You stare at your reflection in the mirror as your brush your teeth. Your mind was still on the altercation from last night. It didn’t go as cathartic as you had planned. Really, you didn’t know your sister had it in her to physically assault you. You weren’t really angry at first. Just, shocked. Oh don’t worry, the anger still crept in. Just after you had returned to your room. The seething of not only your sister hitting you but what she did to your mom last night made sleeping difficult. School was gonna fucking suck today. With a gurgle and a spit you inspect your still bruised cheek one last time before heading out. As you walk out into the grand room you noticed an emptiness to it. The only person here was your mom. Mom was writing down somethings on a note pad. She looked up to you as you entered the room. ”Bonjour cher…” Her voice was raspy and quiet. “Hey mom. Where’s everyone else?” ”Oh, your dad left early for work and y-your sister is still in her room.” Her voice quivered upon the mentioning of your sister. Her entire mood was exhaustion and sadness. It took everything in you to hold back a sneer. You decide to distract from the situation with small talk. “What’s that?” You motion to the note pad on the counter. ”Oh, I’m making a list of things I’ll need to pick up from the store. I was actually just about to leave.” Seriously? Her hearth was broken not 12 hours ago and she just moves on with her daily life like nothing has happened? It was just like her though you guessed. But still. ”Was there anything you wanted sweet heart?” “Uhm...no thanks mom I’m good.” ”Are you sure? Because I can pick you up so-” “No, no. Mom, really I’m fine.” ”O-okay then.” She jots down the last few things on her list and she picks up her purse. As she heads towards the door she looks back behind her. ”I’ll be back right before you get back from school. If you change your mind just text me and I’ll get you whatever you want.” With that she left and you heard her car start and leave the driveway, leaving you to your self. Well, you and your sister who was still getting ready in her room. You cringed. You still had some time before school but you had decided to go early today. Something you never thought you’d do. Well, better to get away from home instead of staying here with some domestic violence abusing freak. +++ You hop off the bus and start the final leg of your journey home. You were right this morning. School fucking suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucked. You had to buy three energy drinks from the canteen just to keep yourself conscious during class. And to make everything worse you had forgotten to charge your phone last night so it died sometime during lunch. Right in the middle an argument you were winning too. What ever, you knew trying to show retards the light of truly patrician taste was a losing battle. You couldn't concentrate anyways. Too tired. When you get home you were going to get well acquainted with your bed. Dragging your feet down your street a reminder popped into your head of just the kind of situation you were about to be walking back into. You started praying that Amber would take another one of her extended visits to the boardwalk today. Luckily, you really didn’t see Amber at school today. That doesn’t happen much, only when the powers that be decided to grace you with such luck. As much as you wanted to get your revenge on that violent retard, you just didn’t have the energy. Hell you barely had the energy to keep your head up. But finally, after many extended minutes of walking you could see your house at the end of the cul-de-sac. Your humble gamer dungeon was so close. Your peace away from the harsh and deluded world. As you got closer to the house you noticed the two cars in the drive way for. Huh, dad was home early. Not too weird you suppose. The closer you got to your home, the more your eyes began to fail you. Just a few more feet legs that was it. Holy fuck it was like your eyelids were made of lead. Finally, after many steps your hand was on the door handle. Just twist, push, and- ”It’s my fault! It’s all my fault!” Mom? ”No, no it isn’t Stella! Look, I’m getting in touch with Ripely right now, everything will be all right.” Dad? You walked further into the house and into the grandroom. Your mother, your poor mother was a quivering mess on the couch clutching something in her hands. Your father was reaching out his phone and frantically pressing on it’s screen. ”ishouldvebeenbetter, ishouldvebeenbeter, ishou-...Cynthia?!” Your mom finally takes notice of you in between her incoherent stuttering. Your dad turns around right before he can hit the call button. ”Cynthia! Oh, Jesus your home! Why haven’t you answered your phone?” You stared back at your parents in a mixture of confusion and fear, trying your hardest to force the words out of your mouth. “I-I uhh...wh-I don’t under-” ”Where’s Amber?!” Your mom shoots up, staring at your with begging in her eyes. “A-amber? I-I don’t know!” You throw your hands up in defense, dropping your backpack as you do so. ”What do you mean you don’t know? You two left for school together right?!” What the hell was going on? Your dad grabbed a hold of the scared stego and tried to calm her down. ”Stella please calm down. You’re not making the situation better.” Okay, time for you to but in. “Hey, what the HELL is going on?” ”A-amber, s-she left a note and, I mean, d-did you see…” Dad cuts mom off for a second time, motioning for her to sit back down. He looks back towards you with a serious face. ”Amber...Amber ran away. She left a note, and several of her things were gone.” Amber...is gone? You should be rejoicing but, the mood in the room is a little bit, erratic for you to be jumping up and down and glee. You mean, you knew she was being pissy but to run away? ”Cynthia…” Your dad continued. ”We both called you several times. Why didn’t you answer your phone?” You wrapped your tail around your leg. “I-it died at lunch! I had forgotten to charge it last night! I swear!” ”Okay, did you see Amber at school?” You shook your head. ”Did you see her when you left this morning?” You shook your head again. Your dad rubbed his head and sighed. ”Okay...well that answers a few questions. Cynthia, please sit down, I’m calling grandpa Ripely. We need to start looking for her.” Dad finally pushes the dial button on the phone and walks over to the side, putting the receiver up to his ear. You carefully walk over to the couch next to where your mother was sitting. Quivering and letting out small sobs, you could get a better look at what she was grasping in her hands. The note from amber. It was covered in tears and crumpled at the edges where your mother was holding it, as if she were trying to strangle the proof that her daughter had just abandoned her. You wrap your arm around her shoulder and do your best to try and console her. ”No, we haven’t yet...Uh huh...really? You don’t want to meet at the station?...Everyone?...A-alright...thanks Ripely...Yea, right, see you here.” Your dad hangs up and looks over towards you two. ”Alright...Ripely is calling the station right now, but he wants us to meet us here.” ”W-why?” Your mom creaks out. ”Because we’re going to be involved in the search party. We should call the others to help us too. Naser, Olivia, Rosa, maybe even Trish and Reed. Honestly, the more the better.” “Uhm...Isn’t that the police’s job?” You question. ”Well, they can only do so much, and right now apparently they are pretty thin on the police they have to spare and time is precious. Besides, we’re her family and we can’t just sit around and do nothing. Now come on. We need to start making calls.” +++ ”Alright. Thanks Rosa.” Your dad puts down the phone and rubs his head. A few of your family had already arrived. Grandma Sam and Aunt Olivia was consoling your mom while dad, grandpa Ripely and uncle Naser were making their respective calls. Your dad turns to the other men in the room. ”Alright, Rosa’s in, she’s going to meet up with Trish first and hook up with us after.” ”Cool, cool, I told my guys at Caldera Medical to look out for any teens they may end up there.” Naser adds. ”Alright, sounds like everything’s in motion. Already called the station.” Grandpa looks over to the four of us on the couch. ”We’ll update you ladies if we find anything out. It’ll be a long night.” Olivia looks over to the old ptero in confusion. ”What, do you expect us to stay here?” ”We need people to stay here just in case Amber decides to come home.” Grandpa replies. ”Wha-but don’t you guys need help?” Your dad steps forward. ”It’s okay, we have Trish, Reed, and Rosa coming to help us out. They are just as much family as the rest of you too her. Plus,” he motions towards mom, who was still staring at the floor. ”It’s better if she has one of her parents here waiting for her.” Olivia opens her mouth to say something but then stops herself. ”I...guess that makes sense.” Your dad nods and starts toward the door. “Great! Now, Naser, we’ll take your car. It has plenty of room an-” ”No Anon…” The three men stop and turn to your mother. ”Uhhm...wh-” ”NO ANON!” Everyone jumps back in shock. Holy shit what the fuck? Where was this coming from? You pull your legs to your chest. ”I’m coming to help with the search.” Your mother speaks with a sterness you don’t think has ever left her mouth before, freezing your dad in place. ”We-, Stella, it’s a good idea to have one of us here to-” The angry stego gets up from her position and marches over to the human, cutting him off. ”I will NOT just sit here while Amber is lost out in... WHO KNOWS WHERE!” She waives her hands. ”I don’t give a fuck what she thinks, that girl is just as much my daughter as Cynthia is! I feed her, clothed her, bathed her, worried over her, I’M HER MOTHER DAMN IT, and I’m NOT going to just sit here and WAIT!” Your mom’s snout was very much in your dad’s face at this point, backing him up into your grandfather and uncle. Dad was struggling to find an excuse until Ripely placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a look you couldn’t decipher. With a sigh, your dad relented. ”All right, all right. You can come. But we still need people here in case she gets back.” Your mother glares at him, “Leave that to me.” She turns around and, changing her demeanor immediately, smiles and speaks to the other two women who were just consoling her moments ago. ”Olivia, Samantha. Would you two be so kind to stay here with Cynthia and wait to see if Amber returns home?” Olivia sinks back into her wheel chair, mouth agape, looking between you and Grandma and back at your mom. Grandma on the other hand, calmly gets up and places her hands on your mother’s shoulders. ”Of course dear, go and find her. We’ll call you if she comes home.” She leans in for a hug which your mom readily accepts. ”Thank you Samantha.” And with that, the stegosaurus marches past the group of still bewildered men and out of the front door. ”HEY! NASER! WE’RE TAKING YOUR CAR!” The men look at each other, shrug, and follow her out of the house, leaving the three of you there alone. … ”Uhm, what the hell was that?” Olivia asked. Grandma shook her head. ”You’ll understand when you have children of your own. All I can say is, don’t get in between a mama and her kids. She has every right to do what she’s doing.” Unable to argue with that, you aunt shrugs and leans back in her chair. ”Well, you certainly seem to be taking all this very well.” Grandma grabs her arm and let’s out a labored breath. ”I’m not. But...I’ve walked this road before. Best thing to do is to stay calm until we know for sure what happens to her.” The room is silent for several more moments until your grandmother turns around and tries to lighten the mood. ”We will probably be up late tonight, how about I make us some coffee!” ”Uh, sure Sam, sounds-” Before your aunt could finish, grandma already starts walking to the kitchen to start making the hot bean juice. ”good…Well,” She turns her attention to you. ”How have you been holding up kid?” Until now, you’ve just been observing everything. With all of the adults panicking and trying to find your sister all of the fatigue had basically been evaporated from your body, though it didn’t help in trying to speak while it was all happening. Now that everything has gotten...calmer, you feel as though you could actually think about what you want to say. “I’m...alright.” You answer. ”You sure? This all must be very hard for ya.” You shake your head. ”No, I’m fine, really. Honestly, I could care if they find Amber tonight.” Olivia gasps and smacks your thigh. ”What?! Don’t say that! Why would you say that?” “Ugh. Amber and I have never gotten along. It’s one thing to just be annoying, but recently she’s just had a stick up her ass. And besides, after seeing what she did to mom, pff, we’re probably better off.” ”Cynthia, that’s horrible.” She says bluntly. “Well, you asked…” Olivia groans and face palms. ”Look, I understand, siblings don’t get along. And I understand all of this is happening from what Amber said last night. But, she’s your sister. Family!” You roll your eyes. “She’s a HALF sister. And I’ve heard all of that stuff before too. Family can still be assholes. Even to other family members.” Your aunt shakes her head. ”That’s more of a self burn than you know man.” “How?” ”Well, you’re not the nicest person to your sister let’s say that.” “She’s done nothing for me to give her anything. She sulks and gets sad over nothing. Even if there WERE something for her to be sad over she just ignores people and gets pissy when you try to help. I stopped trying the moment I noticed it. I just don’t know how my parents can’t see it. She literally insulted my mom last night and what is my mom doing? Going out to look for her.” Olivia sighs and places a hand on your shoulder. ”Man, I get it. I’m the last person to give respect where it isn’t earned either but, in family somethings just HAVE to work differently sometimes. It’s something I had to learn to.” You side eye your aunt. “What do you mean?” ”Well...Naser loves me. And I have more than my fair share of faults.” You glance down at her chair. She notices and groans. ”And, I mean more than just these two useless things.” She grabs one of her unusable legs by the pants and shakes it for emphasis. ”I...I ask too much from your uncle. He does so much and I feel as though I can’t return half of what he gives me. Again, even outside of me being stuck in this thing though, being a cripple doesn’t really help. We fight. We argue. And there are even things I don’t like about him.” You shrug. “What does any of this has to do with me? You’re talking about your husband not your sibling.” ”The same thing applies dude.” “So, I just tolerate what my sister does because of family?” ”Ugh, no! You’re not getting it.” “What aren’t I getting?” What is up with this gator? Honestly, is she mentally handicapped too? ”Look! What I’m trying to say is that you don’t HAVE to like everything about your sister. You may even be justified in not liking a lot of the things she does. I don’t know, I don’t live here. But you two are family, and one day you may be all each other have. Plus, you have to live with the girl until one of you move out right? You need to learn to live with her. It’ll take effort from both sides, sure, but you need to learn how to tolerate...TOLERATE, not enjoy or condone, some of her quirks. She’s a person just like all of us. You don’t know what’s going on with her. Show her some acceptance and maybe she’ll open up.” … ”How?” “Just talk with her man.” ”She won’t talk to me.” ”Trust me, there’s a way. You may not know right now but there is a way.” “And how do YOU know?” You cross your arms. ”Because I was able to make Naser open up to me. And if you know anything about your uncle, he opens up to almost nobody. I’m surprised he did with Anon that one time.” “What ‘one time’?” Oilvia waves her hand. ”Don’t worry about it. High school shit.” You stare at her in confusion. ”Look, Cynthia, just TRY to talk to Amber and make peace with her? Who knows, there maybe something going on you don’t know about.” You think about it for a moment. It has been a while since yo-no! NO! Nuh uh! You cross your arms and look away pouting. ”You should listen to Olivia, Cynthia.” You turn your head back around to see Grandma Sam had returned with the coffee. Placing the mugs down she took a seat. ”You two should care more about each other.” You sighed and rolled your eyes. “Grandma, didn’t you hear what I said? I can list off everything she’s done. She has a shitty attitude. She gets upset at once thing and ruins family dinners. She’s a hypocrite. She insulted mom and made her cry. She ASSAULTED me! And now, instead of facing what ever punishment mom and dad had for her, she ran away from home! I’m sorry if it’s hard for me to care about her.” ”Assaulted you? What do you mean?” You were about to open your answer that question but decided to shut your mouth. Not the best idea to tell them about what happened last night. “Never mind. Doesn’t matter. Point is, she’s been doing horrible things.” Your grandmother scans you up and down. Bringing one of the mugs up to her lips she takes a gentle sip before returning her look back at you. ”Why?” “What?” ”Why has she been doing those things?” “Wh-I don’t know?! That’s the problem isn’t it? She REFUSES to talk to people. She’s getting upset over nothing!” ”How do you know it’s nothing if she hasn’t told anyone?” “Well...what else could it be?” The old pterosaur sighs in annoyance. ”You don’t know what she is going through?” “Neither do you!” Sam raises an eyebrow at you. You inspect her face for a few moments trying to figure out what that meant. “What?” You ask. Olivia, noticing the small gesture, seems to have found out what it meant. ”Wait. Sam, do you know?” ”I was told by my son, in confidence, what Amber has been going through. I was going to keep it a secret but it appears my grand daughter wants to sit here and judge her sister without knowing her full story.” ”Your so- Naser?! He hasn’t told me anything!” ”You maybe his wife Olivia.” grandma looks over to the alligator and smirks. ”But I am his mother.” Your aunt roles her eyes at the comment. “Well...what IS Amber going through then? How important can it possibly be?” You speak up. Sam looks back over to you, her face shifting into a somber expression. ”Amber is having a lot of difficult feelings about her mother. She really misses her.” Her mother? Lucy! Seriously? “Pff. Actually? What does she miss? She’s never met her!” Sam reaches over and pinches your snout shut. With a muffled eep she brings your face close to hers. Despite her age the woman had a really tight grip. ”I’d be very careful with what you will say about my late daughter Cynthia.” You put your hands up and stare at Sam with pleading eyes. Trying to express through a muffled beak that you understood. With a final glare, Sam removes her hand from your beak. ”Okay, okay, geez. But still! Amber’s mom died when she was very young right? It’s been years anyways and Amber has NEVER been like this! My mom has been the one raising her!” Your grandmother shakes her head. ”I have no doubt Stella has been a very good and loving mother. I KNOW she has. She’s out there right now looking for her.” “Exactly! So why is Amber so sad? What excuse does she have to be sad?” ”What if you were in this situation Cynthia? What if the roles were switched and YOU were the one who’s mother had died?” “I...well I...I wouldn’t be acting like Amber! That’s for sure!” ”You wouldn’t” Sam cocked her eyebrow again. “No! I’d be grateful for what I had.” ”You wouldn’t feel curious? Empty? The feeling of never meeting the woman who gave birth to you? Of never being able to connect with her and having that special bond?” “No.” Samantha looks at you for a few moments before shrugging and looking back down at her coffee for another sip. ”Hm. Good to know that you would never think once about Stella if you ever grew up without her.” “Hey! Wait that’s not-” Samantha looks back up towards you with expectant eyes, waiting for you to continue. You struggle with trying to find the right words to say. You try several times to get the words out but fail every time you do so. Eventually you whine and lean back into the couch, crossing your arms again. “You know what? Today has been a long day. And I didn’t get very good sleep last night. I’m going to bed. It’s late anyways. Good night.” You get off the couch and storm back towards your room. Fuck the both of them. You needed some fucking sleep. [POST-NOTES] Things are getting rough huh? By the way, I added ACTUAL chapter names now!