Prologue

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                                                                     PROLOGUE

Nikki’s head rested on the window of the car, her eyelids closed as her heart beated to the hum of the engine. Her family was heading back from a family reunion an hour away from their home, something that she always dreaded going to. Matthew, her brother, was home from college for spring break, choosing “home sweet home” over going to Florida, which we could not afford for him.

There was quiet snoring coming from the left side of Nikki, none other than Matthew’s. Her parents were sitting in the front, talking in hushed voices about all of their relatives getting drunk and dancing around like there was no tomorrow. She was proud to say her parents didn’t drink, giving them safety on the drive back home.

It had to be close to midnight and unfortunately, it was a school night for Nikki. Her family seemed to plan special occasions at the oddest time, and unfortunately she was one of the youngest members of her entire family. The rest of her cousins were in college, on spring break just like Matthew.

Conversations of that night at the buffet table kept circulating in her mind. Matthew had just announced that he was going to be deployed to Iraq in that same year, leaving for six months. But who knew how long he would actually stay. Maybe they would keep him longer.

Nikki’s blood boiled at the thought. Matthew had decided not to tell his one and only sister about the life changing choice he had made. Why he didn’t tell her, she did not know, but she was still surprised as to why it came to that. Apparently he told their parents but left Nikki out of the picture.

His excuse was that he didn’t want her to worry. What was he to think when he told people he was going to war? That everyone would be fine with him leaving and there being a chance he wouldn’t come back? How were they not supposed to worry? She was to find out sooner or later and being left out of it made things even worse.

There was no reason to stay mad at him forever. Besides, she needed to spend time with him before his deployment. There was a voice in the back of her mind that said spending time with him was so she could be with him in his last months of life. But she kept telling herself that not every soldier gets killed in war. Most of them do come home to their families. She’d seen a couple of troops return to her town even.

Her brother’s snoring had stopped. His light brown hair was splayed across his head, and his face looked so angular against the moonlight streaming through the mirror. He almost had a baby face to him still, especially his lips, but his six foot frame was built of muscle. There was no fat on his body; he was chiseled by his runner‘s physique.

The bright headlights of the oncoming traffic seemed to wake him up. Nikki moved over to the middle seat, buckled again, and rested her head against her brother’s shoulder. His dark blue eyes looked at his sister for a moment before a smile creeped onto his face. Then his expression was somber.

“I should have told you,” he said quietly to her. There was a moment of silence as she contemplated her response.

“It’s okay… I just don’t understand why you didn’t tell me,” Nikki said, already feeling the pain in her stomach. It was a sense of betrayal that she knew she would have to get over.

“I just didn’t want you to freak out. It seemed like the right time to tell everyone and unfortunately, you hadn’t been told about it yet. I was going to tell you, but I wasn’t sure when,” Matthew said.

Her eyes closed halfway. “Just promise me nothing will happen to you,” she said quietly. The thought of losing her brother brought tears to her eyes. She was already starting to feel anxious.

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