Splicing of Changes (Editing)

Chapter 2

Running. Small foot moving. The sound of feet echoes through the house.

Where am I? Instantly I sat up, realizing I was not on my bed. Neither is this my room. It is too bare to be my room. It lacks all my personal touch. It is way too colorful to be my room. Rubbing the sleep of my eyes, I try to recall where I am, what happened and whose room I ended up in. While scratching my head trying to figure out the mystery, a voice floats in my ear. My sister's voice is unmistakable. Tori? Huh? How? How can I hear Tori right now? Am I dreaming or is this a nightmare? What is going on? Also, why am I so confused? What did I do yesterday?

Slowly, I got up, testing my leg, and it seemed to be okay. No matter where I am, I have to be a little bit cautious of my leg, I do not like to be, but it is what it is. Tentatively taking the first step, I pushed open the door, hoping for it to be the bathroom. I need it to freshen up and wake my brain to figure out where the hell I am,. Also, why am I hearing Tori's voice? Doing my business and brushing my teeth fast with the toothbrush, I hop in the shower, letting the water wash over me, waking me up. Somehow, by a miracle, everything came rushing back to me. About my journey, meeting Tori at the airport and coming to her house. Sorry huge ass mansion. Adjust the water temperature, I let my thoughts consume me. Within minutes, I am done, drowning in sorrow once more when again, the pitter-patter of small footsteps alerted me. Slowly, with careful steps, I walked out of my room, freshly showered and in clean clothes. I remember only Tori when we came in. There was no one else. So who is here now? I remember having the most awkward dinner in history last night after resting for a bit, which consisted of only me and her, hence the awkwardness. No talk just sounds of us munching our food. I remember the other empty chairs by the table, which I presumed were for guests. Now I am rethinking it. Except these are small footsteps, meaning kids, not Tori. Now I am even more confused. Staying in this room will not help and, since I have already stepped out, I might as well venture out more in the house and figure out the source of the footsteps.

First thing first though, I have to talk to Tori about this room. If I stay here, I need to make it less cheerful. I am not this bubbly person with a colorful vibrant room, even if it is bare of any personal touches. It's very shiny. It has to be gloomy and dark much like me. I mean it as a joke, but I think it is real. I mean I spent all these years missing Tori, wondering how she is, where she is only to find her here, living in this huge ass mansion. Living her best life, I presume. I sort of hate that I know this now. As happy I am to be reunited with her, I have no idea who she is anymore, and she does not know me either. And as much as it pains me, I want to call Aaron, my boyfriend and almost want to ask him to take me away from here. I do not want to be here. I do not belong here. A thought gnaws at me. Is Aaron still my boyfriend? I mean we never discussed what would happen once I moved in with my sister. He never asked or showed any interest in knowing where I was going. Or if I even want to live with him. I never asked him either, but then again, I was kind of numb after the accident. I still am, but now I cannot help but think he never really cared about me. Did I care about him though? Who knows? I do not feel bad leaving him behind, nor do I miss him. I miss being home and having my routine. Huh, never thought I would say that, considering all I ever wanted was for that routine to fucking change and now... everything is changed now.

Tiptoeing, I walked furthered away from the room, following the sound of footsteps. This house is too bright and cheerful for me now, but I guess it will take some adjustments. A huge one. It is so different from my home, which used to be dark, quiet and depressing. Shaking my head at that, I walked to the dining table or where it was last night. There I came face to face with the owner of the small footsteps. Two tiny humans looked back at me instead of my sister, Tori. One of them looks slightly older than the other but still tiny. Their bluish gray onesies do not help me identify their gender. The younger or smaller one has brownish blonde hair like me and Tori and the older one has jet black hair. They are lost in their world, laughing and running around each other, carefree. Staring at them, I try to figure out who they are and why they are here. Didn't Tori say this was her home? Is she babysitting or something? Without taking my eyes off them, I pulled a chair back, the same one I sat on last night and sat down. I see there are toasts and scrambled eggs on the table. The embarrassing sound produced by my stomach makes me put a toast and egg on a plate and start eating them. Two bites. I just got two bites when the two humans came running to me, standing on either side of my chair, staring at me. Now it is not pleasant to eat with two unknown tiny humans staring at you, like they have never seen a teenage girl. Maybe they have not.