"Sam, Sam! SAMANTHA!" Riley was yelling.
"What! What? What's going on?" I woke with a start just to see my brother laughing at my shock. That game got annoying fast.
"I've been driving for 5 hours straight, it's your turn."
"Ugh fine! We'll switch at the next pit stop. Just let me sleep a few more minutes…" I rested my head against the window and dozed off again.
That was the last road trip I took with my brother, we drove from Seattle up to Vancouver. Music blaring, fast-food, soda bottles, silly arguments, it was the last time I felt 'normal'. We left as soon as my brother finished college for the summer; I'd been off school for a couple of weeks already. We spent all summer hanging out meeting new people, partying. It was pure fun!
And then we went back home, to the insistent screaming and judgment of two parents that were pretty tough to please. The summer ended and my brother headed back to Seattle for his final year, I was just a sophomore in high school. September was alright, my brother kept in touch, made sure mom and dad weren't driving me crazy, but then October strolled around. We got word he went missing from his room mate; it felt like my world was shattering. I felt so hopeless, my big brother wasn't around, and the house went silent. My parents didn't even bother arguing any more. All I ever heard were my mom's sobs from the next door room. My dad was spending more time in his office, trying to keep busy, or just trying stay away from home, it didn't matter. We never spoke about how we felt, the police began an investigation. They started asking me all sorts of repetitive questions: Was Riley upset? Do you think he ran away? Did he have a reason to run away? No, No, No NO! they didn't know my brother the way I did, he would never purposely disappear like this! While they were sitting in my living room asking me stupid questions, my brother was out there somewhere in the world doing god knows what!
Time went by; hopelessness developed into sorrow, sorrow went to grief. Two years passed and we had gotten no word of Riley's whereabouts. When summer came around, my parents agreed that it was pointless of me to stay with them. One simple phone call assured that I'd be spending my summer at my aunt Becca's house in Forks. God I hated that place! A stupid remote town, but then I remembered it was near Seattle and a little glimmer of hope sparked in me. I was going to find out what happened to my brother, even if it killed me.