Category : Books-Fiction

Sub Category : Suspense/Mystery

"Jane?" called out Lily, my mother, down from the kitchen or that's what I guessed. I was still in my bed half asleep as I yawned lazily and crawled under my blanket. It had not even been two minutes when my mother entered my room and opened the curtains. But it did not help that much as the sun was hiding behind the huge clouds that day.
"Jane, wake up, now. I'm asking you calmly......... Don't raise my temper." Her face was half red with temper that I had to wake up although I did not want to. "Good girl." She stomped out of the room banging the door behind her and I almost shivered.
I got up lazily, brushed my teeth, took a bath and now was standing in front of my big and messy closet in a towel. There were almost all types of clothes in it, half of them merely gifts from even the most distant of our relatives. Although I had no interest in any of these fashionable things and preferred casual and simple types, my very excited mother had stuffed it all inside my overcrowded closet. I mean how could she do this? I am a 15 year old teenager, big enough to decide what should be inside my closet. But sometimes mom acted so childish that you wouldn't want to hurt her feelings. After two minutes of staring at it I finally dressed in my usual blue jeans and sky blue coloured tee, tied my shoulder-length black hair into a ponytail and went downstairs.
Everyone was seated at the table, mom, Nancy, and dad just came home from his night shift as soon as I took my seat in front of my elder sister.
"Good morning, Henry." Mom greeted hugging dad and kissing him on the cheek before sitting back.
" 'Morning." Dad greeted as he put his bag aside and took his seat next to mom.
I chewed my food longer than necessary thinking about how to ask dad about the matter I've been excited about so much that I hadn't slept peacefully last night. Today was the last day of the school and summer vacations were going to start from tomorrow. What a pleasure!
"Dad?" I asked still looking down at my bowl of cereal. I wasn't sure whether I'd said it loud enough for him to hear or was it just in my thoughts until he answered with a Hmm? chewing his food munchily.
I sighed. "Um, summer vacations start from tomorrow."
He hesitated and then continued the flow of conversation as though he hadn't got my point although I very surely knew he had. "And?"
"The tickets for amusement park, we haven't booked them yet and you promised us to take there this summer vacation." I spoke so fluently that mom and Nancy stared at me with their mouths wide open. I ignored them looking straight into dad's eyes. 
He looked down and then spoke in a soft and low murmur. "I'm sorry, Jane." He hesitated. "Uh, we, I mean..... Me and your mom," he looked at her and she gave an encouraging smile. I wondered what was so overwhelming that he took such a long time. "We will have to go to New York tonight because of some urgent work."
"We're really sorry we forgot to tell you, honey." Mom said in her most possible sweetest tone.
"And why can't I come with you?" asked Nancy, her face expressionless.
"Because of riots." 
"But dad, you promised us." I said not caring at all. Amusement parks have always thrilled me since childhood. And I haven't been there since three years.
"Who do you call us?" Nancy asked with as much force she apply on the word 'us'.
"I was talking about Will." I quickly replied. William Parris was our younger brother. He was 12 and just as daring as anyone in the Parris family except for Nancy. 
We both stared at each other for a long time, her piercing brown eyes looked in my cool blue ones as though she would stab me with a knife if she had a chance.
"What's the deal with you two?" asked dad observing us. We disconnected our eye contacts and I looked up at him but she kept eating.
"Um, nothing. Actually....." I answered nervously before Nancy interrupted me. She loved doing it because she very well knew I hated being interrupted. It just feels like kind of irritating, someone putting their lame jokes or whatever stupid stuff while we are talking something important.
"She broke my tab." She said carelessly although it was not my fault. 
"It was not my fault." I defended myself clearly. Today, I was already upset about all the amusement park thing and living with Nancy alone for God knows how many days without fighting and now, this tab thing. I mean what when she tore my adventure bag? I did not complain about it. But now my temper was rising high. Of course, normal for a teenager.
"Oh, really?"
"Who keeps a tab for charging at the edge of a table which is barely an inch from the door?" I spit out the words very clearly and loudly that even the next door neighbour would have come if they still lived there.
Mom chuckled under her breath and dad sighed, fighting a smile.
"Anybody told you to enter my room?" She was not going to end the matter easily and I decided neither would I.
"Yes, mom told me. Any problem?"
"Yes."
"And what about you?" I asked ignoring her comment.
"What about me?" She nearly scowled.
"You tore up my backpack." My hands were clenched into fists and so was hers.
"You were never going on an adventure." She smiled a devil's smile.
"Shut up!" I yelled softly now standing up.
"STOP GIRLS!!" Mom yelled at the top of our voices still fighting. We both glared at her. She was red with fury.
"When will you two start behaving like perfect sisters made for each other?" Dad asked giving a smirk.
"Never". We both said calmly. Nancy stood up, took her phone off from the charging cable and stomped out of the door banging it with a loud thud. I stood up as well, got upstairs, grabbed my bag and stomped downstairs.
"Well, I can drop you if you don't mind." Dad offered as though there was no chaos about ten minutes ago.
I was furious and annoyed and absolutely not in the mood in talking to anyone. "That'll be the greatest thing ever." I growled knowing I would not win this conversation at any cost.
He dropped me at school and half of the day went smoothly. And I was glad for it. I was sitting at the cafeteria during the lunch break, a cup full of coffee resting by my plain rough notebook on which I'd been sketching absent-mindedly until Giselle stacked a pile of books on the table so loudly that almost everyone in the cafeteria seemed to stare at us. Then I assumed how many people would have been staring at me all the time I was drawing this stupid thing. I closed the book immediately as soon as she sat beside me. She sighed.
"You know I would just grab a knife, pierce it into her empty stomach, twist it and pull it back all at the same time if I get the chance." Giselle sighed with relief spitting the lump out of her throat.
I exactly knew who she was talking about - Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Smith was the only teacher whom she loathed the most. It was quite peacefully listening to even her stupidest complains as she was the only person I could rely on for my problems after my family. After my parents, she was the only one person in the world who understood me more than myself, with whom I could shout out all of my anger, with whom my head felt just a little lighter, with whom I could be really happy for a while, the one who was my best friend forever. I was so lost in thoughts that I did not even notice she had asked me questions until she shaked me.
"Jane? Are you alright?" Her face was anxious and worried.
"Uh ------- Yeah, I'm fine." I hesitated trying to keep calm.
"Come on now tell me what's wrong." She smiled a crooked smile.
"Nothing much. Just daily household stuff. Mom and dad are going to New York tonight and I'm alone with Nancy." I made a face as I mentioned her name and Giselle half smiled. "And we're not going to amusement park."
"Well, that's bad."
"Really bad." I murmured.
And then our conversation was interrupted by the familiar tall boy standing in front of our table. He had cropped brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. Jeremy Cooper was smiling at us.
"Hey, Jer." Giselle greeted. Only I knew how her heart had stopped seeing her childhood crush.
"Hey there!" Jeremy waved his hand. "Have you seen Bri?"
"Not today morning." I said trying to make the atmosphere as humorous around me as possible. Jeremy chuckled and Giselle glared at me.
Jeremy looked at his watch anxiously.
"Don't worry, he's not a child." I said trying to calm the tense atmosphere.
"Yeah, you know him better than I do so I guess there's no need to be anxious." He shrugged and grinned.
I grinned back.