Chapter 1

Riiinnnnggggg!!!!

Startled from the alarm's loud voice, Cyn woke up, shutting the thing from making any more noise as she curls back up in the warmth and comfort of her bed.

Wait a min, she thought, it's the 8th of September, which means its her first day back to school…

..as a senior!!!

She jolted straight out of bed looking at the clock, 6:30 A.M. I will make it on time. *sigh* she thought as she looked at her olive green eyes in the mirror.

Let me introduce myself, Cynthia De Luca, 17 year old Italian-American orphan who attends Maxville High in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Yeah, you got that right, an orphan.

My parents died in a car accident when I was 8 years old. My grandma had raised me and my brothers since then.

Cyn picks out a comfortable outfit for the day and makes her way downstairs in the kitchen where she sees her grandma and brothers having breakfast.

"Buon giorno[1]," she greeted them.

"Buon giorno mia bambina[2]," grandma replied, "I made some french toast, have them before going to school."

"Ok nonna[3]." As I munch on my food I ask my brothers, "who is dropping me off to school today?"

"I can't drop you off, I have a bio lecture to get to," Austin said rolling his eyes.

"Don't worry, Austin you get to your class and I will drop you off Cyn, bene[4]?" replied Allie.

"Va bene[5]!" We said in unison.

Let me introduce my brothers, Alden and Austin. Alden, is the oldest one. Like how all the parents in the world would want their oldest son to be responsible, caring and father-like, which obviously sounds a bit of a cliche`, Allie is like that. Where as his polar opposite is Austin, who could be described in just one word: chaotic. Yes at times he could be responsible, but again as I said at times. Appearance wise, we all have same goldenish-brown hair and olive green eyes whereas our height can be a difference, as Allie is 5'9ft, Austin is 6'0ft and then comes me *sigh* 5'4. As far as personality goes, well, we all are different. Nonetheless, we do share something else, which is our love for each other. Since our parents died we couldn't just burden our grandma with all the responsibilities, so in that sense we all became responsible that way and took care of each other.

After eating breakfast, me and Allie got our things for the day and left the house. The ride to school with Allie was as peaceful as ever, with his favorite car playlist on.

"Allie?" trying to get my brothers attention before getting out of the car, "do you know if something important is coming up next week?" It's my 18th birthday next week on the 20th and I was wondering if Allie remembered it because on a normal basis he would be bothering me about the gift I want, but he didn't.

"Umm let's see….I think I have an interview with the recruiter from the police station, meeting with the lawyers, I have to help Austin with the project for his presentation, other than that I don't think so, no." he replied while staring at his phone, avoiding eye contact. Weird, I thought. "Why are you asking though, do you need anything?"

"Just curious," I quickly say, giving him a peck on his cheek and getting out of the car,"anyways, see you later. Ciao![6]"

Before driving away, Allie rolled down his windows and yelled "I will pick you up right after school."

"Umm, ookaay", I replied trying to figure out why he was picking me up today when I could just take the bus instead. Then it hit me.

Oh yeah it's THE 8th of September, I mentally facepalmed myself as I thought about how I almost forget about this dreadful day. Today was the day De Luca family nearly fell apart. Today is my parents death anniversary.

As I was deep in my thoughts I heard someone yell my name as I was pulled into a massive bear hug.

"I-I can't brea-the…" I manage to say as I'm being crushed.

"Whoops, sorry Cyn, just got a little too excited," the person giggled as they let go of me.

"Geez Syd, it's not like you haven't seen me for ages. I was at your house just this Friday", I say rolling my eyes at her.

"I still missed my best friend," she pouts as she links our arms together, making me laugh.

Meet Syd, a.k.a. Sydney Atkinson. My best friend since we were in grade school.

"Anyways sis, I looked at the schedule you sent me and THANK GOD we are together in all the boring classes," we break out into laughing as she continues, "and guess what we have first period, Calculus with our "beloved" Mr. Freed" I groan at the mention of his name and we make our way to the class as the school bell rings.

The day was passing by as smoothly as ever and its was soon time for lunch.

As we made our way to the table after grabbing some food, someone else joined me and Syd as we sat down.

"It's the first day of school and Mr. Freed already has given us assignments, Dio mio![7]" Brent said as he started munching on his sandwich.

This is Brent O'Connor, my best friend and my brother. We have known each other forever since our parents were best friends, so as kids we would often see each other and became friends. Till today nobody could break our bond.

I laugh at him speaking Italian. Being around my family too much seems to be rubbing off on him.

"I know!! I almost fell asleep in the class!!" rolling her eyes Syd continues her complaints, "plus me and Cyn have him first period, for god sake."

"It's okay guys, it's our last year here anyway, then we don't have to deal with him anymore." I say stealing Brent sandwich. "Let's forget about this guys, it's just our first day. Anyways, you guys have any important stuff to deal with next week?"

"Let's see, we both have soccer practices on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Theatre on Fridays and well nothing else for me." Syd says.

"I have football practices." Brent said.

"You sure there's nothing important?" I try asking them once again, "Nothing to do on Saturday???"

They look at each other as they communicate with their eyes, which goes unnoticed by Cynthia. Shaking their head together they say, "Don't think so."

"Are you okay Cyn? Is there something going on Saturday that we don't know of?" Syd suddenly asks.

"Nothing just asking," I say, trying to hide my sadness at them not remembering my birthday.

"If you say so."

"Let's get going guys, bells about to ring," Brent says, getting up as he picks up trash and throws it away in the nearest garbage.

The rest of the day goes by smoothly without any trouble and soon it's 2:30 pm. As school ends, I listen to my music while waiting in the parking lot for my brother to come pick me up. A few mins passed by and there he was with Austin on the passenger seat.

As per usual we first go to a florist to buy flowers and head to the cemetery. We find mom and dad without any trouble, replace the old flowers with the new ones and sit there and talk about them for a little while before

heading home.

You might think this is a bit depressing thing to do, but this way, me and my brothers can relive their memories without having to think they are gone. It's kind of like our own personal remedy. It's like they never left.