Chapter 1 - No Worries

The day was blooming, the sky was a bright blue, the wind blowing just enough for a cool breeze. Inside a school, sat a young Hmong - asian boy with short spikey black hair. He had an average built body, his features were better than most but not to the point where he would stand out in a crowd. He was currently looking outside the window daydreaming,

"Mr. Yang is my class boring to you?" the teacher questioned him. Another student noticed that he didn't hear the teacher so the student nudged him.

"Alex, the teacher is talking to you." The student whispered to him. Alex was brought back from his daydreaming and realized that everyone in the class was looking at him.

"Sorry, sir I was just fascinated with the birds that were outside. I've never seen that type of species before." Alex said and pointed towards a couple of birds outside the window. Everyone looked outside and sure enough, two birds were sitting on a tree branch. The birds had grey feathers with gold tips, along with a black spot on their chest.

"Oh, I know what those are!" One student shouted out as he flipped through a notebook.

"No need, Johnathan. I know what those are. This type of bird is a Golden-winged Warbler." The teacher answered and began to go on about how it is an endangered species. Alex was relieved that the birds popped out as he gave the non-sense excuse. Alex always felt that he was luckier than most and it wasn't always like this. Before he had very bad luck, but after a big incident that happened his luck took a huge u-turn. As the teacher was babbling on about how humankind was ruining the Earth, the bell ran for the end of the school day.

"Alright, I know that we went off track but I still want all of you to read over the chapter of today because there will be a quiz on it sometime this week." the teacher said as the students were packing up. The teacher was met with a bunch of groans. All the students rushed out of the doors and began to find their friends and talk about what to do this weekend.

Alex, on the other hand, just waved at many acquaintances that he had made, but none of them went out of their way to become his friend. Due to him being an orphan and lack of expenses, because most of them like going to movies, fancy restaurants, and other expensive places. Even though Alex has been asked to go out multiple times, he declined all of them due to work and taking care of his little sister who was six years old. Alex was turning 16 this Saturday and he finally saved up enough money to take his little sister out to eat. Alex made his way back to the orphanage to meet up with his little sister.

"Alex!" a young girl shouted at him while she waved. The little girl had long, smooth black hair that reached her shoulders, hazel brown eyes, and a petite little body. Alex waved back at the little girl with a bright smile and scooped her up into his arms.

"How's the greatest little sister ever?" he asked while spinning her around.

"I've been great!" She shouted back while giggling. Alex stopped spinning and put her down.

"Guess what, Kalia?" he asked her.

"What is it, big brother." She replied with sparkles in her eyes.

"You have to guess. That's the whole point of the game." He said. She retorted with a pout and puppy eyes. Alex wouldn't back down this time as he stared intensely back at her. Kalia was shocked that her brother was fighting back.

"Let's see if he can hold on after I use my trump card." She thought to herself as she began to tickle her brother into submission.

"Hahaha, stop it, Hahaha, ok I give up," Alex shouted while being tormented by his little sister. Alex sat on the ground trying to catch his breath after getting assaulted by his sister's tickle attack.

"Go get ready, 'cause we are going out to eat," Alex said to Sarah.

"Alrighty!" She shouted and quickly ran to her room to get ready. It took a bit for Kalia to get ready, but Alex was in no hurry because of a conversation with the head Mistress earlier that day. He was told that a couple wanted to adopt Kalia, but they weren't willing to adopt him because he was too old for them. He honestly didn't like the thought of separating from his only relative, but after meeting with the couple he believed that they were honest people. So he agreed to the adoption but told them that he wanted to spend one more day with her before they finalized the papers.

As Alex was in deep thought, Kalia was already running out the door with a white one-piece dress with a yellow sunflower right on the chest. She noticed that her brother was in deep thought so she began to tickle him again.

"Ok, Ok I'm back!" Alex managed to get out of getting tickled. He grabbed onto her hand and they began to walk down the sidewalk. While they walked Alex could hear his little sister humming a song, so he decided to start singing because he knew that she was too shy to sing out loud even though her voice was amazing for a six-year-old.

"Pull the car to the side of a freeway. It all came clear in a flash. So I called to tell you I love you. I got so many questions to ask. Like where are we going? What are we doing? We said we would make memories, not dreams. Baby, it's now or never. So, go home and pack your things." Alex started,

"Cause I don't wanna go through the gates of heaven thinking what we might have missed. Don't wanna waste another day we're given 'cause we're scared of taking risks. Let's see the eight world wonders. Before we're six feet under, oh do everything we always talked about. Mark them off the bucket list" Sarah added.

"Go to Rome, standing on. Climb a mountain in Nepal. Land in China, walk the wall. We gon' do it all. Dance in Rio in the sun. Head to Vegas for the fun. Do the things we did, we did. They both sang. Some people could hear them singing and were put in a trance due to Kalia's voice.

"Wow, that little girl has such an amazing voice. It feels like she's singing straight to my soul." Someone said and some other people nodded to their comment. One person quickly took a picture of her and began to make a call.

"I think I found a candidate for your show, Boss." The man said to the person on the other side of the phone. The man approached the siblings and began to explain that he wanted Kalia to appear on a telent show and such. But Alex told the man that if he wanted Kalia to appear then he woukd have to go talk with the orphanage. So the man said his goodbyes and rushed to the orphanage. The two siblings began their journey once more and finally made it to the restaurant. After the siblings ate their meal, they left for the mall to pick out some stuff for Kalia. As they were walking through the mall, Alex noticed two men with large black duffel bags that made weird noises. He thought little of it and continued walking with his sister. The store they stopped at was a piano store,

"Alex, what are we doing here. I thought we were going to the mall so that I can pick out something for you?" Kalia asked with her head tilting to the side and one finger on her lip. Alex just chuckled at his sister's cute reaction,

"Well, we are here for you actually," Alex responded. Kalia looked up at her big brother in confusion,

"What are you talking about?" She asked. Alex just shook his head and hand-chopped her head.

"Ahhh!" She yelled out and held her head. Sarah glared at her brother along with a pouting face.

"It's an early birthday present from me. I've asked the other caretakers and they told me that you were always talking about wanting a keyboard. So that is why we are here." Alex stated. Kalia squealed and ran into the store like the wind. Alex just laughed and followed her. They spent a good bit of time in the store and everything was going great until a loud noise went off then gunfire followed. People began to panic and a couple of armed men started to massacre the crowd.