I didn't wake up until three p.m. the next day. I didn't really have a reason to climb out of bed. Sabrina and I had made plans to go out to breakfast this morning. But she wasn't here to take me to the Blue Plate Special. She wasn't here to eat warm blueberry cobbler with me. She wasn't here to drink the hot chocolate with me. I pushed today's old plans out of my mind and tried to focus on a new day. A new day that was already halfway over. Oh, well. I walked into the house's singular bathroom and stared into the mirror. My eyes were so swollen from crying so much the night before, they were almost closed. I had never liked my eyes. I had never told anyone that, though. They were too dark. Too brown. Too muddy. I was always jealous of Sabrina's light blue eyes, and Puck's bright green eyes. I tried to love my eyes, but it was hard, because everytime I looked at them, I saw my mom staring back at me. I heard a knock and tore myself away from the girl in the mirror.

"I'm in here." I said, turning on the sink, to pretend I was washing my hands.

"Hurry up." I heard Puck say from the other side.

I wondered if he was okay. I didn't know what he and Sabrina were. Or what they were as of now. But I knew he was hurting. So rather than being difficult with him, I walked out of the bathroom.

"Hey, Puck." I whispered, as I caught a glimpse of his face, stained with tears.

"Hey, Daph." His voice cracked, like he was about to cry again. "Thanks for, uh, sitting with me yesterday… on the couch. That was pretty sweet of you."
"Yeah, of course. The company was nice, I guess." I said, debating whether to ask if Sabrina had mentioned anything about leaving to him.

I cleared my throat, hoping he would stay in the hall for a few more seconds.

"Did she…" I started. "Did she tell you anything?"

"No…" He whispered, looking at the ground. "She didn't."

I looked up at his face, but quickly looked away. He looked broken. I wanted to hug him. I leaned in, and he awkwardly wrapped his arms around me. I hadn't hugged him since I was at least nine. But, I don't think that the hug made him feel any better, so I pulled away. He stared at the floor, as if he wasn't sure what to say. To be honest, I didn't really know what to say either.

"We can call her!" I suddenly realized. "And we can ask her to come back, Puck. And then she'll drive home. And we can all be a family again and-"

I stopped talking as he reached into his hoodie pocket and pulled out my sister's phone. The screen brightened, revealing her lock-screen. It was an old picture of the two of them, smiling on the porch swing that used to hang on the front porch. They looked happy. I could tell exactly when it was. It was three weeks after the war ended and the week before my parents left. I knew it, because Sabrina had just gotten a new pair of sneakers. They were still brand new, all white and shiny, without a speck of dirt on them. But, the day my parents left, Sabrina got upset, and ran into the forest that sat by Granny's house. It was pouring rain. At some point, she couldn't see, because the rain was coming down so hard. She stepped in a big puddle and the shoes were soaked with the murky, brown water. She came home, threw them in the hall closet, so no one knew she had ruined the new shoes and ran upstairs. A week after that, Elvis dragged them out. Granny found them and she tried to clean them, but they never really looked the same. I don't think she ever wore those shoes again. She was embarrassed. So, once again, they were back to being hidden in the closet. I wondered if they were still there, sitting behind the winter coats, the brooms and the snow boots. I didn't really care enough to check. I didn't want to see anything that belonged to my sister.

"She left her phone here, Daphne." Puck said, but instead of making eye contact, he was looking a few inches above my head, like it pained him to see me.

"Oh," I whispered.

Sabrina didn't want us to contact her. She didn't want to come home. She didn't want to fix our family.

"Do you know her password?" I asked him, trying to hold on to the last glimmer of hope I had. "Maybe we can see if any of her friends know where she went."

"Zero-six-one-four-eight-eight." Puck mumbled, as he tapped the screen six times.

Her home screen appeared.

"Click the call-log!" I said, quickly.

"Daphne, I know how to work a phone, calm down." Puck rolled his eyes at me.

He put his hand on my shoulder when he saw the look on my face.

"I'm sorry, I'm just stressed out." He promised, I watched his eyes filled with hot tears again.

I wanted to stand there, while he clicked through her phone, and see if there were any clues that could help us bring her home. But, I knew he didn't want me to see him cry. I started walking away.

"Let me know if you find anything." I called, over my shoulder.

"Find anything where?" Pinnochio asked, slipping out of his bedroom door.

"On Sabrina's phone. She left it." I told the boy.

He narrowed his eyes at me.

"You shouldn't snoop through her things. She doesn't like when you snoop."

"Pinnohcio, I just want my sister back. And I know you don't understand, but please, just this once, let me snoop."

He didn't reply as he walked away. He wouldn't understand. No one would understand. No one understood what it was like for your sister to leave you.

A couple of days later, I watched Puck fly off through my bedroom window. It was starting to rain. I wondered if he knew. He probably didn't care. He hadn't left his room in dyas. But neither had I. I hadn't spoken a word to anyone in the house in days. Except Puck. He had texted me to tell me he hadn't found anything on Sabrina's phone. But that was it. I waited till everyone was asleep to go downstairs and get food. I didn't want to talk to anyone.

I heard a soft knock on my door. I climbed out of my bed and peeked under the door. Bare feet, with bright yellow nail polish. The two of us had painted our toes the day before Sabrina left. Red had chosen yellow and I picked a light green. It was a nice little escape from reality, holed up in her room, eating chips, drinking ginger-ale, painting our nails and pretending everything else wasn't falling apart.
"Come in, Red." I said, trying to not show my sadness.

The door slowly opened.

"Hey, Daphne." Red whispered, almost silently, in her shy voice.

"Hi, Red." I said, praying that she didn't see the pain hiding behind my cheerful face.

This is how it had always been. Daphne's always so cheerful! Daphne's never sad! Daphne keeps everyone happy! But who was keeping me happy?

"How are you doing?" She asked me, sitting on the bed, beside me and smoothing out the wrinkled sheets.

I tried not to look down at the blanket, beneath her hand. Two years before, Granny and I had a girls day and got me a new comforter and pillow cases. They were pink, with white stripes, and had tassels on the ends. I had been so happy to get them, but now, every time I saw the bright colors, they made me feel the opposite. They made me miss Granny.

"I'm doing okay." I lied to her, smiling.

She looked me in the eyes, and my smile faded. Red had never been dumb. She knew I wasn't okay.

"I really miss her." I confessed. "It's only been a day, but it feels like it's been years."

"We all miss her. She was the one who held this family together."

"I just don't know why she left. She was supposed to be here for me." I sobbed.

Red rubbed my back in perfect circles, the way Granny used to do. I wondered if she had shown her how at some point.

"And look at Puck, for goodness sake!" I screamed, ignoring her. "I've never seen him act like this. He's supposed to make us all laugh, but now, whenever I look at him, and that awful heartbroken look on his face, I want to cry."

I felt my sadness turn to anger. I was mad at my sister for leaving. I was mad at her for thinking I could take care of myself. I was mad because I didn't know how to separate my white laundry from my colored laundry. I was mad because I didn't know how to shade eye-shadow or put on lipstick. I was mad because I didn't know how to sneak out. I was mad because I had no idea how to kiss a boy. Sabrina was supposed to be my big sister. She was supposed to teach me how to bake cookies and how to do my makeup. But she never taught me. She left before I knew anything. There was no one to teach me how to do those things, only a big sister knew how to teach. But mostly, I was mad she left me, after I told her how sick I was of people leaving.

"Sabrina knows that I hate that everyone leaves me! She was there with me when Mom and Dad left. She was there when Mr. Canis passed away."

Red winced when I mentioned Mr. Canis's name, but I continued.

"She helped me when Elvis died. She was there with me when we were told Granny died. She was here for me when Uncle Jake left. She was here for me when-" I choked on my tears.

"It's okay, Daphne. It'll be okay." Red told me.

She pulled me into a tight hug and I cried into her soft sweatshirt.

"I know how Sabrina is, Red. And I just don't think she's coming back this time." I said, as my tears stopped flowing. "I just wish I knew why she did it."

"Sometimes, people do things before they think of how it'll affect the people they love."

I heard the front door open in the distance. Puck had gotten home. I wondered where he'd gone. I wanted to know. Maybe he was looking for Sabrina. I would talk to him later. I just wanted my sister back, no matter how mad I was.