Chapter 2 Prologue part 2

Meg Miller ♡

" What do you mean, Miss Mandyson? I want to know everything now. " Mom demands to know; she turns around again and stares at both of us with a mix of surprise and confusion. "Mandyson, I want to know the whole story now." Dad joins Mom, seeking an explanation.

I think I messed up.

" You had to open your mouth, didn't you, Meg! " She exclaims angrily, raising her voice at me and ignoring our parents. I look at her incredulously, shaking my head negatively.

Or maybe not.

" Now I'm the one to blame? You're the one secretly dating, and I'm the one to blame? You're an idiot, that's what you are " I retort, irritated, looking at her. I notice that her eyes become even greener due to the anger she's feeling.

" You're the idiot! Just because the boy you like doesn't give a damn about you, dear sister, doesn't mean you have to ruin my relationship " she mocks.

" That's not true. I wasn't trying to ruin your relationship " I defend myself. " But maybe it's for the best this way; he would get tired of you pretty quickly. Or do you think I don't know about his reputation at school? He'll just use you and throw you away " I add, not caring about our parents' presence.

" That's a lie, Noah loves me. " Mandy raises her voice even more. " Look at this. " She shows me her phone, and several messages with love vows from him appear on the screen. I read his last message:

"Mandy, my beautiful. I'll wait as long as it takes to have you. When you're ready, I want to be your first. I've never wanted a girl as much as I want you. ♡"

I feel like vomiting reading this because I know it's all a lie. Noah is the worst guy in our school, famous for using girls and then bragging about it, thinking he's the big shot of the school.

What an idiot!

" Enough now; I don't want any more fights in here. " Mom scolds us, making us quiet down. " Mandy, give me that phone now, and then we'll talk about this " she reaches her hand toward my sister.

" But Mom, it's my privacy; I'm not giving it to you " she responds, placing the phone on her chest.

No way am I letting that happen; I want my sister to drop that guy before he hurts her.

" You will give it " I command, trying to take her phone, but she holds onto it tightly and doesn't let me take it. " Give it to me! " I exclaim, pulling her hand with the phone, but she unbuckles her seatbelt and tries to move away, pressing her body against the car door.

" Mandyson and Meg, I want both of your phones now " Dad orders authoritatively.

" Let go, Meg, I'm not giving you my phone!"

" You will give it to me!"

" Meg, I hate you! " She shouts furiously, making me stop trying to grab the phone and look at her in shock, just like our parents probably are. " You selfish piece of shit. As always, you want all our parents' attention. Always wanting to be the center of attention. You should be happy for me, but what do you do? Ruin my happiness, as always. You can't stand to see me happy, right? I do everything for you and for you, and is that how you repay me, little sister? " She rages, looking at me angrily. " What a wonderful sister I have " she mocks with an enraged tone.

Her words leave me surprised and speechless. I didn't know she thought that way about me, but I try to disguise the knot in my throat and swallow the tears, responding without humor:

" Believe me, sister, I'm doing it for your own good."

I'm not selfish; I just don't want to see my sister suffer.

" Stop this now, both of you, and give me the phones already. Just because of this, you'll be grounded, and we'll have a family meeting to discuss these matters " Mom warns, already irritated. However, neither I nor Mandy obey, and we continue arguing. I try again to grab her phone.

That idiot boy must be poisoning my sister's mind against me; he knows I don't like him one bit.

" Give me these damn phones now! " Dad exclaims, raising his voice in an angry tone. He reaches out to us, demanding the phones.

" No! I won't give it to you " my sister refuses, annoyed, not looking at him, and tries to take her phone back " which she manages to do " from my hand when I try to hand it to Dad.

" Give it back to me! " My sister orders, exclaiming angrily, pulling my arm, which holds the phone.

" Meg, stop this fight and give me that phone " Dad orders again, but Mandy manages to get her phone back, and then I try to grab it from her again. " Both of you, stop it! " Dad orders again. " We'll talk about this at home " he adds, extremely irritated.

" No, let's resolve this now " I insist, pulling my sister's arm, and she complains.

" Meg, obey your father " Mom commands, entering the conversation.

" I've already said no! " I shout, looking at Dad, and he, in response, turns around, stretching one of his arms and trying to grab the object that is the reason for our stupid fight.

Then all you hear in the car are screams, and we feel the collision because my father, trying to put an end to our stupid fight, lost control of the car, causing it to overturn on the wet road.

Two days later.

" I shouldn't have come " I whisper, watching them throw dirt on the coffin while tears keep streaming down my face. " This should never have happened " I add, dropping to my knees on the ground, repeatedly punching the grass with one hand, indifferent to the pain it might cause.

" Stop it, my dear; you'll end up hurting yourself. " Anne comes close to me and pulls me up with the hand that was pounding the ground; my other hand is wrapped in bandages from the injuries sustained in the accident.

An accident that I'll never forget.

" How am I going to live now? " I question, almost voiceless, as I look at the freshly made gravestone in front of me.

" It will be difficult, but you'll manage. After all, you're not alone. " She tries to console me, and I just nod, confirming, even though I know it's not true.

" Let's go. " Mom calls me without looking at me.

" Goodbye. " I whisper, running my finger over the name on the gravestone.

Soon, a memory invades my mind, making me remember the day I'll never forget.

"I slowly open my eyes and quickly close them because the brightness bothers me. As I open them again, I look around the all-white room to figure out where I am. From my side, I hear a machine beeping a few times; I also see a tube inserted into my skin and notice the bed with white sheets covering me.

I'm in the hospital.

How did I end up here?

I look to the side and find my mother sitting in a chair. She was staring at the floor, but she looks at me when I call her. She stands up and walks to my bed; once she's close enough, I see her red eyes indicating she was crying and a large bandage on her forehead, with deep dark circles.

" Mom, what happened? " I ask, still confused about everything that happened, but soon scenes of the accident appear in my mind.

" We had an accident " she murmurs softly, looking back at the floor.

" Is Dad okay? And Mandy? " I ask desperately to know. She looks me in the eyes and starts crying again; with that, I sit up in bed, as something serious must have happened.

" Your father is fine. He only broke his arm, but your sister... " She can't finish speaking, and her crying intensifies.

No...

This can't be happening!

" My sister what, Mom? " I encourage her to speak while my eyes fill with tears, and I shrink in bed, as something must have happened.

She isn't...

" Since Mandy was without a seatbelt, the impact on her was greater " she responds in a voice barely audible amidst her crying. " They rushed her to emergency surgery, and... she... didn't make it " Mom forces the words out to complete while running her hands through her hair in despair.

No... no... no...

" This isn't true; tell me this is a lie " I plead almost voiceless amidst tears and sobs. " THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! TELL ME IT'S NOT TRUE! " I scream in desperation."

I push these thoughts away as soon as I get home, and my mother sits on the black sofa, crying again. I think about going to her and comforting her, but I don't know what to say or how to act. Soon, the front door opens, and my father enters staggering, holding a bottle of alcohol in his good hand, while the other is bandaged. Since I woke up in that hospital, I've only seen my father with a bottle of alcohol in his hand, and with that, he's spent more time drunk than sober.

" Look who's here " he says ironically, pointing the bottle at me. " If it isn't the murderer " he adds and lets out a bitter laugh.

" What do you mean, murderer? " I murmur, confused, looking at him.

" You killed your sister! " My father asserts coldly, making my eyes widen, not believing what I'm hearing.

" You killed your sister. " He repeats slowly, spewing hatred and anger in every syllable.

" H-how? " I stutter, incredulous at what he said.

What am I?...

" Do you want me to draw it for you? You caused that damn accident. Girl, you've always been like this, always causing trouble. We were never called to the school because of your sister, but because of you, we were almost every week for something you did or fighting with someone. Mandyson has always been obedient, unlike you, who have always been difficult to deal with. " My father throws all these words in my face. With each word, I feel his disappointment and anger.

I always knew I was never an easy girl to deal with and that my sister was always the perfect one. I always knew. So why does it hurt so much to hear my father throw all of this in my face?

I feel something running down my cheek, and then I realize I'm crying.

" I didn't kill my sister " I retort tormented, raising my voice, and sit on the cold floor, embracing my legs with one arm, crying copiously.

" You did, it's all your fault! " He shouts furiously, throwing the bottle on the floor, which shatters on impact, sending shards of glass flying everywhere and the dark liquid flowing across the white floor of the living room.

" Stop, please " I beg almost voiceless; my lungs feel like they've shrunk because I start breathing with great difficulty.

" I won't stop; because of you, Mandy is no longer here! " He declares coldly, coming towards me, making me shrink in fear. " You were to blame " he adds angrily, growling each word with hatred while pointing a finger at me. His cold, blue eyes look at me for seconds, and then he turns his back, leaving through the same door he came in.

Everything my father said revolves in my mind, not letting me forget, leaving me completely confused and bewildered. Although it was an accident, if I hadn't started that stupid argument, none of that would have happened.

" Am I to blame? " I ask quietly to myself, looking at the ground with blurred vision. " Did I kill Mandy, Mom? " I question with a choked voice, shifting my gaze from the floor to my mother.

" You should never have started that damn fight " she only responds dryly, looking at me with her red eyes, and it's hard not to notice the anger in them. Mom turns her back, heading towards the stairs without looking back; she climbs the steps, leaving me alone in the vast room with my thoughts that are increasingly tormenting me and surrounding me. Although I'm in a spacious and airy place, I feel suffocated and have difficulty breathing. Alone and only with my thoughts as company, hearing my own sobs with blurred eyes. My mind asks questions to which I don't know the answer.

Am I really guilty?

Did I kill my sister?

Did I cause that damn accident?

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