"Welcome home!" my aunt Cassandra said enthusiastically as she opened up the door to her home. It was a quaint house with a loft that appeared to be mine. I looked around and saw some characteristics that would suit what I knew of her, but the house looked...new. I climbed the stairs and the entire upstairs was empty except for a pair of couches and a coffee table. I noticed three doors, though. "There's a bedroom and a full bathroom, but consider the entire floor yours. Other room is for storage."

All I did was nod in confirmation that I heard her, though I was overjoyed that I had such a plethora of space to hide myself away in. I opened one of the doors and found it to be the bedroom with only a bed, boxes and suitcases of my own just sitting in there.

"I'll let you start unpacking and you can come down whenever you're hungry," my aunt said in a softer and less enthused voice than before. I think she picked up that I wasn't exactly thrilled to be here. Once I heard her trot down the stairs, I sat down on the bed. I looked around at the blank walls—nothing like how I wanted. There was a window right above a window seat that aided to the lightless in the room. A curtain was the first thing I was going to buy to put in here.

I laid back on my bed and sighed, stressfully. I didn't mean to close my eyes, but it happened anyways. And I dreaded it.

When I opened my eyes, I was in the memory of standing in a familiar crowd. I was right outside of a stadium field after a club track meet, waiting in my spandex uniform. I looked around for a second before noticing a familiar face.

"Ollie?" I questioned with a smile. I was happy to see my cousin after a while in the memory, but I was confused as to why he was wearing his military uniform right now. I knew Oliver had been thrilled since he had enlisted just a year ago, but it was almost a hundred degrees out here!

"Hey, Ash," he said with a shaky voice. I narrowed my eyes and noticed how he fumbled with his hat. "Where's your brother? Is he here?"

"I'm assuming he's with my dad," I informed. The idiot brother of mine known as Andrew knew he was supposed to run today in the relay and flaked on the entire team. I noticed that Oliver frowned of discomfort at that and looked down.

"Oliver, what's going on?"

"Can we go somewhere?" he asked.

"Go somewhere?" I asked. "What happened?"

This is when my heart raced more than anyone's had at the track meet. I heard my heart beat in my ears and take over my entire sense of hearing. It was better than hearing the words coming out of Oliver's mouth. And somehow, it was better than waking up to pitch blackness in a house I was unfamiliar with.

I didn't have my brother to crawl into bed with to protect me anymore. I didn't have my father to take away the pain anymore. All I had was my distant aunt, a new house, and no other immediate family members.

***

"A! Time to wake up," Cassandra beckoned and my eyes were stinging from either sleeping too little or crying too much. Either way, I rubbed them and sat up in my uncomfortably stiff bed.

"Don't call me A," I ordered. Living in a home with an Albert, an Andrew, and an Ashlynn, I hadn't ever been called 'A' and I didn't want to start it now. I looked over to the watch that hung loosely from my wrist, but so perfectly fit the man who raised me. "And why are you waking me up so early? It's seven o'clock."

"I thought we could start shopping early today," she said. "You know...to get decorations for the new house, since I work every other day this week."

"It's only a new house to me."

"Right..." she said only slightly discouraged. "But I want to make this at least a fragment of what you can see in a home."

"There are only two things that can make any place my home and they're no longer here," I thought to myself, but aloud, I stated: "I don't know what to tell you then. I'm not really in the mood to shop for anything."

"Well how about we get paint for your room? I noticed your old one was painted and had posters and s—"

"Cassie," I interrupted. "Can you please just let me adjust how and when I want, please?"

This part of me wasn't anything or anyone I was used to, but what could Cassandra expect? I knew she was my father's only sister, but couldn't she reason with me? I was a seventeen year old girl thrown into a house in a new town with no father or brother. I wasn't in the mood to mold a new environment into one that I wanted because I didn't really want an environment that didn't feature my dad or my annoying brother.

"Y-yeah, of course," she replied reluctantly and then left my room and upstairs entirely. As mild of harshness I requested, I still felt Cassandra's heartbreak from here. After all, no matter how estranged she was, she had lost a brother and a nephew.

My desire for aloofness died out by noon. I was downstairs looking for anything to eat that wasn't in the fridge or pantry, it seemed like. Cassandra left to the store to get items off of the teenage-built list of edibles and I was left alone. To this day, I hadn't ever really been truly alone aside from just one day. I always had my dad or Andrew.

But things were different now.

I walked around aimlessly and felt my life wasting away. When I passed the large patio doors, I finally looked outside. Though my insides were as empty as a desert with my eyes as wet as a rainforest, outside was a beautiful sunny day.

Today was going to be different.

I went upstairs to get dressed properly and put on socks and shoes. By the time I was excited and opening up the front door, Cassandra was about to step through it.

"Going somewhere?" she asked.

"Actually, yes," I said, producing a smile I didn't know I could make.