Previously...
Katrina found a letter for Katherine from their mom. We see Katrina emotionally damaged because of her mother's departure.
What will she do now with all of the questions in her head?
Chapter 2
Tell Me Why
I didn't sleep well that night.
There was just too much going on with my life right now. So many unanswered questions...
How could she just leave us without saying why? I deserve a legit explanation, not a petty one.
That just won't do.
"MY MILKSHAKE BRINGS ALL THE BOYS IN THE YARD!"
My God. I frowned. Opened my eyes and rolled them. It's too early for this.
Katherine's practicing her singing again. NO. JUST NO. You can't sing Katherine.
I checked my phone to see what time it was. 4:32 AM.
4:32!? WHAT THE HELL?!?
Katherine never wakes up this early. But she loves to sing, even though the feeling isn't mutual.
HAHA. I'm mean. But how can I not be?
TRY BEING ME. It's so hard. Your sister's perfect. You can't find one bad thing about her.
Except...
Oh no. I suddenly remembered Erin's letter to mom. Yeah. I call her Erin because Katherine's just too damn long. HAHA. Lazy ass.
"MY MILKSHAKE BRINGS ALL THE BOYS IN THE YARD AND THEY'RE LIKE IT'S BETTER THAN YOURS!" Geez. Erin.
CAN'T YOU EVER SING IN A NORMAL WAY?! lol.
I got up to my feet. My fuzzy slippers on. Oh wait no. Dad removed the carpet. I MIGHT SLIP.
Don't want to be scolded again. IT'S JUST TOO MUCH.
I walked toward Erin's room. My phone's flashlight on.
I knocked. Her singing stopped.
She opened the door. Smiled at me and invited me in. God. How can I even hate her? She's so nice.
"Good morning, Ina!" She said in a perky tone and she offered a hug.
"Morning," I said boringly. I'm not the touchy-lovey-dovey type. And gave her a hug.
I let go.
"So, what's up? Did you eat breakfast already?" WHY IS SHE SO PERFECT? UHHH.
"Uhm, no. I just woke up. No thanks to your singing," I'm such a NICE person.
"Is that so? I'm sorry. I didn't know that I was THAT loud. I had my headphones on."
You can really see the compassion and sincerity in her eyes. It was hard not to forgive her. Gahhh. I hate her for being so perfect.
"It's okay. Maybe God needs to wake me up," I joked.
"Why so? Thank God we're still alive today! Praise the Lord!" WHY ARE YOU SO DEVOUT?
"Yeah. So, do you have any plans for today?" I wanted to hang out with her and dig more into this mystery.
"Uhm, let me go check my calendar." Of course. Her humongous calendar of her pictures. She models for Guess, so they give her free products. AND THEY DECIDED TO GIVE HER THIS CALENDAR OF HER WHICH IS LIKE THE SIZE OF JUPITER.
I looked around her room. Everything's so neat and organized. Her bed's made. AT 4 IN THE MORNING?! God.
I don't even put my clothes in the laundry basket. I mean, I would. But every time I try to shoot it, it just won't go. And I'm too lazy to even try to pick it up. Good thing that Dad doesn't go in my room.
"I have volunteer work at the animal shelter from 8 to 12. Red Cross has a Refugee Simulation today from 1 to 5. And I have SAT Prep from 6 to 10. I guess I'm fully booked today," She smiled while saying all of those things.
SMILE? How could she even? I don't get how she could even balance everything out in her life.
SHE EVEN HAS FRIENDS. She's like the most popular girl in school. Everyone wants to be her friend.
I'm just her dorky sister. I have 2 friends. Samaria and Jai. I've known them since 5th grade and we're really legit best friends. I wonder about Samaria though. She has these unresolved feelings for Jai. And Jai... Well, he likes her too. I've been the bridge between them. Samaria tells me all about Jai while Jai tells me all about Samaria, and I just listen and laugh to myself.
If they only know how much they like each other. They'd be going out for years now. How cute. I wanted to tell on them, but I swore to secrecy. And I never break a promise. Especially not to my best friends in the whole world! The only living world that is.
"Oh. But it's Saturday!" She's such an over-achiever, but I salute her.
"I know. Did you want to hang out though? I can postpone my SAT Prep for you," She offered.
IS SHE EVEN HUMAN?! NO ONE IS THIS NICE. Maybe she's making up for what she did.
"Oh no. That's okay. I know how much your SAT Prep means to you. Harvard will be disappointed in you if you didn't get a 2400," I joked.
"Yeah! True! That's why I've been working my lazy ass off!" LAZY? OH HONEY NO.
I'M THE LAZY ONE HERE. I only have a 4.0 GPA. I don't study that's why. But I'm just an eighth grader. Well, I'll be a freshman on Monday. And I'd have to work my ass off if I want to go to Stanford.
Wait. Hold up. Freshman on Monday? Shoot. School's in TWO days.
Summer went by pretty fast! What did I do even?
Well, I had swimming practice every weekdays with Katherine and Coach Tuck. But it's only for 2 hours.
Too bad the community pool is indoors. I wanted to tan. Erin has the perfect tan, by the way. What doesn't she have anyway? Sometimes, I think she's not even human. I think she's a robot. Or a goddess. She'd be the GODDESS OR PERFECTION if that's the case.
The rest of the day, I'd just read novels. I've read like a thousand of them! But if I'm not reading books, I'm usually at Jai's. We play NBA2K, Tekken, Crash Bandicoot, Naruto, ... I could go on, but it'd take forever. We basically played every video game in the world.
Yeah, I'm a gamer. I'm starting to think that I'm a guy inside. And that it was a mistake being a girl.
I'm not into fashion. I'm not into make-up. I'm not into ANY GIRLY THING.
I like guy stuff. But, I'm straight, okay? Just wanted to put it out there.
I went back to my room. That was a bust. I can't dig out any information from Erin because she's too unavailable. AND I DON'T WANT TO BE THE REASON WHY SHE WOULD CANCEL HER PERFECTLY WORKED OUT SCHEDULE.
Dad would kill me.
I don't even know why she even tries so hard at everything. And succeed. It's so frustrating.
She should just mimic me. I don't do anything. And I still succeed. I get straight As.
Maybe I am better than her... 'Cause I don't have to try. Am I just that good? Haha. I should not get over my head.
I tried going back to sleep, but I cannot let this thing go.
I need to talk to Dad about this.
"Daddy?" I snooped into his room.
He's not answering. Ugh, Dad. Wake up. We're jogging in an hour.
I tickled him. He was laughing. How cute. I love my dad. He's such a fun dude.
"Good morning, chipmunk!"
"Good morning," I greeted him back.
We laughed. He sat in his bed and I sat down too, facing him.
"What's up? I'm not late for our jog, right?" He started to freak.
I smiled. "No, you're not. I just wanted to ask you something."
He yawned and stretched. I yawned too. Ugh.
"What's it about?" He looked me in the eyes.
"It's about mom."
I saw him frown a bit.
"Ina, we talked about this. I told you, your mom is doing something important right now."
I frowned too.
"What's so important that she has to leave her family behind?"
His facial expression was changing. He's starting to get pissed.
"Ina, if I knew, I would have told you." True. But I know he knows more.
"She didn't say anything to you before she left?" I saw him look away.
Liar.
"No," He said. HE CAN'T EVEN LOOK ME IN THE EYES. HE ALWAYS LOOKS ME IN THE EYES.
"You're lying," I snapped at him.
"Don't you dare snap at me, Anna Katrina!" FOUL. He's mad, but he's already heated up.
There's no going back now.
"Then look me in the eyes and tell me that she didn't say ANYTHING to you," I demanded.
"Watch your mouth, young lady! You don't want me slap you!" He threatened.
Oh no. I'm crossing the line, but I just need to know. I'm not letting this slide. Six years is too long.
"Why can't you do it then? 'Cause you're lying! WHY CAN'T YOU TELL ME?! WHY?! TELL ME WHY!"
SMACK!
Daddy slapped me. That hurt. I felt like I was slapped by a girl.
I felt like crying, but no. I'm strong. I DON'T CRY. Not even in front of my Dad.
NOT EVEN IN FRONT OF ERIN.
"I didn't raise you to be like this. What is happening to you? Your mom would be ashamed of you."
"No, Dad. She would be ashamed of YOU. Mom's right for leaving you."
He was supposed to say something, but he stopped.
He did the face palm thing. He kept on shaking his head.
"Get out of my room. You're grounded for... 'til college."
"COLLEGE?! DAD. YOU'RE PUSHING IT!"
"I am not! You're acting out. And we need to talk about this. And I can't do that when you're always with your friends."
"BUT THIS IS TOO MUCH! I'M JUST STARTING HIGH SCHOOL!"
"You should have thought about that when you disobeyed me. Your mom would be very ashamed of you."
I started to tear up. Oh, no. Stay strong. YOU CAN DO THIS, KATRINA.
"I don't care about mom! SHE LEFT US. SHE LEFT ME! ME!" I lost it. I cried. NO.
"Don't you dare cry about this!"
"So, I can't cry now?!" I sobbed. I hated hearing my voice while crying. IT'S ANNOYING.
"WHY ARE YOU BEING SO DIFFICULT?!"
"BECAUSE YOU WON'T TELL ME! DAD! PLEASE! I HAVE NO MEMORY OF MOM. NOT EVEN A SINGLE ONE! HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME NOT TO CARE?! I FEEL LIKE THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH ME! HOW CAN I NOT REMEMBER HER? HOW? TELL ME HOW! AND IF SHE REALLY DID LOVE US - ESPECIALLY ME, THEN WHY DID SHE LEAVE US?! WHY, DAD?! TELL ME WHY! PLEASE. I'M SO TIRED OF NOT KNOWING. I'M NOT A DETECTIVE. SO JUST PLEASE. PLEASE TELL ME WHY."
Dad. Please. Just.
Tell. Me. Why.
End of Chapter 2
Coming up...
Would Dad tell Katrina why Mom left? Who or what was the reason why she left anyway? Stay tuned.
Next Chapter - Don't Talk To Me