Back To Square One

⌑ Chapter two ⌑

I sat in my room that night, hiding my tears. Mackenzie had never shown up. I was heartbroken, truly. She was the only one who I wanted to be there. My phone was blowing up with texts and missed calls from Alyia, apologizing and saying that she wasn't talking about me. I ignored them, of course, until I finally decided to call Mackenzie. It rang a few times as I stood up and grabbed my backpack from next to my dresser. She didn't answer. She should've answered, she never misses my calls unless she was sleeping and I doubt she was sleeping at 6:30 p.m., especially on a Friday. I called her a few more times but no answer. I got a little worried, but I shrugged it off as nothing. Maybe she was out partying or something. I placed my phone face down next to me and pulled out my notebook, a pencil, and my computer to start on my homework.

About an hour later, my mom knocked on my door. "Come in," I call out and she opens the door. "Hey, sweetie. I know you're bummed out about your sister not coming over, so I have a few surprises for you. C'mon, they're in the dining room," my mom says with a smile. My eyes went wide and I almost dropped my pencil. "Mom, you didn't-" she interrupts me and puts her finger on my lips saying, "Shh, shh, shh, no. I'm gonna stop you right there. My daughter is turning 16 and you deserve a few surprises. C'mon, up, up, up." My mom grabs my hand and I push my notebook off of my lap as my mother guides me to the dining room. I gasp as we walk in and I stand still for a few seconds. "Ta-da! Do you like it?" My mom says, showing off her hard work with jazz hands. I looked at what she'd done and tears began to well in my eyes. She had decorated the dining room with purple-colored streamers and a few balloons. There was a disco ball spinning and music playing in the background. There was a colorful projector that made the ceiling look like the Northern Lights, which was something I've always wanted to see in person. There was a cake on the table with about 3 wrapped presents under the table. There weren't any bills or late fees on the table now, but a tablecloth that was my favorite color, lilac purple. "I know it's not much, but I saved up enough to afford some party decorations for your birthday. I made the cake myself and I got you a few presents," my mom says with a trembling voice. I look at her and I walk to her. "Mom, what are you talking about? This is amazing. It's perfect. Thank you so much, mom. You didn't have to get me presents, I know that money's tight right now, you don't have to do that," I say as I hold her hand. "No, no. I think you're going to like your presents. I tried my best to pick something that a teenage girl would like. I know what I wanted when I was a teenager, but times have changed. I hope you like them," she says, tears forming in her eyes as she smiles at me. I smiled and I felt my lip quiver. "Thanks, mom. I love it," I say as I hug her, trying not to let my tears fall down my face. She hugs me tightly and says, "I love you, honey, okay? Don't you ever forget that," she says with a sniffle. We hug for a minute and then she pulls away, wiping her eyes and letting out a sharp exhale. "Alrighty, go on, sit down in the chair, I have to get my phone. Don't open any presets yet," she says, going into the living room. I sit down in a chair and grab a present. I noticed that there was a big gift bag that had pink and yellow tissue paper on top. I reach for it and I jump at the sound of my mother's voice. "Not that one, that one comes last. How about this one?" My mom hands me a smaller gift, a bit bigger than the size of my hand. She starts recording me opening the present on her phone and smiles at me. I carefully rip the paper and it's a purple flower phone case for my phone. I get my phone out of my pocket and put the case on. It looks perfect. I look at my mom and she motions her hand for me to keep opening other presents.

After opening all the other gifts but one, I grabbed the last one and looked at my mom. She nodded and I carefully took off the tissue paper one by one. "You might wanna stand up to get that outta the bag," my mom says with a wink. I look at her confused but do as she says, getting up out of my chair and I resume taking out the tissue paper. Finally, I get the present at the very bottom. I gasp, immediately knowing what it was without taking it out. I looked at my mom and she had the biggest smile on her face. I grabbed the top and slowly pulled it out of the bag. It was a dress I had wanted for the Sophomore end-of-the-year dance. I was looking online and I had put it into my wishlist on the website. My mom must have found one just like it that we could afford. It was a periwinkle purple color and had little gems in the top half and faded down throughout the rest of the dress. I couldn't hold back anymore and tears flowed down my face. I looked at my mom, who was about to cry, and said, "well, do you like it? I know it's not the exact one but I tried to find one that was close to the one you liked." Her voice trembles and I rub my thumb against the fabric. It was even softer than it looked. "Well, go on. Go try it on, I wanna see it on you," my mom says as she stops recording and places her phone in her lap. I smile and walk past where my dad was passed out and then into my bedroom. I slipped the clothes off of my body and slid the dress on. I needed help closing the back so I peeked my head outside of my door and called for my mother. "What's wrong, hon?" she asks and I respond by saying, "I need help closing the back, it's a zip-up." She walks into my bedroom and closes the door as I turn around away from the body mirror that rests against my wall and I pull my hair to the front of my body. My mom zips up the dress and gently grabs my shoulders, making me face the mirror. I closed my eyes tightly, took a deep breath, and then I opened them slowly. I stood in the middle of the room, staring into the mirror. It was even better than I had ever pictured it in my mind. I began to cry again, turning to my mom and hugging her. "Thank you so much, mom. I love you," I said as I cried. She wrapped her arms around me tightly and responded, "I love you too, Alli. God, I wish your sister could be here. Step back 1 or 2 steps so I can get a picture for her." I do as she says and smile as my mom takes a picture of me on her phone. She hugs me one more time and then leaves the room to let me get changed.

My mom and I talked in the dining room about anything that came to mind. We've never really sat down and talked to each other and it was nice. We ate the cake she made and she even let me have a few cups of wine with her just because that's what she was allowed to have on her 16th birthday. We talked for about 2 hours before she passed out at the table as I went to the bathroom. I was maybe gone for 5 minutes and she passed out in that time. When I found her, I gently shook her awake and walked her to her bed. She fell right back asleep as she placed her head on the pillow. I kissed her forehead and stroked her hair, then I walked out of her room, closing the door behind me. When I walked back to the dining room, I started taking down all the decorations after taking a few pictures of the scene. I took down the streamers, I let the air out of the balloons, and I put the leftover cake in the fridge. I cleaned up the kitchen a little bit and did some dishes so that my mom wouldn't have another thing to do tomorrow. After all of that, I went to the bathroom and locked the door. I got on my knees in front of the toilet and let out a shaky breath. I shakily shoved 2 fingers down my throat, triggering my gag reflex and making me throw up. I vomited for 5 or 10 minutes and sat in the fetal position afterward. Tears rolled down my cheeks and I wiped them. I closed the lid of the toilet and flushed, standing up and placing my hands on the counter. I looked up into the mirror and stared at the reflection. My mouth curved into a frown of disgust as I did so. I wiped my tears again and took a shaky deep breath. I unlocked and opened the door, walked into my bedroom, and shut the door behind me. I pulled out my phone and tried to call Mackenzie again. No answer. I sighed and placed my phone on the end table next to my bed, turning off my light and lying down in my bed to at least try and get some sleep.

⬨ ⬨ ⬨

I woke up to my phone ringing. I checked my phone and it was 12:33 in the morning. "Who in the world is calling me at this hour?" It was an unknown number, but it was my area code. I hesitated but answered the phone. "Um, hello? Who is this?" I groggily said. "Hello, is this Allison Beckons?" the caller says, who is a woman. "Yes, how do you know my name? Who are you?" I respond, sitting up in my bed. "My name is Cecilia, I'm an investigator at the Windsor Crest County Police Department. Unfortunately, I'm calling to give you some horrible news. I'm sorry to call you so late, but I'd prefer you know now," Cecilia says, in a monotone voice. I furrowed my eyebrows and shook my head saying, "Uh, okay, what's the news? What's wrong?" Cecilia sighs into the phone and says, "it's your sister."

I feel a pit in my stomach. Was she getting arrested? Was she hurt? Was she okay? Had my father somehow snuck out of the house and gotten to her? My mind was racing with thoughts but I took a deep breath and continued talking to the investigator.

"What do you mean? What about my sister?" I ask after taking a few deep breaths. "We got reports of loud crashing and disruption around your sister's residence and when we sent a few of our officers to check it out, they walked in and found your sister. She was on the couch and passed out. Allison, I'm so sorry to tell you but, your sister is dead."