*I made some more improvements. Thank you for input!*
Chapter 1:
“Kal-” Mrs. Morrison skipped Kali and went to mine. “Kayden O’Connell?”
“Here.”
Kali has run off before, but not this long. She always would come back, always. Kali has been gone for a little less than a school week, which made me worry. I knew whenever she ran away, she would be gone for no more than 2 days, and stayed at my family's lake house when she did. The stress level for me was doubling every passing hour. My mind was almost at a breaking point. I dreaded when school was going to be done in forty-five minutes, and I would go home, alone.
“Okay class, please take out your math homework from last night.” Mrs. Morrison ordered.
I grabbed my ROXY binder and pulled out my math homework. Math was pretty simple for me, every subject was actually. I never had any problems in any class, and my grades are always higher than a B. Kali always was smarter though, that’s why she was in my senior math class while she was a sophomore.
The class phone rang. Everyone looked up.
“It’s probably something about Kal-” A beach blonde girl guessed. My glare cut her short. I turned back to my math and ran my slender fingers in through my long, auburn hair. The cold silk feeling calmed me down a bit.
Mrs. Morrison reluctantly hung up the phone. She looked up at me and nodded. I sighed and could feel tears forming behind my lashes. I put my homework on top of my binder and books and shoved my pencils in the zipper pouch. I gave Mrs. Morrison my math paper. The whole class didn’t move, didn’t talk. It felt like I was the only living thing in the room. They all knew...
I ran to my locker, not even looking back at my math class. Out of anger, I slammed my books in the turquoise locker, rattling the metal. My book bag was yanked out in a haste. I closed up my locker, leaving some papers behind. My feet sped down the hallway, eager to discover the fate of my sister even though I might regret what has become of Kali. The closer I got to the office, the more clearer the man in the office seem. It was Kam, my brother. His hair was the same color as mine, but cut short.
“Kam ” I yelled and ran to him. Kam turned and smiled halfheartedly, his smile seeming almost fake. He was still in his army gear with his name tag saying his last name, “O’Connell”. I ran up to him and gave him a big hug, tears starting to form. He was only 5 years older than me, yet still very young.
“I can’t believe you’re home!” I cried.
“You better believe it, cause I’m going to be here for a while.” Kam laughed. He was always the funny guy of the family. “Lets go home.”
I wiped my tears off my face and grabbed my book bag. We walked out of the school doors and to his Ford truck. Kam opened the door for me, being a real gentleman, and I jumped in. He walked around to the other side of the car and jumped in. In that short amount of time, Kali came back into my mind. This time, sticking. Something was up, and Kam wouldn’t come pick me up unless something terrible, or good happened.
The car shifted gears as we drove out of the school parking lot.
“How’s school for ya?” Kam asked.
“Eh, not exciting. How’s Iraq?” I asked.
“Really dirty, and dangerous.” “Hmm.” I mumbled. I had nothing else to add.
Our conversation didn’t need to be long, since we were almost home already. My rides home aren’t that long anyway. The rest of the ride was silent, and it was eerie feeling. There was something wrong, but I tried not to think the worst.
