Fade Away

"Taryn. Taryn, come on. You gotta wake up. I'm starting to think you're dead. Taryn!"

I tried to ignore the voice. I was comfortable and for once, I was sleeping soundly. I didn't have a clue where I was but I didn't care. I was content and that's all that mattered.

"Taryn, I see your eyes moving. I know you're awake."

"God damn it, you're annoying," I muttered, openning my eyes. Chris was standing a few feet away, looking through the stacks of papers on his desk.

"Maybe I am, but you love me," he said with a smirk.

"Ha. Lie," I replied.

I started to remember why I was there. It had been two weeks since Maika disappeared and there was only a week left before we- or I- had to leave for college. After I had a slight meltdown on him, Chris made sure he didn't miss anymore of my calls. I didn't believe him when he said Maika was fine. It was two weeks. By now, he would have said something.

Last night I had been a total wreck, panicking about college and not knowing how I'd do it without my brother. I was going on and on. Eventually, Chris had gotten sick of listening to my whining over the phone. He came by my house and told me we were going to have fun and I was going to stop worrying. I didn't believe him at all but I went with it. I might as well. My house had been so solemn lately that it was just depressing to be there.

One thing I did learn was that Chris was good at providing distractions. He had Christian and Jay come over and they threw a little mini-party for me. Now that I thought about it, it had been fun. We had played games and watched funny movies. I enjoyed myself for the first time in weeks. If I'm not mistaken, I may have even forgotten for just a moment that my brother was missing.

"Come on, bum. I've gotta bring you home now. We can stop at Starbucks on the way if you want," Chris said. I sat up, not caring about how crazy my hair must have looked. I knew Chris didn't care and he had seen me much worse.

"Why? I don't wanna go. Can't I stay here for a little longer?" I said, not caring that I was whining.

"I would love to let you stay here because I know you could use a break, but I have to go out with my parents today. We have to visit my aunt down in Miami," he explained. I sighed.

"I could just stay here and sleep all day. You'll never know," I joked. But I stood up anyway and straightened myself up as much as I cared to. "Do you know where my phone is?"

I turned to see Chris already holding my phone in the palm of his hand. He knew me too well. I had to fix that. I couldn't walk around knowing he could predict my every move.

"I'll call you when I get home and if you still want to come over, you can."

"I don't want you to continually think that I'm your responsibility," I said. I was beginning to feel bad about constantly calling him or asking him for this or that. I was 17. I could take care of myself. Why did I feel the need to be so dependent on Chris?

"Ah shut it. I don't think you're my responsibility. We're friends. Friends help each other out when they need to."

I gave a sigh but didn't much argue. I let Chris bring me home and told him for the millionth time that I was fine. Walking into my house, I could just feel the weight of everything return to my shoulders. I didn't want home to feel like this anymore. I wanted my brother.