Chapter 1

                                    

                                          
"Happy birthday Sam!" Someone shouts in my ear. I realise it's Alex. I roll onto my stomach and try to block his voice out. No such luck it seems. My twelve-year-old brother is ecstatic when it comes to birthdays.
                          
"Let me sleep Alex," I mumble into my pillow.
                          
"Nuh uh, you gotta get up right now." I can feel light hit my cheeks and it's coming from the window.
                          
"Did you open the curtains?"
                          
"Nuh uh, they were opened by a suicidal vampire."
                          
"Why are twelve-year-olds so annoying?"
                          
"Why do seventeen-year-olds take so long coming out of bed?"
                          
"Relax, I'm getting up." I roll out of bed and land in a crouch. Before I can stretch, Alex grabs my arm, leads me to the bathroom, pushes me in and shuts the door. "Go trip over a log, Alex!"
                          
"In your dreams, sis! You can thank me later!" I hear his receding footsteps, then a pause while he shouts "Love ya sis!" before he walks downstairs.
                          
I look at the girl facing me in the bathroom mirror. She has big emerald eyes that look serene but tired. Her red hair is straight but slightly tangled and reaches half way down her back, a few inches above her waist. Her high cheekbones are sharper, making her face look more angular. Her pale complexion is paler than usual. She looks worn out, slightly... sick. 
                          
Well I certainly feel sick, I realise now that the last stands of sleep have been torn away. I brush my teeth, rinse my mouth and splash freezing cold water on my face before drying off and running to my room and dressing in whatever random jumper and jeans I can find in my wardrobe. I pull my hair back into a loose knot and calmly walk down the stairs to the kitchen. 
                          
I hear the sizzling and crackling of something frying. Then I see Alex flipping something over with a fork. Then I smell it: French toast. Suddenly the sickness vanishes and is replaced with hunger.
                          
"Sit down sis. I left something on the table for you." Alex brings two plates to the table, each containing two slices of toast and sits down. I sit next to him and see an envelope next to my plate. On it are two words scribbled in Alex's handwriting: To Sam. I look at him and he nods. I open it and find a sheet of sketchbook paper folded in half. 
                          
"What's this?"
                          
Alex smiles and says, "Open it."
                          
I do as he says. "Oh my god. Alex, it's beautiful."
                          
I'm staring at a sketch of me and Alex. We're both smiling and my arm is around Alex's shoulders. It looks so real. So perfect. On the other side of the paper it says, 'I love you sis. Don't you ever forget that.'
                          
I put it back in the envelope and look at Alex. My cheeks are wet and I realise I'm crying. He looks concerned. "Sis, what happened? Don't you like it after all? I'll burn it, you won't have to see it again." 
                          
If only he knew. If only I could tell him. But how can I? I'm the only family he's got and the sketch...
                          
Oh, it must have taken him ages. He put so much effort and time into making it.  He's got so much brotherly love for me when he should hate me. He should hate me as far as the depths of hell. He should spit in my face every time he sees me. He should...
                          
"No, I don't hate it Alex. And I love you too. I just, I guess I never realised how much you love me, that's all."
                          
"Oh good. I got worried that I ruined your special day before it'd started."
                          
He takes a bite of his toast. Then another. He chews and swallows. Then looks back at me. "You should eat up sis. You've got a big day ahead of you."