Growing [COMPLETE - ROUGH DRAFT]

Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

 

            “Abby, I need you to stay right here.” I told my sister, placing her in my room and locking the door.

“What’s going on?” She asked me, looking up with her big brown eyes. She was still in her tutu, and I felt like laughing. This whole situation seemed incredibly funny to me. Here I was, hiding in my bedroom with my three year old sister while some crazy boy was in my living room, watching my tv. That was about to change, though. I refused to allow anyone to hurt my sister, and that included him.

“I’m going to make a call, please stay quiet while I do.” I told her, still pretending I was taking Abby to the bathroom. Or at least, that was what I told Mr. Weirdo on my living room couch.

“Are you calling mommy?” She asked me hopefully, and my heart sunk a little. If only.

“Yeah, right after.” I lied, and walked to the corner of the room to grab my phone.

I dialed 911, and after what seemed like a whole day, the operator picked up.

“911, what’s your emergency?” A woman asked business-like on the phone.

“Hi, I have a strange man in my house.” I told her, trying to keep my voice quiet.

“A robbery?” She asked, and I could hear some voices in the background.

“More like breaking and entering.” I said after a thought.

“Please give me a location.” She said, and I did.

“Okay we see you. There will be an officer dispatched to you shortly.” She said, and the line went dead. I stared at the phone in my hand for a full minute before sliding it shut.

“Alright then.” I muttered, and turned to look at my sister who was lying on my bed, fingering the pillowcase.

“Anna, I’m tired.” She told me, and I looked at her sad little face. She was fighting sleep, and I remembered she didn’t have a nap today.

“Oh honey, why didn’t you tell me?” I stretched my fingers to turn on the overhead fan, and I went to tuck her in.

“I just did!” She protested, and furrowed her little eyebrows at me.

“I guess you did, didn’t you?” I responded, with a smile on my face. I started rubbing her back, and humming the transformers theme song for her.

“Can you play for me?” Abby asked, keeping her back turned to me. I froze, not understanding what she was saying. I hadn’t played since mom passed away.

“What?” I asked, my voice cracking. I pretended it was a cough so Abby wouldn’t notice.

“Your guitar. Can you sing me to sleep?” She pleaded, and rolled so I could stare into her perfect little face. There really was no denying her anything once you looked at her face.

“I haven’t played in a while.” I whispered quietly, and she shook her head.

“If you don’t play, I’ll be mad of you.” She warned me, and I cracked a smile at her improper grammar.

“Okay sweetie.” I told her, and headed over to grab my acoustic guitar. It was propped up in the far corner of my room, and was also my last Christmas present from my mom. I taught myself over the summer, and now that it was mid-November, I was finally getting good. Then my mom’s accident happened, and I stopped playing.

It wasn’t that I wanted to stop playing, I just honestly didn’t have the time.

I walked back over to my sister, and sat on the bed, crossing my legs. The guitar settled naturally in my lap, and I did a quick tune up since I hadn’t played in a while. Months of tuning the guitar got me to figure out the relative tone of the pitches. I was in no way a professional player, nor did I have perfect pitch. I was just me, playing the instrument that I used to love so dearly.