Six years ago

My sleep doesn't kick in tonight, maybe because I'm reading Pet Sematary from Stephen King.

My phone rang, and I'm surprised Jessa is calling me at eleven at night. Jessa and I grew up being friends, classmates, maybe like a sister.

"Can you come over, Cassidy?"

"Now? I'm about to sleep. Or at least I'm trying," I'm dressed in pajamas, practically counting sheep just in hopes that the sleep kicks in.

"Yes, I need you."

"What's up? Is Jason okay?"

"He got in trouble again. The principal told my mother that she needs to take him to the doctor's office to get pills."

"Pills for what?"

"I don't know. To help him focus, I guess."

"Maybe it is better," I tell her. Maybe the school knows what's best for him.

"And if my mother doesn't want to take him to a doctor?" she asks me.

Part of me hated how the principal approached this situation with Adele. Principal Miller always saw the negative side in every kid at school. "I don't know. What do you think will happen?"

"He will be expelled," she breathes through the speakerphone. Many people say that Jason is the black sheep of the family. He often gets in trouble at school, and I bet Adele is tired of answering the phone.

But what most people don't see is that Jason isn't bad all the time. As some people believe he is the devil covered in a boy's body, I see that as attention-seeking behavior. His father doesn't care so much for him and Jessa. Although he lives on the other side of town, he remarried and had two other kids with his new wife. He placed Jessa and Jason with a whole new family. But what Jason doesn't understand is that sometimes you have your family right there with you, and you are still invisible to them.

They are not invisible to Adele, not granny Gigi, nor their cousins and their relatives.

And he has me. When I am around, sometimes he is better, at least for a short period of time.

After all, Chelan is a safe place to live for the most part. Nothing serious can ever happen here.

"Did he get into another fight?" I knew I had to ask this again.

"Yes, guess with who?"

"I don't know," I say honestly.

"Elliot."

"This is bad news." I don't know why Jason hates the guy's gut as much as ass as he is.

"And, Cassidy. My brother said he wouldn't go to the doctor. Can you convince him, please?" she pleads. "My mom is so heartbroken that she left home to speak with a close friend and never came back till now."

Is Adele leaving home at this time? This might be very stressful for her. "Where's Jason now?" I ask, hoping he is not out there, doing something he might regret later.

"He is fine. He is in bed asleep."

After I hung up the phone, I decided to ride my bike to their home for a sleepover. Dad won't mind even though he has been picking on Jason lately. I quickly change clothes while folding my pajamas and placing them into my backpack along with toothpaste and toothbrush.

Before I leave through the door, I head to my parent's bedroom to tell my parents where I'm heading at this time. I hope they don't complain since it is almost midnight. Mother is the only one lying in bed. Then I remember she had been there the whole day doing I don't know what. I can't believe this will start again. When she spends an entire day in bed, it can take over a week or two for her to get out, and I'm the one who has to clean up and cook quick meals. I approach her to ensure she is not sleeping yet.

Whenever I hear my mother arguing with my father at home, I get a hold of my bike and take off. They don't even take notice of me being gone. Sometimes I go to New Street just to sit at the bench and stare at the stream where crickets and frogs sing throughout the night. I don't want to keep bothering Jason and Jessa with my own family issues, so I stay there by myself.

The arguments between my parents are for many reasons, but the main one that seems to stick with them is my mother's obsession with moving to Seattle.

But Seattle wouldn't do any good. I would be far away from Jessa.

And being away from Jason.

"Mother, are you going to sleep now?" I asked her.

"No. I just woke up," her voice is low through the blankets.

"What? Mother, are you feeling sick?"

"I'm fine."

"I don't understand how you spend the entire day in bed and claim you are not sick. You haven't eaten anything today." I want to see her face, but then she was facing the wall.

"I feel as if the world is falling apart," Her weak voice speaks through her pillow.

"What do you mean the world is falling apart?"

"Have you ever felt the world crumbling into pieces just below your feet?" I want to look at her closely, so I come closer, sitting on the bed next to her. Her pale face is still present for days now, and so does the dark circle under her eyes. Is it because of my parents' last fight?

"No, mother. I feel like the world is normal," I have to disagree with her. "Where is a dad, by the way?"

"He is at work."

"But this time?"

"Office stuff. He came home, got dressed, and went back there."

"Is this about that story about you wanting to move to Seattle?"

"I don't remember Seattle. Nothing makes any sense now. If we go to Seattle or not, nothing will change now."

"Maybe you should go to the doctor."

"Doctors don't know shit. They only prescribe pills, so they don't have to handle the patients." So, is this the reason why doctors and the school principal want to prescribe Jason the pills so he can be exactly like my mother?

Lying in bed and sleeping all day long?

I want to head to Jessa and Jason's, but then I don't want to leave mother alone.

So, I don't go there.

***

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