Chapter 1

"I miss Adam. It’s been two years since I've last seen him. He needs to come home. I can’t handle them on my own anymore.”

“Adam is your brother, right? And by ‘them’ you mean your parents?”

“Yes. It’s getting worse. They barely talk and when they do they fight. I’m pretty sure they’re both cheating. Everything is so messed up.”

“Sorry.”

“I don’t know what to do. Sometime I think they don’t even remember I exist. They couldn’t act like this if they knew I was here. I feel so invisible.”

“It could be worse.”

“How can it be worse?”

“An airplane could come crashing down and crush you in your sleep, like in Donnie Darko.”

“You are such a freak.”

“I know, but you love me anyway.”

Meg and I laughed at our stupidity. We were spending another evening floating in her pool and staring up at the sky. I only knew her for a year but we quickly became best friends. She was the only one who knew about my parents. Not even my own brother knew about them. He had left two years ago to go to LA. He wanted to pursue a music career. His band got signed and was doing great. I missed him like crazy, but at times I hated him for leaving me with my parents. They hated each other and weren’t afraid to show it. I was the one who had to be there for every fight. I was there to answer the phone every time one of their “friends” called. I was there when they snuck in at two in the morning and crept into their separate rooms. They were each seeing other people. They knew about each others’ “friends.” They didn’t think I didn’t know. They didn’t think I did know. They didn’t think of me at all. They didn’t care.

“We better get inside before we fall asleep, roll off our rafts, and drown.”

“Yea. I guess we should go inside.”

Meg and I got off our rafts and swam to the pool’s edge. We went inside, dried up and soon were off to bed. I climbed up to the top of the bunk beds in Meg’s room and tried to fall asleep. All I could think about was that hunk of plane crashing thru the ceiling and squishing me flat. I smiled slightly to myself.

“If that Donnie Darko thing did happen, you would be crushed too, you know.”

“Goodnight, Mackenzie.”

“Goodnight, Megan.”

--

I was woken up by the ringing of my cell phone. It was three in the morning. I grunted and rolled off the top bunk, landing on the floor with a “thump.” I groaned and looked for my phone.

“Adam it’s three in the morning.”

“That’s what I was thinking. Why aren’t you home, yet? Where the hell are you?”

“What? You’re home? Why didn’t you call and tell me?”

“We need to talk. Where are you? I’ll come pick you up.”

“I’m at Meg’s. She’s only a block away. I’ll walk.”

“You’re not walking alone at this hour. I’ll come get you.”

I quickly got dressed and told Meg I was leaving. I quietly crept down the stairs and out of the house. I sat on the front step waiting for Adam. About a minute later a black jeep pulled up and I saw Adam's head poke out the window.

“Enzie?”

“Yeah, it’s me."

He got out the car and I quickly shot up and ran towards him.

“Man, I’ve missed you!” he said while pulling me into a bone crushing hug.

“I missed you, too,” I was crying.

“Hey. It’s ok,” He cooed. “Everything’s fine.”

I recovered quickly and he put me in the car. We sat there in silence for a few minutes.

“Aren’t we going to go home?” I asked.

“I was thinking maybe we could go to Carden’s place or Will’s. The guys would love to see.”

“It’s almost four in the morning. I’m sure they're sleeping.”

“Come on. We’ll just crash at Will’s for the night.”

“Adam, your being…"

“Trust me,” He said cutting me off and then we took off to Will’s.

About half way there it hit me. Adam didn't want to go home because he knew that mom and dad didn’t sleep in the same room anymore. He must have seen their separate rooms. He knew that they didn’t come home for dinner. He knew they came home late at night…separately. He must have figured it out.

“I already know about mom and dad,” I said quietly. He looked at me with worry and pity in his eyes.

“You do?"

“If you figured it out in a few hours, two years is more than enough time for me to patch it all together.”

“Do you know everything?”

“Do you the affairs? Yes.”

"Oh."

“Sorry.”

“I should have found out sooner. I was too busy in LA to worry about my little sister being stuck with our lunatic parents. I should have visited sooner and a lot more often. I could have gotten you out of there. I could have done something. I'm sorry. ”

We arrived at Will’s parent’s place twenty minutes later. When we got there Adam called Will and soon after he sleepily opened the door. He led us to the spare room and Adam pushed me in and handed a small duffel bag.

“You sleep in here. We’ll talk about everything tomorrow, OK? Try to get some sleep. Goodnight,” He kissed my forehead, whispered ‘I love you’ and then closed the door behind him.

I changed back into my night clothes and snuggled under the blankets. Moments later I was fast asleep. My brother was back…even if it was only for a little while.