Lily's mother, Karen, stood in the kitchen fixing dinner. Lily watched her move elegantly about, as she unpacked her things. The library was Lily's converted bedroom, it suited her best for all the bookcases were already in that room, besides Lori and Petunia seemed to always get along better.

"Lori," Karen called from downstairs. A huh? was heard through the muffled door. "Get your things from the car. I don't want to wake you up in the morning when I go to work."

After five minutes Lori emerged from her room and bounded down the stairs, out the front door. Lily gave a grin at this as she unpacked the last of her things and walked out into the kitchen. There was a plate of carrots out and Lily grabbed one and quickly bit into it.

"So what's for dinner," Lily asked sitting down onto the stool chair.
"Just some pasta," her mum replied.

Lily studied her mum; her usual wavy blonde hair was pulled back into a simple bun. She wore a light brown button shirt, with some gray slacks. Her mum looked sophisticated, for even this simple task. It made her wonder why her father ever left.

Lily's father, Robert, was a businessman. He was tall in stature with dark brown hair and green eyes, and very easy going. Work is where he met Mum. He fell for her undying beauty, and she fell for his playful antics. Robert traveled a lot with his way of work, maybe that's where it went wrong, Lily was never sure. She never heard her parents argue, and never suspected anything being wrong. Then one day, when she was 14, father packed up his things and left. Lily never got to say goodbye to him, and hasn't heard from him in 3 years.

"What are you staring at," she asked smiling, lighting up her face and featuring her beauty.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't staring just thinking."
"Really about what," she asked inquisitively.
"Have you heard from father?" Lily asked wearily.

The front door swung open and Lori was standing there dragging in her trunk.
"Why these damn things are seem so much heavier when you are trying to bring them back in, I will never know." she said annoyed.

"Mum," Lily asked ignoring Lori.
"Lets not talk about your father now"
"But Mum I think I should have the right to contact him," Lily said getting defensive.

A loud thump erupted from the stairs as Lori slowly dragged her trunk up.

"Look Hun, your father left us and that's all you need to know." She said and turned around and started stirring the pot in front of her.
"Why though?" Lily asked getting curious.
"It doesn't matter why, he left." She said not even looking up from the pot.

THUMP

Lily getting a little annoyed, "Mum he left for a reason, he wouldn't just get up and walk away from us. Besides I haven't talk to him in three years."

THUMP

"Lily look, your father walked out on this family, there is nothing that I can do about that. If he wanted to contact you I'm sure he would of by now, just let it be."

THUMP

"Mum, that is ridiculous, I know father, he wouldn't of just left and never tried to of contacted us, and ignored all our birthdays. It doesn't make sense; we were his life for 20 years."

THUMP

"Lily, that's enough drop it," she said looking Lily straight in the eyes.
"No it's not enough!' Lily said heatedly, standing up from her chair.

THUMP

"I am his daughter, your daughter; I have the right to know!" Lily said now almost screaming.

THUMP

"LORI PICK UP THE GOD DAMN TRUNK!" Lily's mum screamed throwing down the spoon she was stirring with. "Now you listen to me young lady, I told you to drop this subject about your father and you do so now, not another word of it!"

Lily just stood there staring at her mother, she had never outwardly defied her mother, but this just pushed Lily somewhere. "No Mum, now you listen to me! I am tired of your bullshit about my father, I don't care what happened between the two of you and why he left, but damnit I have the right to know why he left me!"

The timer went off on the oven. A bit taken aback by Lily's sudden backtalk Mum said, "Dinner's ready."

Dinner was horrible for Lily; there was this knot of guilt in her stomach. Mum didn't even glance at her throughout the whole meal. She wasn't quite sure how to react, Lori just sat there chatting away obvious to the tension at the table. Lily finished eating quickly as possible and went to her room, Lily stayed there for the rest of the night. She went to her bookshelf an old book in the back. She opened it up and it was a picture album. Lily gave small smile at the sight of it, and began flipping through it. Lily woke up abruptly around midnight. She must have dozed off looking at the album. Lily heard a muffled thud outside her window. She went over to the window to look out and she saw Lori scaling the ivy vines. Lily quickly opened up her window and stuck her head out.

"And where do you think you're off to?" She asked to her sister, which startled her, making Lori let go of the vines and fall down to the ground on her back.

"Oh my! Are you alright?" Lily said worriedly quickly climbing out her window to go check on her.
"I've landed better," Lori said laughing and extended her arm up. Lily took hold of her hand pulling Lori up from the ground.

"So where do you think you are going at this time of night?"
"Ty invited me to this graduation party with some of his friends, and I thought I'd go check it out. He'll be here any minute to pick me up."
"I don't think you should go. You know how those things go Lori, besides what's Mum going to say if she finds out you're gone?"
"Please, Mum wouldn't notice I was gone even if she opened up the bedroom door and had a conversation with me. Besides she has to go to work early in the morning and won't be worried about checking on me."
"Lori," Lily said exasperatedly, "please just don't go, I don't feel comfortable with you going."
"Stop being a tight ass Lily, God I can take care of myself," Lori said playfully.

Lori turned to walk away, but was stopped by Lily's hand grabbing onto her arm.
"I don't want you to go," Lily said forcefully.
"God girl! Chill down! I said I'll be fine!" Lori said now getting annoyed, "now let go of me here comes Ty's car."
Lily let go of Lori's arm and watched her walk away. Something about the situation made Lily really uncomfortable. Following her gut Lily quickly caught up with Lori.

Lori was getting into Ty's car, the window was rolled down and Lily put her hand in the car.
"Lori, come on get out of the car."
"What!" Lori said in disbelieve.
"Come on Lori just get out of the car!"
"No!"
"Stop being ridiculous and get out of the damn car, you don't need to be going to this!"
"Hey Lori would you like stop talking to your sister so we can leave, where missing the party!" Ty chimed in, he had obviously been drinking.

"Ok babe," Lori said calmly to Ty, then turn to Lily angrily and said, "Who the hell do you think you are ordering my around like that! I can take care of my damn self, and I don't need your approval to do this! What the hell is your problem lately first you get Mum all upset and now me! Why the hell don't you just back the fuck off for awhile?"

"Fine! Pardon me for wanting to look out for you and making sure you don't get hurt! Just go off and get yourself killed, see if I go to your funeral, you stupid bitch!" Lily yelled back. Lily took a step back from the car, and watched it drive around the corner. She turned around and started walking back to the house.

The sound could be heard from miles away. I was like a wrench being scraped across a chalkboard, and to Lily it was a knife being stabbed through her heart. It seemed as if time stopped as the echo was heard throughout the neighborhood. Tears started to fall from Lily's face when she turn and ran towards where the noise emitted from. Oh God please Lily kept thinking to herself, don't let it be bad.

Lily only had to run a couple of blocks until she saw the crash. There were a few people that were standing around it looking at it. The closer she approached the accident the more scared she became. The car had wrapped itself between a light post and tree. It was totaled, nothing but a scrunched piece of metal. Lily pushed passed a few people almost in a trance; her hand touched the tail end of the car, almost scared to look in.

A man grabbed the back of her shoulder, but she just shrugged it off. Time seemed to be in slow motion to her. She went to the passenger side and looked in. There lied a severed Lori. At that moment time caught up with her. Lily miraculous pried open the jammed door, and got to Lori.

"Lori," she let out a soft sob, "Lori please say something."
Lily sat there and held Lori in her arms, "Please Lori."
Lori eyes looked up and connected with Lily's, "Help me, Lily, help me."

And just like that she was gone. Lily sat there hugging her sister and crying. The ambulance arrived shortly after. Both Ty and Lori were pronounced dead at the scene. Lily sat on the curb, and the accident behind her was being cleaned up. She was covered in Lori's blood, and had this spaced out stare on her face. A man came up and tried to talk to her, but she didn't even hear him. Lily sat on that curb for the rest of the night just crying. All Lily could see was this naïve, innocent face looking at her pleading for her help, and there was nothing Lily could have done. Lily would have given her life for her sister at the moment.

The sun began to rise and the morning was beginning. Early risers were out walking around to see the crash sight. Lily couldn't believe it, like it was some spectacle to gawk at, just a new gossip item for this neighborhood to talk about. Didn't they realize that people had died here? Slowly the number of people got a little bigger around her. Some recognized that is was Lily sitting on the curb, and gave her their condolences. But to some point she didn't want to hear it, she didn't want people telling her how sorry she was for her. Like they had any idea what just happened to her, like they had ever held the one thing that you loved most die in your arms.

Lily arose from the curb and began to walk home. Lori's blood was all dried and stained on her porcelain skin. She wanted a shower, she wanted to wash off last night, get it out of her mind, maybe it never happened, and maybe it was all a dream. As Lily approached her house she saw a cop car sitting in her drive. Her thoughts then went to her mum, she couldn't face her mum, she was the one that let Lily get into the car, and she was the one that killed her daughter. Ii took every muscle in Lily's body to turn that front door knob. As she entered her house there wasn't that smell of comfort, there wasn't that sense of safety. It seemed that Lori wasn't the only person that left her life last night.

Her Mum approached her as she heard the front door open. Mum didn't look like her sophisticated self. Her hair was frazzled, and her eyes were red from crying. Lily looked at her mum, all she wanted to do was give her a hug and cry with her, but something held her back. Lily couldn't even look in her mother's eyes. Lily just turned down the hall and went into her room.

Lily walked into her room and closed her room, she felt a slight breeze. She turned to see the window still open from last night. Lily went and looked out it; there was an ivy vine on the ground, and a little indentation in some flowers where Lori had landed the previous night. Lily quickly shut the window and closed the curtains. Her room seemed so small at that moment, with all the bookcases in there, it felt as it her room was closing in on her. She had so many emotions running through her at that moment: exhaustion, anger, sadness, Lily just couldn't handle it, she had cracked. Lily went over to a bookcase and pushed off all the books off the shelf. She let out a scream, and went to the next shelf, just throwing her books taking out all her anger. Then Lily grabbed a book and looked at that window and threw it as hard as she could at it. It shattered and came crashing down, the door to her bedroom quickly opened and her mum was standing there, looking at a balled up Lily lying on the floor sobbing.