I know I'm always supposed to give people second chances and trust them and everything, but I found it really hard to give my sister that chance. After she went off to college, she completely cut her connection to my mother and I, even though she knew we were in a fragile place. I remember missing her so much and my mom yelling at me, telling me to get over it. So I did.

Four months ago, my mom just up and left. We were living alone in the small yellow house at the end of Brookside Lane, both of us working night shifts to put food on the table. It was five months before I turned eighteen and I was a senior in Oaksdale High School. When my mom left, I was able to live in the house alone, using our savings to keep the bills and rent in check. But then the dryer decided to break down and I had to hang my clothes in the kitchen to dry. Our landlord noticed immediately and came in to check everything out. Despite my reassurances, she figured out Mom had left and called family services to come get me. They found my sister and made me move in with her.

I remember the first day was so horrible. I didn't want to be there, my sister didn't want me to be there. My sister's husband was the one trying to patch things up between us. I was mad at my sister for leaving us and my sister did not want me meddling in her 'perfect' life.

To make matters worse, I had to transfer from Oaksdale High to Buckley Day, this totally posh private high school that I did not fit in with. Oaksdale was a pretty large school, so it was easy for me to get lost and go by unnoticed, but Buckley was so small, everyone practically knew what flavor gum the person next to them was chewing. Obviously, surviving in such a place did not come easily to me.

Another thing that totally bothered me was that all the teenagers on my street had a carpool together every morning. I always took the city bus to Oaksdale, which I had gotten used to and preferred, but my sister and her husband insisted I take the carpool. It bothered me because I hate relying on anyone. I relied on my sister and mom and look where that got me. That's why I've always had a job and as soon as I moved, I got a new one in the mall.

So anyways, about this whole trust thing, I was in my carpool one morning, two weeks after I had moved, trying to block out the peppy conversations around me, when I decided I would give my sister a chance. Maybe she had changed. Maybe Mom leaving was a good thing. Going to a new school could help me change my personality and maybe fate wanted my sister and I to make up and be best friends again like we used to be when we were younger. I mean, giving someone a chance can't hurt, right?