"Yup." I replied "So, what's you schedule like?"
` "I got PE, Learning Center, Bio, Study Hall, History, Math, English, in that order." Nick said, I looked down at my schedule, exactly the same.
"I have the same, looks like I won't be able to get rid of you." I said, chuckling slightly.
A week later I was coming home with Patricia, she'd gotten lost on campus but she was a freshman, it was expected.
"Mom, we're home!" Patricia sang as she burst open the door. Nobody answered, instead there was a note on the kitchen table.
Left for work, dinner's in the fridge, love you.
-Mom
"Mom went to work." I informed Patricia. "So you have any homework?" She didn't answer, I looked at her, something was definitely up.
"Are you alright?" I asked her. She was hesitant but finally answered.
"I...um...I think I like someone..."
"Who, maybe I know him."
"I don't think you would, he's a freshman, his name's Chris." she replied.
"Well, do you know anything about him, his likes? I asked.
"Yeah, he likes House, that show, Code Lyoko, skateboarding, swimming, baseball, and his favorite team is the Yankees." She replied
"Well, you have 3 things in common, that's a good start." I said, we talked about Chris for a while, we also had dinner and then dad came home.
"Hey dad." We both greeted, he gave no response, this meant he was in a bad mood which mean we needed to get out of there and not bother him.
We went upstairs to play Call of Duty Black Ops.
"Prepare to get whooped!" I said
"Yeah, we'll see." Patricia replied, getting her game face on.
Um...she won...
"How do you keep beating me!" I exclaimed
"Lots of practice." She said with a wink. Then there was yelling from downstairs...mom was home, and she and dad were yelling at each other...again...about divorce. I'm sorry sis, but I can't take this yelling anymore...I have to leave... I thought to myself.
We did our homework and watched TV till it was 9.
"Time for bed, night." I said
"Night." she returned the goodnight. I went to bed but set my phone to vibrate at midnight. For three hours my head was filled with flashbacks, the good, the bad...every fight mom and dad had, it just made me more sure I wanted to leave. It would be hard, leaving Patricia all by herself, but she was strong, she could make it by herself.
Next thing I knew there was some vibration in my pocket, I immediately woke, it was midnight, time to leave. I packed three weeks worth of food and water, we had plenty in the pantry, my journal, my psp, a picture of Patricia and I, and last but not least my phone. I wore all black so I'd blend in but also several changes of clothes. Finally I went to Patricia's room and kissed her on the cheek.
"I'll be back...good luck..." I scarcely whispered. Then slipped out into the night. I got out of the neighborhood and went down a street, looking both ways of course. Then out of absolutely nowhere a car came speeding toward me, it's headlights weren't on either. I tried to run but I was locked in fear. So, this was how it would end, huh...hit by a car with a driver too stupid to have their headlights on. I closed my eyes and waited for the collision, for my body to either get squished or go flying, I waited for the pain and the blackout, the blood, possibly, death.
It never came.
Instead of any of that there was a light, not like electric light, like, sunlight, there was a cool breeze, the smell of trees and dirt, and I heard a few birds chirping and the ground felt soft and somewhat uneven, instead of the hard asfault of the street. Slowly, I opened my eyes, the entire scene had changed, my town had been replaced by a forest, the car...everything, was gone.
"What is going on here?"