JESS'S POV:
"Annie, we have no choice!" I tell her, frustrated.
"There's always a way, always! You just choose not to see it. Go ahead, take me wherever you want. Even that place that ruined my, our childhood. Please stop it." She says breathing heavy, teary eyed.
I breathe out.
"Listen, Ann, it's just six days. We'll manage, yeah?" I tell her, caressing her hand.
In response, she just got up and ran upstairs.
"Annie!" I yell at her but she just ran.
This, this is what I hate. Our hometown. The place where all the nightmares began and where we're now invited because our damn parents want us to celebrate their 25th anniversary with them.
We wanted anything, anything but going there. It's going to be hell but there's not like we have any choice. I've seen everything a lot more than my sister. She hasn't and she can't and that's why I'm scared to go there, again. The one we ran away from.
"I'm going to school." Annie says, walking down the stairs.
"Oh, okay. Have a good day." I say, not wanting to speak anymore.
"Mhm." She replies.
As soon as Annie left, I called the only person I could trust all of this with.
"Pick up, pick up, pick up. I need you." I say repeatedly.
"Hey?" He says in his sleepy voice.
"Will! Where the hell were you?" I ask, frustration dripping through my tone.
"Oh God, Jess, don't speak like it's not 7 a.m. in the morning. Don't you have any work other than irritating me at this time?" He says in the same tone.
He was my friend, my only friend, from my hometown, Canberra. The one I could rely upon, always.
"Will, we.. we're coming to Canberra for a party in two days for six days. Will, I don't know what to do. Annie is so so upset about it and honestly, so am I. I.. I actually." I break down explaining the situation to him.
"Woah woah, girl, calm down, why the heck are y'all coming here FOR A PARTY?!" He yells. He knew what had happened few years back and he hated everything, just like us. The only difference is that he couldn't leave his family and move somewhere else.
"Mom called last night, she wanted us to attend their 25th marriage anniversary and would like us to meet our 'family' who did nothing but traumatise us and she said we'd stay there for six days and father has got some work with us. I'd like anything but going back there. Even the thought makes my heart break a million times. I don't want to live the memories again, please."
"It's okay it's okay , I'm here. Look, on the bright side, we can meet after so many years. And about them I'll do something, they won't come near you, I promise. " He says.
"Yeah, I guess. I'll meet you soon. Take care, Will." I say.
"Yeah, you too, Jessi Messi." I laughed, he knew I hated that nickname.
I hang up the phone. This isn't something I'm looking forward to. Literally no.
I walk up to my university, I look to the café on the way but I decided against stopping there after the events of that night. This isn't isn't I imagined North America to be, I thought it'd be all calm and joy. This is exactly opposite.
"Hey, Rosa." I say, sitting down beside her.
"Heyyyy girl! Why are you late today, though?" She asks smiling.
"Ah, nothing, just some stuffs came up." I say, not actually wanting to tell her the whole story.
The day passed by in a flash. Now, the most difficult part is how to make Annie happy again. I know its hard for her, I gotta do something, but I didn't know what.
I decided telling her friend, Ana, if she could do something. She must be in her café.
The cold chilly winds kept blowing making me shiver. The evening time was my favourite, just peace and peace and peace. I liked being alone sometimes. Solitude helps you learn so much. I stand infront of the café, I never noticed how isolated it is.
I enter the café and I feel my heart racing for some reason. I look at Noah and Sohail with Ana, along with four more people.
"Oh! Hey Jess! Welcome. What can I do for you today?" She says, smiling.
"Ana actually, I need a help." I say as her facial expression changes from happy to concerned. Funny how I don't even know her but I'm more comfortable in telling her the story than Rosa.
"What's wrong? Is Annie okay?" She asks motioning me to sir down as she takes a seat beside me.
"Yeah, no. Actually we have a function to attend back in our hometown and she hates it there, she's really upset, I want to cheer her up, do you have any idea how to?" I ask her in a tone filled with hope.
"Yeah! Oh God, I'll try my best. GUYSSS!! I need y'all to tag along!" She says, enthusiastically to all others present.
"Carry the croissants, the shakes and the cupcakes." She says and I notice Noah and Sohail standing and talking, not paying attention to whatever was going on.
"NOAH! SOHAIL! GET THE CARS OUTTTTT, FAST!" She tells them and I watch them roll their eyes as they exit the café.
"Let's go, Jess. I'm sure she'd be more than happy seeing us all." Ana says.
We all reach our house, I stand outside debating whether to ring the doorbell or to open with the spare key. I decide on opening with the spare key.
"Don't make noise, anyone, we'll give her a surprise." Ana whispers.
"Yeah." I laugh lightly.
We walk towards Annie's room. I open the door and,
"SURPRISE!!!!" We all yell collectively, well, the all excludes Noah and Sohail because they were just standing.
She flinched hearing us all. As soon as she saw all of us the grim expression on her face changed to a happy one.
"Oh my God, what's going on?" She asks, coming forward to us from her bed.
I switch the lights on so that she could see each one of us. Her eyes land on Sohail's and she quickly diverts it to Ana's .
"Well, your sister was worried about you so we all kind of collectively planned this surprise." Ana explains.
"What are we waiting for? Let the party begin!" Annie says.
As they all sit and chat about life and stuffs, I notice Noah leaving the house, I decided to follow him.
"Wait." I call him. The streets were empty not a single person to be seen and the moon was shining as bright as ever.
He just looked back at me, no response, just the confused expression.
"I.. I wanted to say thank you for last night." I tell him but all I get is a nod in response as he starts making his way to his car.
"Won't you stay?" I ask him blatantly even after he kept ignoring me.
"I've got some work." He said as he sat inside his car and left.
It was just me on the streets, just me.
As soon as I entered the party I noticed that the vibe has completely changed. In the once happy atmosphere, now tension prevailed.
I look at Annie's scared and trembling figure and in front of her acting like a barrier between Sohail and Annie is Ana equivalently terrified as if someone just threatened to kill them.
"What's going on!?" I ask worried, running towards Annie.
"I..I.. accidentally.."
