Splicing of Changes (Editing)

Chapter 1

Is it weird that I am standing at the airport waiting for my sister who I do not think I can even recognize anymore?

Yes. My sister, Tori, is the same sister who left me. Left home when I was just 4 years old. She never called me or came to visit me. She said she would call. But she did not. She just vanished. Guess, I was not that important to her after all. I still have no clue why she left though. But the reason why I am at the airport waiting for her is different.

In my family, being 16 is rough. Tori left home for whatever reason when she was 16. And now I had to leave home, my hometown too. And I am also 16. But the reason I had to leave is simple. It is sad. Pretty sad. But I cannot cry anymore. My parents were in an accident and they died. And I am now coming to live with my sister who I have not seen for 12 years. Yeah, that's right. I doubt she would even recognize me.

The last few days have been a blur. One minute, my life was perfect. I mean as perfect as it can be. Because I never told anyone this. None of my friends knows. I still miss my sister. Although my parents pretty much behaved as if I was their only daughter. I remember my sister. It's weird. I tried to hate her. But I just couldn't. It's just like the fact that she vanished and never even contacted me made me question it more. Also, a weird thing happened after she left. My mom was home at night. Dad stopped drinking. Yeah, I know now he used to drink, hence the bad smell. He was not angry either. They were all happy. Almost, as if they became happy the moment Tori left us. Well, everyone except me, of course. I was sad at first, then angry. Then I started pretending. But no matter how much I pretended, it always bugged me.

I started remembering things as well. From that fateful day, even the nights or weeks before leading up to that day. The arguments still did not make sense to me. But I remember them. This whole memory burst started after my boyfriend came over. He invited my friends. And we had a party of sorts. Not a huge one, more on a small scale. During the party, someone found a picture of Tori. I had not seen her pictures in our house in so long that it took me a minute to realize who it was. That brought back my memories. Of course, I hid it from my friends, who had no idea I even had a sister and quizzed me about who it was. I vaguely replied, no idea. I know my parents made up a story and most of my friends in high school have no idea. Well, no one does except our relatives. Whenever we had a family function, I wished Tori would show up. But she never did. It's foolish, right, waiting for your sister to show up? But I am a fool for believing Tori's promise and holding onto it, for all these years. I still have her locket. I now wear it around my neck.

It depends on the day if I wear it or have it in my pocket. I never let my Mom or Dad find it. That night after the party, Aaron, my boyfriend, almost found it. But I hid it again and somehow, he forgot it. It helped that he was drunk. But something about this locket is that I always protect it. I always keep it with me. Yet, I seldom wear it. Even if I wear it, I hide it, so that no one can ever see it. It's very dear to me and only me.

A few days ago, I was at a party. I am a cheerleader. Or I was, I guess, at my last school. I was late and it was past my curfew. So, I was scared to go home. I tiptoed inside. And hoped I did not wake up either of my parents. I did not want to get grounded. School was about to start, and I couldn't be grounded the first week of school. This is my junior year. And I was trying to go for the head cheerleader position. I had plans for my junior year. But now they are all gone.

So, that night when I returned, I noticed the house was extremely dark. And there was no sound. I was happy that my parents were out, and I would not be grounded. I went to my room. I was a bit intoxicated as well. I was about to go to sleep when the doorbell rang. I was scared because it was almost 1 am. Who rings the doorbell at 1 in the morning? I tiptoed downstairs and tried to see who it was. I noticed from my window that there were cop cars in front. That was weird and so I opened the door. I saw two officers looking at me sadly. Why are they looking at me sadly?