Name:Cindy Carter Age:20 Status: Complicated Height:150cm Profession: Student Eye-Colour:Deep Black Hair-Colour: Black Hometown: Oklahoma Sweet, Jolly, Loving yet Lonely and has lots of Secrets.

Name:Jett Age:22 Status:In Relationship Height: 215cm Profession:Senior Student Eye-Colour: Green Hair-Colour:Brown Hometown:Texas Sincere, Loyal, Honest, Loving, Caring but Cold-Hearted.

Name: Mr.Carter Age:38 Status:Widower and Father of Cindy Height: 210cm Profession:Astronomer Hometown: Oklahoma

Name:Shanice Age-26 Profession:Nurse Hometown: Texas Loves her patient and very caring.

Name:Terri Age:28 Profession: Lawyer Hometown:NewYork City Confident, Intelligent and Caring.

Name:Melinda Status: Cindy's Aunt Age:34 Young but has a twisted attitude. Cindy lives with her and her daughter's.

Name:Ryan Status: In Relationship Age:23 Height:207cm Handsome, Cool, Deceitful. Cindy's ex-lover.

Name:Bella Age:20 Height:200cm Glamourous, Beautiful, Proud. Love Rival of Cindy and lover of Ryan.

Cindy

I took my gaze away from the stars and looked over at his face. The lines there seemed deeper than usual, and not just from the long shadows cast by the fire. We were both getting older, about to start new chapters in our lives. His lips lifted a little. Not a smile, but something in the family.

He lifted an arm and pointed at a star.

A cold wind swept around us, and I pulled my blanket up tighter against my chin.

I got that feeling. That small feeling Dad was talking about. But it didn’t seem scary right now like it used to when I was little. It seemed incredible, like there was this massive universe out there, and I was somehow lucky enough to be a part of it.

He pressed the button on his watch so it lit up.

My pulse quickened, thinking of Ryan. It might have been soon, but I was already in love.

I lifted a corner of my mouth.

He laughed

His watch chimed midnight.

I nudged his arm.

He shifted and aimed his gaze back toward the stars.

I smiled and finished the line,

Dad and I fell asleep under the stars that night in our tent that didn’t quite stand up right. When I woke up, my hair was frizzy from the dewy morning and I had bags the size of Texas under my eyes, but Dad made coffee over a campfire.

It tasted awful, but I didn’t tell him that. My phone went off, and I checked the message.

I smiled.

Dad downed the rest of his coffee.

Dad frowned, but he nodded.

He put his hands on his hips and stared at the tent we’d barely managed to put together.

We struggled through packing it up and ended up putting a mass of tarp and tentpoles into the trunk. He shoved it down, and I sat on it so it would latch.

He high fived me.

I laughed and shook my head. We should have been better at dealing with the tent by now.

He winked and walked to his side of the car. I got in, and we started down the highway. Dad blasted the air conditioner aerosmith blared through the speakers, and I sang along, not caring that the song was twenty years behind my time. It was just my dad and me and the open road with my boyfriend waiting to have the perfect day with me back home. But a semi swerved. And we didn’t make it home. I didn’t make it to my date. I barely made it at all. I couldn’t remember much of the first few weeks, between the medication and the pain and the bandages they left wrapped around my face. I did remember asking for my dad. He was supposed to be taking me home. But they said he was gone. And not just in another room. That was when the dark months got even darker. I just didn’t realize that the dark months would never end. That no matter how much I wanted to, I’d never be able to see the stars through the darkness again.

Nurse Shanice cooed

I propped myself, my ears pricked for who the visitor could be. I hadn’t had any. Not that I remembered, at least. No friends. No Ryan. Not even a call. My phone had been destroyed in the accident. A woman named Terri came in first and introduced herself, said she was my caseworker and that she’d be making sure I was taken care of, now that I was in state custody. Now that I didn’t have my dad.

My voice sounded small, like it had come from somewhere outside of me. She paused for way too long. The machine by my bed had beeped at least ten times.

And even though I didn’t need that translated,Terri went on..

Who did I have now? It had always been Dad and me against the world.

Her feet shifted on the tile, and I pulled my knees up to my chest, careful with my ankle. The doctors said it was healing. Even if it still felt stiff and tender. I’d been in the hospital so long now, going anywhere else terrified me. Here, I was safe. Here, I was in between. Not in my old life, and not in the new one, without my dad. Without my sight. Sharp heels struck the tile, followed by two softer footsteps.

A woman cried. She came closer and ran her hands over my arms.

Dad and I hadn’t seen her in forever. I barely saw her daughters, and we went to school together. She laughed, too brightly, and made an exaggerated sniff.

I frowned. Why was she talking like I wasn’t right here?

That didn’t make sense.

Something inside me itched, squirmed. This didn’t feel right.

Melinda cut me off.

Someone cleared their throat. And then that voice I hadn’t even known how much I missed spoke up.

My heart, my hands, yearned for him. I reached out, wanting to feel the soft touch of his skin, to have him cup my cheek in his palm one more time. Too slowly, he came forward, took my hands in his.

Melinda chuckled.

I nodded. Leave. Leave me alone. Leave me with this person I knew and cared about and missed. I pulled his hand closer and hugged him, even though he touched me like I might break in a second.

Wanting him to just hold me—hold my broken pieces together.

There must have been a million bad things going through his mind. I know there would have been for me.

That was all? Months in the hospital, no call, no nothing? It just didn’t add up. It’s okay didn’t make mathematical sense.

Silence. But his answer was clear. He knew. I scooted away from him, as far as I could until the bedrail stopped me. Everything in me wanted to get away from him. This stranger I thought was the love of my life.

My voice rose with each word.

I finished, my voice trembled, the words coming bitter out of my mouth.

Ryan stayed silent, and the longer he stayed quiet, the angrier I got.

His voice came out a whisper.

My mouth hung open, unable to find the words until they came out in a rush.

And then I was screaming..

And people were running, and I was still screaming, and I couldn’t breathe, and then it was dark again. But this time, I welcomed it, because it was where I belonged.