The Drowning Year

The air was cold that day. I could see my breath. Which was odd for September, compared to the blistering heat we usually felt; but a weather mystery fell upon our town, and the cold shrouded our small town. My sister and I walked to school that day, considering the car was broken. It was our first day back since the summer. She was a freshman, just beginning her life; I, on the other hand, was a senior. I remember that morning so well. She skipped up the dirt road her chestnut hair bouncing up and down, her eyes glistening as she sang.

Her voice was beautiful. Something I envied. She was beautiful. Something I also envied. She was the perfect girl, perfect sister, perfect daughter, perfect person all around. I lived in her shadow, even though I was older.

"Come on, Emma! We're going to be late if we keep walking at your pace!" She giggled excitedly from up the hill.

"Sorry, was just sort of, away in my own world for a minute," I smiled at her once we continued on down the road.

"You're always in your own world sis. Sometimes I wonder what's so fascinating up there." She quickly stuck her tongue out childishly before laughing. "Whatever it is, you need to come back to this world, before you waste your life away. Youth is fleeting."

I watched as she ran up to her friends and skipped into the school with them. Her words meant so much, I was just too blind to see it.

I slowly found my way up the steps into the school. The building was warm, making my coat feel heavy and scratchy against my skin. I unwrapped my scarf, letting it hang loosely around my neck. I opened my Grey metal locker and stuffed my coat and scarf onto the top shelf before retracting my binders for class.

Alex.

The one boy that could make my heart flutter, my stomach fill with butterflies, and cause a loss of breath. The one boy that made my world burst into color. The one boy I couldn't have. The one boy that ripped my heart to shreds, made my stomach quiver, and made me want to vomit. The one boy my sister had to steal. The one boy that was a part of my life, but not in it.

"Hey Em. Nice summer huh?" His smile was to die for, wonderfully and literally.

"Yeah," I squeaked out, before slamming my locker shut and running in the opposite direction. Behind the corner I watched silently as he walked up to my perfect sister, and gave her affection. I turned and walked down the hall to class. I couldn't stop the tear that slowly changed everything. It was the last tear I ever shed alive.