Chapter 1

Raven sat in her room, finishing her makeup. Her father was yelling for her to hurry up. Raven sighed. Happy birthday, Raven. Hope your next fifteen years aren't as bad, she thought sarcastically to herself. "I'm coming!" she finally screamed back. Raven gazed at herself in the mirror. Her jet black hair was down, falling past her shoulders. Her deep green eyes looked back at her uncertainly. She was average height, with tan skin. Taking one last look at herself, she grabbed her bag and ran downstairs.

Her mother was already in the car, talking on the phone as usual. Her father was standing by the door, fists on his hips in a girly pose.

"What took you so long?" he demanded the second he saw his only daughter. Raven only rolled her eyes.

"Sorry I can't fix myself up in five minutes, Dad," she replied, breezing past her father to the car. Raven watched as her father, cursing, fumbled to lock the front door. Her mother was talking to yet another of her many clients, paying no attention to anything but herself. Rain began to pound the windshield as her father got into the car finally.

"All right. We are going to dinner, that's the plan, got it everyone?" he said, starting the car. Raven just nodded, and her mother continued talking.

Raven knew this was just going to be like all her other birthday dinners. An awkward hour spent at a nice restaurant with her father talking about stocks and her mother's phone beeping constantly. Then, on the way home, her mom and dad would yell, first at her, than each other for whatever fault they could find. They would get home, doors would slam, and Raven would retreat to her room, as always. She barely kept back a sigh.

Today was her fifteenth birthday, and her mother had hugged her and slipped her a twenty dollar bill before rushing out the door for a meeting. Her father had looked confused when she had reminded him, then had fumbled to give her another twenty dollars before shutting himself up in his office. At school, everyone left her alone, as usual. At home, she had no siblings to celebrate with.

To Raven, this was just a reminder that another year had gone by without…her. Without her other half. Without…Before she could finish the thought, they were there.

As Raven had predicted, they spent an hour in a too quiet restaurant at a too big table in a too empty silence. Oh, and the rain fell harder. As they were walking out, thunder rumbled and lightning flashed in the distance.

On the drive home, her parents yelled and shouted at each other, each blaming the other for various things. At a stoplight, Raven gazed out of the window forlornly. Because she was looking out the window, she saw everything.

She saw the silver car swerving precariously on the slick road. It sped past the red light and swerved into the wrong lane. Their lane. She saw it hit their car just as her mother screamed and her father slammed his horn. She remembered herself flying in empty space, and hitting something hard.

She could faintly recall bright lights and the words, "Drunk driver…looks bad…emergency room…mother fine…father in critical condition…head wound…accident…" She remembered seeing the blurred images of people rushing about her, and machines beeping frantically. She recalled feeling herself fall asleep, and machines beeping uncontrollably. People's voices rose around her as her eyes closed. Strangely, the pain in her head began to fade as she fell into darkness. The last coherent thought she could remember was, "I wish my life would change".