Chapter 1:
My sister, Adelaide, died when she was 14 years old. She was my best friend. We told each other everything. I was only 10. She always protected me from danger and she always made sure that I was okay. My sister and I grew up in a very religious house in Massachusetts. Our parents were religion freaks. It was always God this and God that. We had Bible study every night after dinner before bed. We never went to public school. We went to a Catholic school. We weren't allowed to have male friends or do anything fun because our parents, especially our mom, thought it was the Devil entering our lives. I would follow our parents' rules, but my sister was very rebellious. She would sneak out at night and smoke with her friends and she would always hang out with a guy she was sexually active with. I've always thought her friends and that boy was no good for her and I think Adelaide knew that, but she wanted to fit in. But I never judged her because I love my sister and nobody is perfect. I think mom knew what she was doing because she and mom would get into a lot of arguments. Dad would always take mom's side because, "Your mother is only looking out for you". Mom and Dad would always ask me what my sister was doing, but I would pretend that I was clueless. I wanted to protect my sister the same way she protects me. I remembered her death like it was yesterday. It was a Friday cold December night and we were sitting at the dinner table finishing up our prayer. After blessings, mom made everyone's plate. As we were eating dinner, my sister started to get sick. Her face looked like she was going to throw up. I mean I know mom's cooking is sometimes terrible, but today's dinner was decent. She feel to the floor with foam in her mouth. Mom was a nurse so she tried to save my sister as best as she could. Dad panicked and called 911. I just stood over my sister in shock. I asked mom what was happening and told me that Adelaide was having a seizure. Mom cleaned her mouth and gave her CPR until the paramedics came. But it was too late. She already died. The paramedics took Adelaide away as mom and dad cried while praying. I didn't cry because I was still in disbelief. I was literally thinking to myself 'What the fuck just happened?'. At her funeral, that's when I cried because I realized that she's never coming back. I went to see my sister for the last time in her open casket. She looked like she was sleeping. She looked so peaceful and full of life. I almost wanted to shake her and tell her to wake up. She was buried at the cemetery that was close to our house. I was able to walk to the cemetery and talk to her, but that was only time I was allowed outside. After Adelaide died, mom and dad became stricter to protect me from the outside world. Mom explained to me that all the drugs Adelaide took behind her back made her have a seizure and she didn't want me to have the same fate. But I knew better because Adelaide always told me to never follow in her footsteps.