Saturday, September 15th, 1994

"Pack your bags, Ella!" I heard Joseph call to me.

I sat up, looking around and seeing that Sunlight was pouring through my windows.

It was morning. I had fallen asleep.

"Ella, wake up!" Joseph opened my door, stepping into the room.

I glared at him, remembering last night.

I was nowhere close to forgiving him.

"Well, since you are awake." He clapped his hands together. "Pack your bags."

I tilted my head in confusion. Why did he want me to pack?

He shrugged his shoulders a little. "I called Aunt Alison, and you're going to stay with her in the country for the weekend."

My eyes widened in terror.

No. There was no way he was making me stay out there.

The last time I saw Aunt Alison was at Christmas eight years ago. She made me work the entire time, and told me she was teaching me a lesson in responsibility or something. Not only that, but she always tried to give me these weird herbs that would apparently 'Bring my voice back.'

Of course, I should've suspected that Joseph might do this. If he wanted me away from my friends for the weekend, he'd have to send me out to the country to learn a lesson.

I shook my head vigorously, crossing my arms over my chest.

I wasn't going. He couldn't make me.

"You're going. She's on her way to pick you up as we speak." He stated, crossing his arms over his chest.

I pointed at him to ask if he was going, and he shook his head.

I was unsurprised that he wasn't going; he had always hated Aunt Alison's farm, especially since he usually got baby sitting duty.

Our cousin had always been a good kid, but had a knack of driving Joseph nearly insane. However, since he's now nearly a teenager, I'm sure he'll be doing about the same amount of work that I am.

That is, if I was going.

I was determined to stand my ground and stay here. I mean, what if Chris needed me? Those boys could still very well find him and start something again. And besides, what lesson was he trying to teach me exactly? Did he just want me out of the house so I couldn't cause any trouble? Or just out of town altogether?

Joseph sighed, seeing that I wasn't moving, but he kept the cocky expression on his face as if not to give up his show of dominance.

"If you won't pack, then you'll just go without clothes." He shrugged. "You know, Aunt Alison will make you wear her old clothes, then."

I made a disgusted face at him.

Why did he feel the need to get me out of here?

I grabbed my notebook from the nightstand, quickly writing on one of the pages.

I'm not going.

I turned it so Joseph could see, and he sighed defeatedly.

"I just want what's best for you, that's all." He said. "I know you're thinking about sneaking out the window to see Chris. I get that he's important to you, but you're grounded."

I turned my notebook back to myself, writing again.

I'll stay in my room.

I showed it to him, and he shook his head.

"She's already on her way." He said. "There's no point in sending her back without you. Besides, cousin Thomas misses you. You know he's almost twelve, now."

I nodded a little, letting out a sigh.

He clearly wasn't going to give up, and it would be babyish to stay in my room and refuse to come out when Aunt Alison got here.

I guess it had been a long time since I had seen any family, as much as I hated the thought of going out there for the entire weekend.

I guess I've been through worse.

When Aunt Alison came to pick me up, I had already packed and gotten dressed. I couldn't help but think of Chris the entire time. Would he be lonely over the weekend without me? I knew he had Phil, of course, but what if Phil couldn't see him either? He'd be all alone.

I shook off the thought. This weekend was going to go a lot slower if I kept picturing lonely Chris. Thankfully, I only had the rest of today and tomorrow out there, and I could at least see Chris on Monday, not to mention every day next week. I would just need to be patient, as much as I didn't want to.

When Aunt Alison showed up, I didn't wait for Joseph to say goodbye to me. I was still cross with him, even though I had obliged to do this.

I made my way out to her car, adjusting my heavy backpack which was beginning to make my back sore already.

She rolled down her window as I approached, taking a pair of sunglasses.

"You can get in the back," She Said. "Thomas is back there."

I nodded, smiling to the best of my ability.

I opened up the door in the back, revealing Thomas, who, though the last time I had seen him he was four, hadn't changed much.

His hair was still messy, as he had always refused getting it brushed by his mother. He always had the slightest bit of a pout on his face, which I could still see. The biggest change was that he had gotten taller, but otherwise, I would've mistaken him for a small child.

I slid into the back seat beside him, placing my backpack by my feet. I shut the door, before buckling myself in.

"Ready?" Aunt Alison looked back, and I nodded.

She slipped her sunglasses back on, before starting up the car and pulling away from the side of the road.

I let out a gentle sigh, sitting back a little and beginning to watch out the window.

Feeling a bit bored, I decided to make shapes of the clouds that I saw.

That one looks like a snowman. That one a dragon. That one looks like Chris.

I quickly shook my head, and it no longer looked like him. Just a normal cloud. What was wrong with me?

I sighed again.

This was going to be a long weekend.