I'm a lover, plain and simple. There are many things that I love.
For starters, New York. The city with bright lights and thousands and thousands of people walking, driving, singing, dancing, acting, eating, literally just living. The place that never sleeps and people all over the world imagine what it's like and dream to one day visit.
My favorite place in the whole world. I loved the city. I loved the loud city noises. Every single police siren, every angry deli man shouting, every street vendor selling bracelets, every song that people danced to for money.
I'm a proud New Yorker and I love being able to say that I'm from here.
The second thing is my school. I know it sounds absolutely insane to think that someone could actually love school but let me explain. Okay, so I don't love school school, but I love everything in it.
I love being the president of the art committee. I love being part of our school's hockey team. I love seeing my friends every day at our table at lunch. I love heading to the library after school to read, and dragging my friends to the skatepark right after.
I loved the school's environment, I felt so at home, so safe.
The third thing I love is my family. My family is my rock. Without my family, I wouldn't be who I am today. My family is my number one support team. They push me to be the very best that I am. They comfort me and make me feel safe too. My family has taught me how to take jokes, how to stand up for myself, how to make my life worth it.
I love them so, so, so much.
This is also why the very thing I loved most of all was my life. It was mine and only mine and no one could ever understand how precious it was to me. How important it was that I enjoyed every single thing in it and made it unforgettable.
My life, in my eyes, is perfect. Nothing could ever change that.
I was having one of these very deep thoughts to myself as I stood off to the side of the Annual Summer Break Charity Mixer, watching everyone laugh and dance on the dance floor.
This mixer was the annual fundraiser for any local charities that our school put together, inviting people to a formal dance and being able to sponsor those in need.
I was obviously proud to say that my little sister was the mastermind behind this year's party. Yeah, it's crazy what the mind of a freshman could do with the goal of Princeton in the back of her mind 24/7.
But, nevertheless, she was the best and I couldn't help but admire everything she put into this single event.
"Y/n!"
I turned, my face softening once my eyes landed on my little sister herself. I always thought that my sisters were beautiful. They were both tan and had the same silkily straight hair as my mom. I was the opposite, my hair was wavy and was always a little messy as I liked it.
I went over to her, seeing her with her phone and ipad in hand.
"Jackie, I hate to admit this but this thing is freaking awesome." I waved my hand around. She grinned back shyly.
"Thanks, you think it's enough to get me on the chair next year?" She asked. I snorted, putting an arm over her shoulders.
"Of course, only you would think of becoming Chairman of the Events committee your sophomore year when that position is only available for upperclassmen." I poked her stomach and teased her, "Try hard."
She glared back at me, narrowing her eyes, "Shut up." She pulled away and looked down at her phone, sighing.
"What's wrong?" I asked, my smile dropping as she frowned.
"Nothing. It's just that mom, dad, and Lucy should've been here by now." She said.
I furrowed my brows, "Well have you texted them?"
"Lucy texted me earlier but she said that they were on their way. I texted back but she hasn't responded."
"Well then that's okay then. They're probably just stuck in traffic and she has no signal." I shrugged. She stared down at her screen, still frowning. I sighed, putting my hand over the screen and lowering the phone. "Look, J, don't worry. They'll be here soon. You know dad, he probably stopped to get food."
She shrugged, "He always does want a pregame snack, huh?"
"Exactly! And he will get one whether mom likes it or not." I joked, making Jackie give me an unconvincing smile. So the thing about Jackie is that her and Lucy were always closer. I'm not sure why, as if I'm not the token adopted middle child.
But she loved Lucy and I know that her being here was really important to her, since I could hear them on facetime talk about it almost every night for the past two weeks.
I sighed, ready to try to convince her again when someone spoke from behind us. "Jackie!"
We both turned, seeing a girl in Jackie's grade approaching us with a big smile.
"Oh hi, Y/n." She greeted me.
"Hi, Chelsea." I smiled back at her. Jackie gave me a quick look before speaking to her.
"Did you check in with the caterers?"
"Canapés are going out in ten minutes."
"Great. Thank you."
"Wow, Jackie, this is so awesome. Can't believe you pulled it off. The Events Committee is gonna be stoked." Chelsea gushed.
"I hope so. The photo booth alone has raised over a thousand dollars for charity so far. I was just telling Y/n that I hope it's enough to get me Events chair next semester."
"Jackie, we're freshmen." Chelsea gave her a funny look. "Only juniors and seniors can be committee chairs."
"We'll see." Jackie shrugged, giving her a confident smile. I grinned, nudging her.
"You underestimate my sister, Chelsea, Jackie's got this in the bag."
"Oh, I don't doubt her." Chelsea out her hands up defensively, making us laugh. "Anyways, it looks like the entire senior class of Saint Aldrich is here."
"Really? Where?" I quickly stood on my tiptoes, looking over at the crowd. My eyes widened, seeing the group of cute guys at the photo booth.
"Holy shit, Chris Stevens is here."
"I know, right. He never comes to things like this too." Chelsea squealed. Then, she looked over at Jackie and frowned. "Jackie, hello? Are you listening to us?"
I looked over, seeing Jackie staring down at her phone again. She looked behind us to the entrance and sighed.
"Okay, I see. Expecting someone in particular?" Chelsea smirked.
"Yes." Jackie smiled, "Our sister."
"Oh? Lucy's home."
"For summer break. My parents picked her up from Bennington earlier. She should be here by now..." Jackie looked over at me and wrinkled her brows.
"I already told you, they'll be here." I put a hand on her shoulder. Chelsea shrugged, a smile spreading her face.
"Oh my God, this is going to be the best night ever."
I smiled back, nodding as my hand still remained on Jackie's shoulder.
It was supposed to be the best night ever. I had my friends waiting for me on the dance floor. My dress was beautiful, designed by my mom. My hair was nicely curled and framed my face just right. They were playing my favorite song. All that was missing was my family.
My family.
"Y/n, Jackie." Someone spoke from behind us. We turned, seeing our Uncle Richard standing there. He wore a nice suit, as if he had just came from work, and his brows were furrowed and his lips were tight.
"Uncle Richard?" Jackie looked at him confused.
"What are you doing here? I didn't know you were coming to the mixer too." I smiled.
"Uh..." He started, his eyes were casted down to the ground. I stepped forward, putting my hand on his shoulder.
"Uncle Richard, is everything okay?"
He didn't say anything, he only reached for Jackie's ipad and took us both by the shoulder, escorting us gently out of the venue. It was at that moment that my life would be forever changed.
You hear about loss in movies, in books, in social media, but you never experience it for yourself. Sure, maybe you'll lose a distant relative or maybe your childhood pet, but you never imagine it to be the people closest to you.
When my Uncle Richard told us the news, my mind went blank. The world went quiet and I felt numb. I didn't hear the loud sobs that my sister let out. I didn't feel my uncle putting a hand on my shoulder.
I just felt nothing. I mean, in the movies you see the people crying, maybe throwing a plate or two, maybe running. But is that how you're supposed to feel?
How are you really supposed to feel after finding out that your mom, dad, and older sister all passed away in a car crash?
I don't know. I simply don't know.
—
hi guys, so if anyone is actually reading this i would like to introduce myself. i'm nessa, and about four years ago i joined on wattpad and wrote a few stories that were decently popular. since then i've pretty much disappeared and fell off the face of the earth after falling out of love for writing.
recently tho, i've been missing it and have been growing a bit bored lol. ik some of you must be from that time of my life and i hope that you'd give me another chance at being a writer.
for those that are new, i hope you enjoy this fun little book. i'm not sure how frequent the updates will be, but i'll try my best for everyone.
but for now, i hope you enjoy,
nessa
PS these will definitely be way longer as the story continues
PPS pls vote!