Gracie's POV:
"Cassandra! Hey Cass, I'm going out for a walk, alright?"
My sister, Cassandra, is 18 years old. I'm 15. I favor her a little bit; we both have the same green eyes that sparkle in the sunlight, and our noses are sort of smallish, and a little bit pointy.
She has thick, long brown hair that stops at the middle of her back, while I have jet-black hair; our hair is the same length. Even though our features are the same, we're two different shades of color, me being the darker one. I always think of her as cinnamon, and I think of myself of as milk chocolate.
Cass ran down the long winding stairs and stood in front of me in our foyer. "Where are you going?" she asked, flipping her hair over her shoulder, her classic trademark.
"I'm going to the park to practice my singing. It's the only place I can concentrate."
She nodded. "Do you have your cellphone? I need to be able to reach you."
I forgot to mention, Cassandra is extremely protective of me. Ever since we lost our little sister Danni due to her being kidnapped, Cass never takes her eyes off me. It took her quite a while to start over, and even longer to let me start doing things that involved leaving the house.
Our dad left us last year, and then our mom passed not long after. Let's just say the past few years haven't exactly been very joyful.
"Yeah, I have it right here." I showed her my phone, put on my jacket, grabbed my guitar, and headed out of the door.
It was the beginning of fall, so it was just beginning to be slightly breezy outside. The cool air made my eyes water as I walked down my front walk, and onto the sidewalk toward the park.
When I saw the entrance to the park, I sped up so I could get to my special spot: under the Oak tree, with a view of the mountains.
The reason I was practicing my singing was because I wanted to try out to be in my high school talent show. I go to a rich school, so the 1st prizewinner gets to work with a music producer.
I sat down in my spot and started strumming the lyrics to When I Look At You by Miley Cyrus. I wasn't sure which song I wanted to sing yet, so I was just practicing random songs.
"When I look at you, I see forgiveness, I see the truth…" I sang, staring out at the mountains. There was just something about this place that made me feel at ease.
When I finished singing, I heard someone clapping their hands behind me. I spun around quickly, and looked up at who was there.
It was a guy who looked about my age, with a mop of brown hair that swooped to the left. He was smiling down at me, and had finally stopped clapping.
I could tell my skin went pale. I hated when people snuck up on me while singing.
"You're amazing." He said, walking closer to me and sticking a hand out to help me up. I took it and he pulled me up off the ground.
"Th-thanks." I stuttered. Now that I realized it, he looked good. Really good.
He laughed. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
I smiled and said, "I'm sure I do. I get really freaked out when people hear me sing and I don't know they're listening."
"Oops, I'm sorry." He said, looking down.
"No, no it's okay seriously. You didn't know."
His eyes made contact with mine again. "Well, you should really think about going big with the talent you've got."
I smiled and nodded. "You think so?"
"Yes, I'm being so serious."
"Well, I'm practicing for my school's talent show. 1st prizewinner gets to work with a music producer. I didn't want to try out but my sister made me sign up."
He raised his eyebrows. "Really? You weren't going to try out?"
I shook my head. "No. I don't like being the center of attention."
He nodded his head slowly, as if gathering everything I just said in his head.
"I'm glad your sister made you try out." He said, winking at me.
The sun was starting to set, so I checked my watch. It was 6:30. Cass was going to start getting anxious if I didn't check in.
"Is everything okay…uh…" He said, looking to me for help.
"Oh! Sorry, my name is Gracie."
"That's a pretty name. My name is Justin. Is everything alright?"
I nodded quickly. "Yeah. I just have to check in with my sister before she goes on a panic attack."
He laughed. "Aren't parents the ones who have panic attacks when their kids don't check in?"
I looked up from my phone and started into his soft, brown eyes. "I don't have any parents."
His laughter stopped abruptly. "I-I'm so sorry. I didn't know…"
I shook my head. "It's alright. I've grown used to it now."
His eyes were still focused on his feet. "What happened to them…if you don't mind my asking?"
I looked around and led him to a nearby bench and we both sat down, and I turned my body toward Justin. "There were five of us. Me, my older sister Cassandra, my little sister Danni, and my parents."
He nodded, waiting for me to go on. "Then my little sister was…kidnapped. We found her, but she wasn't…alive." I said to him. Thinking about it made my stomach churn with disgust.
Justin placed his hand over top of mine. "I'm so sorry."
I nodded and continued. "That happened two years ago. Then last year, my dad couldn't take it anymore, so he left. My older sister, Cass, has been extremely over protective of me ever since.
"Then not too long after Danni's funeral, my mother get really sick, and then she passed three months after she found out she was sick. So that left Cass and I alone. Good thing she turned 18 before my mother died."
His gripped tightened around my hand, so I looked up at him. A single tear ran down his cheek. "That's horrible."
"Aw c'mon, don't cry. I'm not even crying!" I laughed, trying to make him stop thinking about it.
"You and your sister must be really strong then. I know I would just fall apart."
I nodded and just kept staring at him for a while. Then my phone buzzed.
"Hello?" I said, knowing the response I was about to receive.
"Oh my gosh, Gracie don't scare me like that! Why didn't you call me? I was worried sick!" Cass shouted on the other end of the phone. I looked up at Justin and smiled. He smiled back.
"I was just…talking to someone." I whispered, trying not to laugh.
"Who? If I find out that you've been talking to some old man I'm gonna-"
"Cass chill! He's around the same age as me. You know I don't talk to adults I don't know."
"Well, hurry up and get back here. You can bring your friend I guess. But if you're not here in at least 20 minutes, I'll come down there and get you myself, okay?"
I sighed. "Yeah, okay Cass. I'm leaving now." She hung up and I gathered my things.
"Well, I gotta get home before she completely loses her mind." I told him.
He stood up beside me. "Do you think the really won't mind it I come with you?"
I shrugged. "She's usually pretty chill about having people over. As long as she gets to ask her five question interview. She asks five random questions to anyone I introduce to her. And she takes it seriously."
"I think I can handle that. Let's go." He said to me, and he motioned for me to lead the way back to my house.