"We're going to Belgium!!" I yelled into my phone as soon as J went downstairs to cook dinner. "Jordan and I just had a talk, after soooo long!" I was giddy with excitement.

"Ouch, my ears!" exclaimed Charmaine.

"That's amazing, Meg! How'd this happen? Also, when are you leaving?" Ingrid asked.

"Summer vacation! And long story."

"Wait, you decided this last summer and you're not sure when you're leaving?" Char said, the confusion evident in her tone.

"No, silly, she's going this summer. How her brother got convinced is the long story," Ingrid explained as I grinned.

"I can't believe it yet. It seems too good to be true! I need you guys to pinch me," I said.

"Wanna have us come over?" I could hear Grid's smile over the phone.

"Nah, actually, I'd like to keep Jordan to myself for a while. It really looks like he's changed. At last," I sighed happily. "He cooked lunch today even though it was my turn, and now he's back in the kitchen making supper."

"Well, that's definitely an improvement. Also, what's he cooking?" Char asked not-too-subtly.

I laughed. "I don't know, but I'll make sure to text you as soon as I do."

"Don't send me a picture... it's too painful."

"This girl would make a terrific actress, don't you think Meg?" Ingrid joked. "And, hey, aren't you at work right now? I thought your shift didn't end until 8 pm."

"Yeah... it does end at eight, but I didn't go in today. That's the long story I mentioned," I said, taking a deep breath. "We almost had an accident on the way."

"Wha—How?"

"Oh my god, are you two alright?"

My friends, very concerned now, burst out at the same time. I filled them in on the details, recounting the close brush Jordan and I had barely two hours ago.

"Wow, you're really smart, M! I mean, if I were in your place that time, I'd probably be frozen with fear," Char declared, and I managed a smile.

"Yeah, it would have been pretty horrific," Ingrid added. After a pause, she spoke again, "So, I might sound stupid saying this, but Meg, you should consider filing a report with the police, you know, just in case that was, I don't know, a deliberate attempt to hurt you guys."

I blinked, and an incredulous laugh escaped my lips. "What? No, why would anyone want to do that?" The thought hadn't even occurred to me, but it was scary, even if there was no chance of it being true.

"I know, and in all probability there's nothing like that at all, but if you file a complaint, you can help the police catch that driver so he doesn't do such a rash thing again, even unintentionally, right?" she hastened to explain.

"Yeah, Grid's right, Meg. But anyway, let's not divert our attention from the main highlight of your day—girl, you're going to Belgium!" Char's attempt at changing the topic wasn't subtle, but I was glad all the same. After all, ignoring all sorts of negativity was my tried-and-tested method of dealing with it.

"Uh huh... can't wait for the next six weeks to pass!" I said. "Hey, I'll talk to you guys later, okay? I think Jordan's calling me downstairs."

"Yeah, take care!"

"Bye!"

As I ended the call, my gaze fell onto the frame peeking out from behind the wide-bottomed lamp on my bedside table. I carefully pulled it out. It held a picture of my parents with Jordan and me, clicked on my tenth birthday. Their carefree smiles tugged at my heart. It was weird to think the people that looked the most alive in the photograph did not exist in reality anymore. Whatever had they done to deserve such a fate? What had we ever done?

I slipped the frame behind the lamp before I could dwell on it longer, and left my room.

The next day, I woke up to faint strains of country music playing on the living room radio. Getting ready for school as fast as I could, I grabbed my bag and ran down the stairs to see what had come over my brother.

As I neared the stairs, the sweet aroma of pancakes hit my nose. I inhaled, intoxicated, and my feet almost flew down the stairs.

"Good morning, madam," Jordan said, spotting me. "Please have a seat. Breakfast will be served in a minute."

"Why, thank you, sir," I smiled. "Whatever's cooking does smell heavenly indeed," I tried to speak in an English accent but my attempt failed halfway through the sentence, prompting Jordan to roll his eyes; though this time, it was accompanied by a smile of his own and looked adorable, in stark contrast to his usual condescending eye roll.

"Here you go, banana pancakes with maple syrup." He put a dish in front of me and stood with his hands folded, waiting for my review.

I dug in without wasting any time. "Mm... It's so good, J!" I said, my mouth still full.

My brother grinned, and piling a few cakes onto his own plate, came to sit opposite me on the dining table. After a bite or two, he said, "I was thinking... we don't have a picture of Mom and Dad hung anywhere in the house."

I looked up, surprised, and craned my head to look at the living room walls, which were, indeed, bare. "You're right, there should definitely be one in the living room, at least. Weird we didn't think of this before."

"Yeah," he followed my gaze. "I think there must be some pictures in the albums Mom used to keep in her bedroom."

"Yep! I loved going through them when I was little, and she'd say that I could reproduce them exactly from memory after the long hours I spent studying them," I chuckled.

"Well, then, if you're free after breakfast we could go check them out."

I looked at my watch. "Yeah, I still have half an hour before school and no homework left," I said. "But all the same, don't ask me to rush through this heavenly breakfast."

"Okay," J laughed, and my insides melted with happiness.

Ten minutes later, we were in our parents' bedroom, attempting to find where the old albums had been stored. Grandma Malia had sorted the items in the room while she was staying with us after the funeral, so we couldn't find the pictures in the place we remembered they used to be in. So, we had launched an extensive search operation and were going through every nook and cranny of the room and its furniture.

"Did you check the cupboard?" Jordan asked.

"Duh, obviously! It's not in these drawers either," I said, turning away from the dresser.

"You sure the Grands didn't take them along to Belgium?"

"I mean, I lived there for two years, you'd think if they brought them with us I'd know, right? I helped them unpack."

"Then where could Grandma have kept it..." J muttered and paced the length of the room in thought.

"The locker?" J said as I simultaneously exclaimed, "The locker!"

"I'll get the key." Jordan went out and returned in less than thirty seconds as I opened the cupboard once again. The locker was a vault at the very back of it, which our parents used to keep their important documents in. We were always in awe of it as children because they never even allowed us a peek inside; now, we were about to find out what secrets it held, unless Grandma had already been through with it while sorting the rest of the room.

We held our breaths as Jordan turned the key and the bolts slid back with a single click. I shone my phone's flashlight into the vault, which illuminated a stack of albums, and...nothing else. I had to admit I was disappointed, even though we had found the object of our quest.

"Really? I have to ask Grandma why she put these in here of all places." Jordan took the books out one by one and kept them on a desk. I poked my head into the cupboard to see the vault again, still in disbelief it could be so empty. The light from my phone revealed not a speck of dust in any corner, but as it landed on the deep back wall of the safe, I saw a symbol embossed on the metal plate. It was a four-pointed star, almost like a simple compass icon, but with a curious square in its centre. For some reason, I felt I had seen it before somewhere...only I couldn't remember exactly when or where.

"Hey, look at this, M!" Jordan called and I directed my gaze away from the vault. He was flipping through one of the thickest albums. "Our baby pictures!" His childlike delight amused me and I strode toward him to see the photos.

"We were the cutest babies, I think," I smiled.

"No kidding. But you were definitely more adorable."

"Hey, I'm still the more adorable of the two of us!" I playfully punched him on the arm as I picked up another book and sat beside him on the bed. "Wow, their wedding photographs. Awww, aren't they the cutest?"

"I can definitely see where I got my good looks from," J grinned as he peeked over my shoulder. "Shall we take one of these to put up in the hall?"

"Yep. How about this one?" I carefully slid out a picture where Mom and Dad were looking into each other's eyes as if their entire world existed in there. "It's nice. In a sense, you know, it's best they were both together on that flight."

"Yeah," I agreed. After a moment of silence, I looked at the screen of my phone and cleared my throat. "I should leave now if I don't want to be late."

"Yeah, yeah." Jordan stood up and tried to wipe his eyes in what he, no doubt, thought was a surreptitious move, and began to collect the albums in a stack again. "I'll keep them back in, you go on."

I squeezed his shoulder before I went out of the room. As I slipped on my jacket followed by my rucksack, J came out into the hallway and drew my bicycle keys from his pocket. "Found them in the kitchen. On the fridge," he raised his eyebrows.

"Oh my god, I'd totally forgotten, thank you!" I gushed as he dropped the keyring in my hand. "See you later. Take care," I stood on my toes to give him a kiss on the forehead.

"Yuck, go away!"

Laughing, I opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. "Bye!"

"Have a good day." J called out as I guided my bicycle out the gate, and my face couldn't help breaking out into a happy grin.