Drowning

Locking-Chapter 1

Nate loved my house. He thought of it as a castle and sometimes even made me play hide and seek with him, even though we were 17. He was a big baby at heart. Everything in the house was modern and sleek. From the stairs and balcony to the kitchen cabinets to the basement that dad transformed into a man cave.

"Can you put me down now?" I asked Nate once we reached the kitchen. He didn't move, just hung on to me from the crook of my knees and let my hair hang down on his butt. "Nate. Do you want your damn waffle? Cause if you do I cant cook from upside down." All the blood was rushing to my head.

"Fine! Waffle me baby!" he flipped me back upright and grabbed a plate out of the cabinet and waited patiently. I cooked his waffle and watched him savor it. Then my sister came into the kitchen. That was the first time I've seen Charlotte in days even though she'd been home from her freshman year of college for four weeks. She rarely ever came out of her room and if she did it was late at night. Nate greeted Char with a polite smile but knew not to say anything. She didn't smile back.

He glanced at me with a weird expression but I disregarded it. With both Nate and I making weird facial talk to each other and Char being her silent self there was an awkward silence until she opened her mouth and spoke to me for the first time in days.

"Tess, can you do my laundry?" she asked. I was all of a sudden feeling a hundred emotions. Happiness that she talked to me finally, sadness that I have to be happy about that, and pissed off that she expects I'll do it for her just because.

"Sure," I squeaked out and she nodded then went back upstairs. I have no idea why I said yes. Nate rinsed his syrupy plate in our sink and peered at me through his curls.

"Did you just agree to that?" he said once we knew she was out of earshot. I pouted. "Hey. Put the lip away String Bean. Look on the bright side. She never leaves, she cant have that much laundry, right?"

*****

Westwood was a prep town. There was no denying it. I lived surrounded by rich kids and their judgmental work obsessed parents. Thats why when we had the incident it didn't surprise me that I lost everyone I was close to, except Nate. Once the people with their perfect lives found out about ours falling apart, things got dicey. It was like our imperfections were going to cause the whole neighborhood a great deal of demonic ruining so everyone started to steer clear of Char and Mom and I.

The incident was only a year ago so I can remember every detail and trust me, those details? They never give me a minute alone. I can remember the incident like it was yesterday.

"Tess, Char, I need to talk to you." Mom sat us both at the counter on a cold rainy Thursday afternoon, almost four weeks into the new year.

Char and I exchanged glances, this was back when she was normal and human instead of robotic like she is now. Back when I had a real family. "Mom? Is everything okay?" Chars voice was shaking at the sight of our moms eyes pooling over with tears. I kept wondering to myself, why isn't dad here for this important news? Wheres dad? I was watching the entrance to the kitchen, waiting for him to waltz in but he never came.

"Well girls." my mom calmly stated despite her cracking exterior. You could tell she was trying to be strong for us. "Dad has been having some issues lately." No shit I thought to myself. He was never home anymore and when he was he was distant and quiet. Not the big happy loving daddy we knew.

"Okay. And?" Char was doing the talking for the both of us. I couldn't.

"You have to promise me that you wont let this define you. Youre both beautiful and smart and I couldn't have asked for better daughters. Im so proud of you. Okay?" now she was really freaking me out. I just wanted her to get to the issue. "Promise?" we both nodded.