Selena...
The mixture of pinks and orange fill my poster, along with hints of blue and black. My brush strokes the paper, making my image more detailed. The beautiful sunset levels out with the dark river and silhouette of a girl.
"Very Impressive Selena" Ms. Winters says, admiring my work.
A smile comes to my face as I watch her eyes scan the painting. The only time I genuinely smile. Art is my favorite class, the only reason I want to come to school. Makes me feel like I can actually express my feelings.
"Thank you" I reply to her and look back to my painting.
I finish up the last few details and begin to clean up my paints and brushes. The bell rings soon and I place my painting away to dry. As I walk towards the door, Ms. Winters stops me.
"Selena I really love how your work has been coming out lately, very detailed" She tells me as we walk down the hallway.
"Thank you so much"
"We're having an art fair here at the school in a few weeks, you should really put in one of your paintings. Watercolors are something I see you like." She explains to me.
"Really me? Yeah I'll think about it" I tell her.
She gives me a soft smile and walks back to her classroom. My smile soon fades when I turn the corner. Luke stands leaning against the lockers with a smirk on his face. He can make my mood change with just a look.
I walk past him and make my way to my locker, I just want to get out of here. I get to my locker to get my books, when a pair of hands cover my eyes. My heart stops for a minute before I realize this can't be another one of Luke's pranks.
"Guess who" The voice speaks.
That all too familiar voice. My eyes are wide open in shock and I turn around, instantly wrapping my arms around him. My big brother. Derek. My face snuggles into his chest and for once I feel safe.
"I missed you so much" I say.
"Missed you too Sel" He chuckles.
I pull back and give him a soft punch in the arm.
"Why haven't you came to visit?" I ask.
"Well I'm here now aren't I?"
I nod and smile. He pulls me into a hug once more and I begin to notice the staring eyes of my peers. I pull back and look down.
"I won't be staying long, you want to leave early today?" He questions.
My eyes scan everyone whispering and I turn back to nod. He grabs my bag from my shoulder and we walk out together. He helps me into the car when we reach the parking lot. We take off and for some reason there's a silence between us. I ignore it and lay my head on the window and stare at the trees and the sky passing.
A few minutes go by and I look over to Derek who's eyes are fixed on the road. A serious look plays on face, Im not sure why. Once again I stay silent rather than saying anything to him. It's what I usually do with everyone, just staying silent.
"We're here" His voice finally speaks as the car stops at an all familiar spot of ours.
An old abandoned park sits in front of the woods held back by a large fence. A fence Derek and I found our way through when we were younger. We've never gotten in trouble for anything really, this is one of the things we keep a secret for that reason.
"Shall we?" He softly smiles at me and I nod.
He leads the way and I slowly follow him to the fence. We find the opening and disappear into the thick trees.
Memories from our childhood fill my head and instantly bring me slight happiness. As a child I never worried about anything in the world. All the joy in the world filled me everyday. Now it's rare when I can feel the slightest bit of excitement, or something to bring me out of my shell.
"Still looks as good as it did when we were kids" Derek speaks as we stop in front of a large treehouse.
I look up at our old getaway spot. Why can't it be like it used to be?
"Here let me help you" He says as he gives me a lift.
Derek pulls himself up into the treehouse and looks around at the old wood.
"Could use a bit of updating" He jokes.
I nod and smile slightly. My back is up against the wall and I rest my head by one of the windows.
"So why did we come here?" I ask out of curiosity.
Derek sighs, and I can tell it's something serious. My heart drops as I slowly look over to him. His eyes fixed on me, with sadness and slight anger in them.
I take a deep breath and look away from him before speaking.
"You know, Don't you?" I still don't look at him and purse my lips.
"Yeah, I've known for a little longer than you might think" He tells me.
My eyes shut and my heart breaks just a little for my brother. He knew, and never messaged me, never called or visited till now. I look at him with disappointment.
"What are you doing here then? Why now? How long have you known?" I ask.
His eyes look down and he doesn't speak for a moment.
"I just needed time to think about all of this, I'm still trying to let it settle in and-"
"How long have you known?" I repeat, the tone of my voice a bit harsher than I expected.
"Almost a year" He says.
My heart drops a little and i'm confused of why he's just now telling me this. To think all this time he knew and never called to check up on me or to talk to me about this. To visit his sister knowing I could die at any moment. The pain in my heart cause my eyes to water a bit, but I simply look away from him.
"Sel, Im sorry I didn't tell you. I just-"
I put my hand up for him to stop talking. I shake my head slightly and look back to him.
"It's okay, I understand" I reply.
A few minutes go by and we're silent again. A few tears slide down my cheek and a feel migraine coming on. The pain in my head grows more and more to the point my tears are now from that pain.
"What's wrong?" My brother asks.
"My head, just hurts" I mumble.
I fall to my side and Derek pulls my head into his lap and begins to pull my hair to the side. He rubs my back and tries to comfort me.
"Selena, your nose." He says worried.
My hands slowly reach to my face and I see the thick, dark blood on my hands. I groan from the pain that strikes in my chest. With black dots filling my vision, my eyes soon flutter shut and darkness takes over me and takes the pain away.
___
The muffled voices of my brother and parents, wakes me from my slumber. I slowly open my eyes and I'm back in my bed, tangled in the covers. Quietly I get up from my bed and tip toe towards my door. I lay against the wall and listen to the conversation.
"Have you tried to take her back to the doctors?"
My brothers voice booms at my parents.
"It's not our fault Derek, it's her choice and we didn't know she passed out and bled, she never tells us anything"
My mother defends herself and my father. Her defensive comment doesn't phase me. She lies to make herself seem like one of the best parents ever. She doesn't try to speak to me, she barley knows me anymore.
"She's my sister, your daughter. You should ask her about it, pay attention and try to make her last moments the best as possible"
He fires back at them. It warms my heart knowing at least someone in my family cares. He's always been there for me. I'll forever be grateful for him.
"Derek do not speak to us that way, it's none of your business on how we raise her, we do our best"
My dad intervenes in the conversation. I roll my eyes.
"Your best? Well maybe you should try a little harder"
Derek snaps and I hear his footsteps make there way upstairs. I lightly walk back to my bed and cover myself. My door opens and shuts. My head turns slightly and I see Derek looking at me.
"Did you hear that?" He asks, his voice gentle.
"Just a little" I tell him.
He looks down and walks over, sitting beside me on my bed.
"I'm sorry about all of that, you shouldn't have to hear stuff like that"
"I'm used to it, I hear mom and dad argue a lot in the mornings" I reply honestly.
He shakes his head and looks around for a moment. His eye catches something and he walks over to my mirror. Carefully he removes the picture and walks back over to me. A small smile takes over his face as he turns it over to me.
"That was such a good day" He says.
I agree with him as I look at the photo with him. Just like I look at it almost every morning. Those were the days. He coughs and stands back up, placing the picture back.
"Are you okay? You feeling better?" He asks.
"Yeah, thats was nothin really. Didn't mean to freak you out or anything" I say in almost a whisper.
"I'm sorry sis"
He sits back on the bed and pulls me in for a light hug. We pull back and he stands again.
"Well I'll let you get some rest, long day" He sighs and walks to my door.
"Goodnight Derek"
He gives me and smile and turns my light off as he shuts the door. I full back onto my soft pillow. My eyes stay open as I think for a few more minutes. Just thinking about life, before I finally go into a deep sleep.
Luke...
The four of us watch as the two leave the school building together and I instantly become curious. I nudge Ashton's shoulder since he's the only one who can drive out of us.
"Let's follow them" I suggest, they all look at me with eyes saying i'm crazy.
I roll my eyes and make my way towards the doors. I turn around.
"Well come on" I roll my eyes.
They shut their lockers and we begin to follow them, trying not to get caught. Ashton follows the car, not getting to close to be noticed. Their car soon comes to a stop in front of an old park and they get out.
"Get down" I whisper as we hide behind the car still watching.
Selena has a smile on her face as they walk together towards the woods surrounding the park. The guy assists her as she crawls under a small opening in the fence and that's when we begin to follow again. As we follow a hear a branch snap and we quickly hide behind a few trees.
"Damn it, be careful" I quietly snap.
I peer around the tree and see they haven't noticed us and we continue to quietly follow once again until they stop at an old tree house. Odd. They climb into the old thing and we get closer and try to hear their conversation.
"Do you hear anything?" I whisper.
"Not really" Ashton replies.
We hear a few sniffs from crying and a slight thud on the bottom on the floor. It's silent once again for a few minutes until we hear movement and we instantly back away. The guy carefully climbs down, carefully moving Selena's unconscious body from the opening of the treehouse. And he carries her away in his arms, tears on her cheek and a bloody nose.
"What the hell" Ashton breaths.
___
Published June 14, 2018
Started reading my original version on my second account. I was worse at writing than I thought.
Word Count: 2078