"Fuck!"

Your chest heaved up and down, your eyes wide with rage, looking blankly at the smashed vase you hurled across the room. You were relieved that your parents and Nico were not present because they would have scolded you for breaking your things.

You always made sure you were alone in the house so no one could hear your wails and shouts of frustration. This happens every now and then, and you're getting tired of it. You sat back in your swivel chair, your head against the wall, and your eyes closed. A short laugh accompanied your breathing, and your emotions were all over the place.

'You look insane right now.'

"Well, I'm done crying." You talked to no one but yourself. "Fuck off."

'You sure about that?'

You felt your eyes watering. "I'm fine." You hissed, gritting your teeth in anger. Having an argument with yourself was tiresome, but you have no one else to talk to. "I'm fucking fine!"

'Your tears say otherwise...'

Tears began running down your face as you strained for oxygen. Your heart tightened in agony, and all you wanted to do was shout it out. Your lips trembled as you continued to cry, and your hand gripped your chest.

'No one can hear you...'

But sometimes, you wish someone could hear you.

You grabbed your necklace, and it took it off, staring right at its sapphire pendant. "I want to remember..." You pleaded to no one and choked more sobs. "I don't remember anything in my childhood... a-and now my adoptive parents are possibly murderers, I..."

Gripping your necklace tight, you glared at the wall. "And I'm all alone..." You threw your necklace away, grateful it wasn't broken. You sank your head to your palms in frustration until your gaze was drawn to the change in your necklace.

Your pendant's sapphire stone had changed color to ruby red. You brushed away your tears and rose from your chair, moving closer to the jewelry. You've never taken the necklace off in your life, and you've never seen it become red.

'Who gave this to me?'

You took the necklace in your hands, and with your fingers on the pendant, it slowly turned blue. You were sure Robert and Tina didn't give this necklace to you since you were already wearing it when they adopted you. Someone in your past gave the necklace to you, and you just couldn't remember them.

You suddenly heard voices outside, so you quickly wore your necklace and stepped out of your room, making sure to lock it. When you felt your keys, you checked your pockets and exhaled a sigh of relief.

Walking your way to the kitchen, you saw Nico and her parents talking. "There's still plenty of time before the reservation if you'd like to change," Tina told Nico, glancing at her gothic attire.

Nico looked confused, and this caught Robert's attention. "I texted you... about dinner?"

Nico thought for a moment. "My phone's been off all day. Trying to clear up my energies."

Tina sighed while Robert glanced at his wife. "We're happy to wait for ya." Robert looked behind Nico and saw you peeking your head out. "You too, (Y/n). I saw you read my message."

You shook your head. "You guys go on. I'm not feeling well."

Tina perked her head up in immediate worry, and she and Robert quickly approached you. "You're not well?" Tina asked as she cupped your tear-stained cheeks. "What happened to your eyes? Have you been crying?"

Nico grimaced and rolled her eyes. No, it wasn't because of you that she did it. She was irritated by her parents' treatment of you as if you were their baby, despite being the same age as her. It was as if you were the most important and priceless object on the planet, and you needed to be treated with respect. As if you were too vulnerable to even tread on a rock.

"You know, you guys haven't had a date night since the Obama Administration," Nico told her parents. "Why not go without us?"

You nodded as you gently took Tina's hands away from your face. "We'll be fine here, don't worry."

Tina looked at her husband and tilted her head. "I think our daughters have a point, don't you?"

Robert walked away from his wife and approached Nico, nodding and feigning a smile. Tina let out a sigh and shook her head. You could sense the tension in their relationship already, and you didn't want to go on a dinner date with such an unpleasant atmosphere.

"Be good," Robert told Nico and gave her a peck in the forehead. "Always," Nico replied back.

Tina smiled down at you and kissed the top of your head. "Call me if you need anything, okay?" You nodded wordlessly and watched her walk away, walking past Nico without a word. Robert sighed and walked towards you. "Nico will take care of you, okay?"

"I'll be fine, Robert." You slightly chuckled.

Robert frowned. "No 'dad'?"

"Dad." Nico scolded. "Come on, don't pressure her."

You shook your head. "No, it's okay. I-I'll try calling you that from now on."

Robert's lips curved up, and he gave you a small hug. "That's okay. You don't have to force it." He pulled away and followed his wife out of the house.

Nico turned to you. "What's wrong? Why were you crying?"

'Well, this is new.' You shrugged. "Watching a sad movie." You lied. "It's old. You wouldn't like it."

Nico felt guilty all of a sudden. It was never her goal to shun you, but she was grieving the loss of her sister and felt betrayed when you entered her life as her new sister. She didn't detest you; she despised the idea that you would take Amy's place one day. That everyone would forget about Amy and focus on you.

But it was foolish of her to consider it. She knew you had been nothing but wonderful after seeing you every day in this house. Nico would sometimes skip meals, and you would offer her yours by leaving it outside her room. Nico would open the door to find a tray of food on the ground, along with a single flower and a simple note:

Eat. You are loved. :)

Of course, she had no idea it was your food, and you were the one who was skipping meals for her. She initially interpreted it as a desperate attempt to get closer to her. Nico assumed you were just showing her how good you were until you'll turn into a bitch after you get close to her.

You, on the other hand, did it out of compassion. You despised Nico for skipping meals, and Tina or Robert would occasionally forget to deliver Nico her lunch. Robert, on the other hand, would do it unintentionally. So, because Nico's health was more important to you than yours, you offered her your lunch whenever she skipped a meal.

You didn't care and if you didn't want to be accepted by your new sister. You just wanted her to be healthy and safe.

"Maybe we could watch it together next time," Nico suggested, giving you the slightest smile. She wants to try. To try on becoming a better sister to you.

You stared at her in bewilderment before smiling in return. "Y-Yeah... I would love that."

Nico motioned her head to the side, signaling you to follow her. "Come on. I want you to help me with something."

You followed Nico around the house and found yourself staring at a staff locked in a case hanging on the wall. "Isn't that what Tina used back at the secret meeting they held yesterday?"

Nico nodded. "Yeah, and we have to figure out what it does."

You tried opening it, but it didn't budge. "But first, we have to figure out how to open the case."

You and Nico started looking for a key or a trigger to open the case, and it took you both the entire day because the sun had set. You moved some chairs to search the floor for a key or anything else until Nico said something. "Bitch took your diary."

Your head perked up in confusion. "My what?"

Nico glanced at you and shook her head. "Not your diary. Amy's." Nico pulled the drawer to take the diary out, but it triggered the case to open. "Manual override activated."

You and Nico stared at the opened case. "Nice." You and Nico approached the staff, and Nico carefully took it out of its case. You leaned closer to her. "What does it do?" Nico was silent for a moment until she turned the staff on. "Ow!" She winced.

The staff activated, and you had to step away when the handle grew longer. "Holy shit." You whispered and looked at the staff. "That looks like a ring light."

Nico smothered a laugh until she understood what she had to do, and her smile vanished. Nico dashed up to her mother's desk and yanked out the jammed drawer with the staff's handle to retrieve Amy's diary. Nico ultimately got it open and grabbed the diary out.

You stood next to Nico as she began looking through her older sister's diary. As you noticed, the diary was filled with crafts, sketches, dried flowers, and small cheerful notes. You gave a sorrowful smile. 'If Amy was still alive, I would gladly take lessons how to do these things from her...'

Nico turned over the pages and came across an origami snowflake loaded with glitter. Nico pulled the letter from her pocket and chuckled quietly, tears shining in her eyes. She raised it for you to see, but you spotted a real snowflake land on the tip of your nose. When Nico realized what was going on, her smile vanished.

You and Nico gasped in joy when you realized the room was snowing. 'Wait... the room is snowing.' You looked at Nico in confusion, who also looked at you the same way. "How is the room snowing?"

-•-°-•-°-☆

So, how's the story so far?