Picture Frame

- Melanie

"I'm going to get something from the living room. I'll be right back." I turned towards Nate and nodded my head in response. I heard his footsteps go down the stairs.

As I set the stack of papers down at the corner of his desk, I saw a small picture frame that was faced down. Without thinking, I picked it up and looked at the picture inside of it. There was a man and a woman happily smiling at the camera. In between them, a small boy wearing overalls. He was the splitting image of both of them, who I assumed to be his parents. Was that Nate? They looked so happy together, as a family.

I stared at the man, he looked so familiar to me. Was this his father? Then I looked at the woman. I widened my eyes. Her smile, dimple, dark brown hair. It was her.

My hands started shaking. I dropped the picture frame. It collided with the smooth floor and shattered with a loud noise. I backed away from the broken glass until I hit the footboard of the bed. I fell down on the floor and I stared at the picture frame in the middle of the clear glass pieces while holding my left elbow.

Why was Cienna in that picture?

My thoughts were ruined with Nate dropping his laptop and quickly kneeling down next to me.

"Are you okay? What happened?" he asked hurriedly.

I quickly made up a story in my head. "I accidentally knocked the picture down when I set the papers next to it. I'm so sorry Nate."

"It's okay. Are you hurt anywhere?" He then picked me up and sat me down on the bed. "Did the glass cut your elbow?" I nodded.

He carefully rolled up the sleeve of my hoodie so that he could see the cut.

After pulling the glass out and disinfecting the area, he wrapped my elbow in a soft white bandage. I stared at him. He had long, wavy dark brown hair that slightly cover his golden eyes. He wasn't half bad.

"Thank god the cut wasn't deep. It should be alright after a few days." he looked up at me at chuckled. "Why are you so clumsy." He stood up and walked towards his laptop, still on the ground.

"Is your laptop okay? You dropped it because of me." I said remembering Nate's face when he saw me hurt.

"Yeah, it's fine. I can just buy another one even if it is broken." he shrugged as he picked it up and walked over to sit next to me on his bed.

"What about the glass?" I glanced over to the mess I made earlier.

"I'll just ask someone to clean it up later." he said as he signed into his laptop and opened a folder.

"But I feel so bad. Should I pay for it? I'll do anything for you." I said confidently.

"No, it's really okay Melanie. You don't have to do anything for me." he assures. After a few seconds his face lit up. "Fine, since you said anything, as a sorry you can tutor me for English. Then you won't feel bad and I'll get a better grade."

I thought it over in my head. I desperately wanted to know exactly what kind of relationship Nate had with Cienna and what he knew about her incident. "Sure, I mean that's not really anything to ask for. I'll help you." I smiled at him. He stared at me for a few seconds and just when he opened his mouth to say something my phone rung.

"That must be my brother." I abruptly stood up, gathering my things in my backpack. He nodded and walked me downstairs to the front door.

As I put on my shoes Nate crossed his arms and leaned on the wall. "When do you want to meet up?"

"I'm always free except on Fridays so you can text me the dates later." I replied as I opened the front door to see my brother's car waiting for me. "Bye, I'll see you tomorrow."

He nodded at me while I stepped outside and opened my brother's car door. I sat down in the front seat and closed the door. As we drove away, I saw Nate waving at the car.

"Who is he?" my brother Ben asked me.

"Just a friend."

"What did you do at his house?"

"We worked on a project. How's mom?" I asked.

"She took some painkillers and went to bed early."

"And... dad?"

He sighed, "The usual. I stopped him after his third bottle." He stopped at a red light and turned towards me. "Wait. What the hell? Why do you have blood on your hoodie? Did he do something to you!?" he asked. I could tell he was getting angry and confused.

"Oh my god. You're so overreactive. I fell on glass and he wrapped it in bandages. Thanks to him, it won't get infected like last time." I explained rolling my eyes. But I've always felt grateful for him.

"Oh, thank god. Don't trust him too much from the start." he let out a tired sigh as he pulled into our small driveway.

I got out of the car with my backpack and closed the door. Ben locked the car and walked towards the garage door. I followed him, looking at the ground, but he stopped me and put his hands on my shoulders.

"Just in case, go through the front door so dad doesn't notice you." I nodded quickly.

He must have drank too much again.

I hurriedly turned around and walked towards the front door. I held the bell near the top of the door so it wouldn't make a sound when I opened it. Dad did this a year ago so that he would know specifically when someone was leaving and when someone came home.

I opened the door, still holding the bell. I quickly closed the door and making the slightest noise possible, I sprinted up the stairs.

I cracked the door of my mother's room to make sure she was okay. Through the small beam of light from the hallway that I was in, I saw my mother's tired face, dimly lit. I quietly closed the door and went towards my own room.

I managed to stay up until 4 in the morning but my eyes felt too heavy. I hated falling asleep. I always had the same dream about the day Cienna died. It was haunting and I would try everything to prevent myself from falling asleep. Even though I tried my best, my eyes closed and sleep took over me.

That night, I had the same dream.