Kara

The next day, I woke up feeling… off. Something was wrong. I didn't know what it was. I walked downstairs and made myself a cup of coffee. My parents were already up and fixing themselves breakfast. We never really did the family breakfast, it was always cereal or toast. Something quick and easy. Dad was already heading for the door to leave for work.

"Hey!" I yelled. He turned around and looked at me, and I put on my best pout. "Where's my hug?"

"You got me!" He smiled at me. He came back and gave me a quick hug. But before he could reach the foyer, a knock came from the other side. Dad opened it to find two police officers outside.

"Um, hello, officers. What can I do for you?" He asked. He was confused. I was confused. My mom and I both put our coffee cups down and walked towards the front door.

"Is this the residence of Benjamin and Lucette Meyer?" One of the officers inquired.

"Yes, I am Ben, what brings you here?" my dad asked again.

"We have some news about your daughter, Kara Meyer. May we come in?"

"Of course, let me just call my work and tell them that I am going to be late. Please, come in," Dad led them to the living room and dialed his work. Mom called into her job to let them know she was going to be late as well. Whatever this was, Kara was involved and it was serious. We all sat in the living room.

"It may be best for just the parents to hear this news," one of the officers said, looking pointedly at me.

"This has to do with Kara. She is my sister, and I'm staying." I said, forcefully. I've never really said anything forcefully in my life, and my parents looked shocked at my exclamation.

"Alright," the officer sighed. "Your daughter Kara died in a drug deal gone wrong last night."

My mom fell to her knees and started screaming and sobbing. My dad said nothing and just looked at the officer in front of them like he didn't understand what they were saying. I couldn't breathe. All of the air had been sucked out of the room as soon as that sentence passed that man's mouth. I couldn't hear anything. I could see lips moving but it was like I was deaf. My dad seemed to realize what was happening, and tried to comfort mom. The officers said something else, but I was glued to my seat. I couldn't understand them. I couldn't move. Eventually I could feel air going in and out again, but it felt like my body was controlled like a robot. I didn't move from my seat for hours, and I saw the officers leave, I saw my dad take my mom to the bedroom and lay her down. I saw my dad come back and try to talk to me, but I still couldn't hear him. He seemed to ask me a question, and it looked like he was waiting for an answer. 'Okay, focus Veronica.' I snapped myself back to reality.

"What did you say?" I sounded monotone.

"I said, did you know Kara was doing drugs?" He asked.

"I had no idea. I saw an instagram post where she was skinnier, but I thought she was just not eating again. She never returned any of my texts, so I didn't think to check up on her." I said. He nodded. I got up, my legs felt like jell-o, and I went upstairs to my room. I laid down in bed, and that was where I stayed the rest of the day. My phone vibrated a couple of times but I ignored it. My dad came into my room sometime later that night and dropped off a grilled cheese sandwich onto my nightstand. I didn't eat it. I didn't move until late that night, when I finally had to get up to use the bathroom. If I never had to pee, I would've laid in bed forever after that day. I decided to finally check my phone. Four new messages. Three from Alayna, asking if I'm okay, Kara's death made the local news. I texted her back, saying that I was and I needed some time to process. One text was from Roman, asking if I was related to Kara Meyer. He must have seen the news article as well. I texted him back as well, telling him that was my sister.