Stay Awake

It had been three days since the football game, and all I could think about was Jenny. I've pretty much spent every day in my room, looking around on the internet for phone numbers and e-mail addresses. I sighed and laid back on my bed, staring up at the ceiling as my music lightly played from my laptop.

"Summer dear, it's time for lunch! It's your favourite, mac&cheese with potato chips!" Joyce called up the stairs.

"Okay, I'll be right down." I huffed, closing my laptop. I took a deep breath and got up from my bed, my hair falling out of the messy bun I had put it in. I didn't care, though.

I walked downstairs and I was suddenly surrounded by the aroma of macaroni and cheese. My mouth started watering as I took my seat at the table, and Joyce put a big steaming bowl in front of me.

"Thanks," I muttered, sticking my fork in and taking a bite.

"Hey, you've been down for the past couple days, are you okay?" Joyce asked, sitting down in front of me with her dish.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I lied.

"Are you sure? Jack didn't do anything to you, did he? You haven't hung out with him since the game."

"No, Jack's probably the best older brother I could ask for, it's just that..." I couldn't bring myself to tell her about Jenny.

"Just that what, dear?" she asked, giving me a concerned look. "You can tell me anything."

I sighed and looked down at my lunch, realizing that I wasn't hungry anymore. "My little is still in Chicago."

"You have a little sister?" Joyce asked, surprised.

"You didn't know? The foster home said that they would never separate us!" I cried, covering my face with my hands.

"Oh, Summer, they didn't tell us that you have a sister! We would've taken her, too! How old is she?"

"Eight." I sobbed.

"She's just a little thing! I'll tell you what. I'll call the foster home and see what I can do to get her here."

"Really?" I asked, looking up at her, and she had a sympathetic look in her face.

"Of course, dear. They broke their promise, I would love to have your sister here. Why don't you go over to Alex's house and hang out with everyone over there? Maybe it'll help you get your mind of things while I make calls and get a hold of someone." she suggested.

I shrugged and finished eating my food. "Okay. I'll call Jack or someone to pick me up." I said, taking care of my bowl and headed upstairs. I made a quick phone call to Jack, and agreed to pick me up so I could hang out with him and everyone else. I had been in my pajamas all day, so I quickly changed and fixed my hair.

"Yeah?" I said as I heard a knock on my door.

"Hey, little sis! Are you ready?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, I guess so." I said, grabbing my bag and following Jack out of my room.

"Bye, mom!" Jack called out, and we left. I crawled into the passenger seat of the car and buckled myself in. "Do you want to drive?"

"What?" I asked, looking over at Jack.

"Do you want to drive?"

"I've never driven. Ever." I said, honestly. Jack's eyes got huge.

"Alright, well that's changing today, missy! Let's go to a back road, and I'll teach you." he said, pulling out of the driveway.

"Alright," I shrugged.

Once we got to the back road, Jack pulled over and hopped out of the car, and I slid over into the driver's seat.

"Holy shit, you're tall!" I said, adjusting the seat so I could reach the pedals.

"I'm not tall, you're just short." Jack chuckled. I looked over and glared at him.

"Why are there three pedals?" I asked, looking down at my feet so I could put the car in drive.

"You're learning how to drive stick. It's easy." he said.

I listened to the directions he gave me, and the car quickly lurched forward and made a funny sound, and I quickly pressed the brake.

"I think I wanna start on a normal car." I said, tightly gripping the steering wheel. Jack just laughed at me.

"Alright, that's fine. Everyone's probably wondering where we are, anyway." Jack said, getting out of the car. I went back over to the passenger seat, glad to not be driving anymore. We headed over to Alex's house, where we hung out for the rest of the day.

***

"Summer, I got a hold of the foster home today," Joyce told me as I leaned up against the counter.

"You did? Is she still there? Will I be able to see her?" I asked, perking up a bit, but I could tell by the look on her face that the news that she was about to give me wasn't good.

"I'm afraid not. Summer, she got adopted."

I lost it. My legs felt like jell-o, and I practically fell to my knees. Luckily May and Joe were there, otherwise I would've fallen to the floor.

"How could they do this to me? She's my little sister, I have to be there for her! I promised that we would never be separated!" I sobbed, and May pulled me into a hug, gently rubbing my back.

How could this happen? It felt like my life was slowly crumbling away.