• Chapter 1
    ~Camren`
    One windy October afternoon, Camren and Jamie were walking towards the gym to decorate for the dance. The dance was a week away and there was still much to be done. Posters to hang, flyers to make, and decorations to put up. The gym looked barren, empty, pale.
    “There’s so much to do,” I said to Jamie, “I don’t think we’ll be done in time.”
    “There’s no need to fret we’ll get more help and this place will look fantastic.” she said in comfort.
    We worked a good amount of time, about six hours straight. We headed home at around eight. When we got home we were extremely tried. We ate dinner and went to bed. That night I had a terrible nightmare. I woke up in the middle of the night startled. I assumed it was nothing so I went to sleep again.
    In the morning I told Jamie what had happened. She looked startled by the time I finished telling her. We got to the school extra early. I got the strangest feeling of de ja vou. The gym looked exactly the way it did in my dream. The first two rows of bleachers were pulled out, but when we’d left the day before they weren’t. Some of the tissue paper we’d put on the walls had been torn down, the helium tank we’d purchased was missing, and some of the tables were out of place. I walked towards the bleachers, and in the exact same place as my dream, was a dead CORPSE! I screamed at the top of my lungs and fell backwards. Jamie came running over. When she saw what had caused me to scream she got her phone and dialed 911.
    The cops came and started asking questions, like Did you see what happened?, Did you know the victim personally?, and Who do you think could’ve done this? I was completely traumatized. I stood shaking in my own skin. I felt strange, completely out of control. My vision blurred and I fell backwards. I didn’t get a chance to answer any questions before I blacked out.
    I woke up in the hospital with my sister asleep on the recliner. Not long after I woke up did Jamie start to stir. She automatically looked over to see if I was awake. When she saw that I was, she came over and hugged me.
    “ When did you wake up?” she asked me. She looked so concerned, considering that I was the elder one.
    “ I woke up a few minutes ago. You don’t have to worry so much about me. I’m the one who should be worrying about you. How are you doing? Are you eating?” I asked her.
    “ I’m fine and yes I’ve been eating, which is something I can’t say about you. You’ve been here two days and you haven’t eaten a thing.” she pushed a tray that someone had left for me, closer. “Here eat something. You need all that you can get.”
    To tell you the truth I was hungry. I hadn’t eaten in two days, so I ate mostly everything on that tray. Jamie had gone back to the apartment and gotten some of my books to keep me busy. As I picked up one of my books I thought about everything she had ever done to me and for me. I had a part- time job and she’d called them to say that I was in the hospital and I would be back as soon as I could, that kept me from losing my job. I found it hard to believe that she was my sister. We were opposites of each other. She wore bright colors when I prefer black to anything else. She liked to keep her grades in the A slot while I could care less as long as I passed. She’s one year younger than I am. She begged me to give her rides to the mall when I got my drivers license. She’d drag me through all these girly stores and had me help her choose what to buy. I soon decided to buy something for myself. I went to the closest store that suited my taste. I saw a few of the kids from school and said hi. I’d bought about a hundred dollars worth of clothes and accessories before Jamie was ready to go. It took her twice as long as it had taken me, for her to buy a hundred dollars worth of clothes.
    About fifteen minutes into my book, my boyfriend, and co-worker, Damien walked through the door to my room. He looked worried, but quickly turned happy, when he saw that I was alright. He had a bouquet of black roses in his hand. My sister rolled her eyes when she saw the color of the flowers. She didn’t understand why we liked the color black, which isn’t a color by the way it’s a shade. She closed the book she was reading, took the flowers from Damien, and went outside.
    Damien walked toward me and hugged me. I could tell that he had been worried about me. He is such a sweet guy. He started asking me questions about what happened. I answered as best as I could.
    That day had been one of the worst days of my life. It had been five days since I last saw Damien. We had had an argument about him moving in to my apartment. We had a two room apartment so he was planning to room with me, but I wasn’t ready for that. I ended up walking away from him and hadn’t spoken to him since so it was nice to see him there, looking worried and scared for me. We had been through so much together I couldn’t even begin to think about losing him.
    He cleared his throat and said “ I’m so sorry about what happened on Monday. I didn’t mean to pressure you. I just want to live the rest of my life with you.”
    “ I do to, but I’m just not ready to have you move in with me. Especially while I have to make sure that my sister is alright. You two are the most important things to me. I want both of you to be happy and safe and for you both to be close to me. I can’t picture my life without either of you in it.” I told him. I could feel tears in my eyes.
    I started crying. I couldn’t help it. Just thinking about it made me sad. Damien put his arms around me.
    He held me and said “Don’t cry, Camren, don’t cry. We’ll always be here for you.”
    He tried to calm me down by stroking my hair. Jamie came back before I could calm down. She rushed over and asked Damien what was wrong. He explained why I was crying and she, too, gave me a hug. I was surrounded by the people who loved me. Our parents had walked out on us when I was old enough to take care of both of us. To Jamie I was like a mother. She kept telling me that nonstop. My parents had left us with a couple hundred dollars, just enough to get us a home, car, food, and clothes until I got a job. It took us awhile to get things settled. By then I had met Damien. We had met on my first day of work.
    I was working in the kitchen and he was a waiter. I was taking my break when he approached me. We were both wearing black from head to toe. I couldn’t help but laugh.
    “What’s so funny? I certainly don’t see anything that could be funny.” he said.
    “ It’s just that we’re matching.” I told him.
    We were wearing the same shirt, which was bullet for my valentine, the same kind and brand of ripped jeans, and the same kind of chucks.
    “I did not notice that.” he said innocently.
    I could tell he was bluffing. He sat down across from me and started asking me questions about me.
    It took me awhile to stop crying. By the time I stopped crying I was tired and drowsy. Damien stayed until I fell asleep. I heard him say goodbye to my sister then he kissed me on the forehead and left.