"Hey, Ma, I'm home!" I yell as I enter my house. The familiar smell of cooking meat fills my nose.
"Hey honey, food's ready in about an hour!" My mom replies.
I hurry up the stairs and open the door to my left. I prance into my room and shut the door. Throwing my backpack and binder on the bed, I sit down on my desk and turn on the computer. I know I have tons of homework, it being my senior year in high school, but it wouldn't hurt to check my subscriptions, right?
While I wait for the machine to whir to life, I tie my long brown hair up in a bun. The weather here in Nevada has been sweltering.
The screen asks for my password and I type it in quickly. I left it in sleeping mode so YouTube is still up. I refresh the page and wait for it to load.
Joey posted a video! He, Ingrid, Luke, Brittany, or Aria haven't posted or tweeted in a month!
I don't believe what I see. Almost all of the videos on my subscriptions page are the same. They have all the same title: RIP ARIA.
I click on Joey's. It takes a while to load. I don't dare look at the comments to spoil it for me.
"Hey guys. I know I haven't made a video in a long time. And it's because Aria Price, my girlfriend, the only girl I have ever loved with all my heart, is dead. Murdered by Tara Vega." Joey says everything very slowly, as if he'll crack any second now.
I can feel the tears streaming down my face. It can't be, Aria can't be dead-
"Tara's dead now. She killed herself after killing Aria." I can see how hard Joey is trying to keep calm.
"I loved Aria with all my heart, mind, and soul. She was the most beautiful girl i have ever known. She was the most wonderful person. And the way she looked at me, I knew she loved me. I've never felt true love before Aria. And now i wont feel it again. Today's our one year anniversary." Joey finally breaks and lets out a sob.
I can literally feel my heart breaking. I can't believe it, Aria's actually dead. I start emitting loud shaking sobs. I cover my mouth with my hand to muffle them.
"Or was. Ill never forget you, Aria. I love you." Joey has been looking down, but looks straight into the camera for this part.
The screen fades to black. "RIP ARIA PRICE, 1992-2012" it reads in bold white letters with a picture of Aria, beautiful and smiling.
"I'm not going to daily vlog anymore, I hope you guys understand." The screen reads.
The video ends, and I scramble to scroll down the page, tears blurring my vision.
"Oh my god, is this a prank???"
"RIP ARIA, we'll all miss you <3"
"No more daily vlogs???"
I wipe my face and start typing.
"Joey, I know how you feel. I just lost my big sister a month ago. She was everything to me. I feel like i just lost another person very close to me. We definitely understand why you won't be daily vlogging anymore. Aria was such a beautiful, positive ray of sunshine. She will surely be missed. RIP ARIA."
I hit enter and my comment joins all the others.
I go back to my subscriptions page. I click on the next video, a video by Strawburry17. It's also titled RIP ARIA.
A red-eyed Meghan shows up on the screen. "Hey guys. So in case you haven't heard, Aria Price, Joey's girlfriend, has passed away. She was murdered . I asked her to be in my music video a long time ago, and we shot it and everything. It was supposed to be a cover and music video to "Trouble" by Nevershoutnever, but I decided to dedicate this to Aria instead. Rest in peace, Aria, I'll really miss you." By the time she stops talking, tears are streaming down both our faces.
The screen fades to a shot of the water on the beach, waves lapping the sand in slow motion. Soft piano starts playing. Aria shows on the screen, smiling into the camera. Then it's Joey and Aria. Building a sandcastle together, Aria on his lap. I can almost hear Aria's jingling laugh through the soft music as they finish their lumpy attempt at a sandcastle. She turns around and Joey kisses her quickly. They get up and run towards the water. Aria stretches her arms wide open as Joey picks her up by the stomach, wind whipping both heads of hair back. "Jack, I'm flying!" she mouths. I laugh a little, and it feels good through all this crying. They twirl around, hand in hand.
Then it's Aria standing on her tip-toes with her hands locked on Joey's neck, and Joey stretching down to kiss her. And it looks like a real kiss. Aria smiles.
Then it fades to black and it fades to a shot of Joey and Aria from a distance silhouetted by the beautiful sunset, entangled in embrace, Aria resting her head on his shoulder.
"RIP ARIA PRICE 1992-2012" the screen reads with another beautiful shot of Aria.
I switch back to the subscriptions page. Everyone from Luke and Ingrid to Shane Dawson has a video titled "RIP ARIA".
I can't take it anymore. I burst into tears. I know exactly what Joey is going through. Me and my sister had so many plans and dreams, to move out and live together, to get jobs as photographers- but they were all crushed when she died.
I let the tears evaporate in the sweltering heat, along with all my sorrows. No more being sad. No more pity. It's time I start living my life again.
I wipe my face with my hands and I run down the stairs into the kitchen.
"Mom-" I start, clearing my broken voice. "I need get over Claire's death. I'm moving out."
THE END.
