Chapter 3The Ghost of Seventeen

It started raining halfway there.

People on the street were hurrying, trying to get indoors before it poured. Only then did I dare to cry, my rain and tears blending together.

The school was almost empty by the time I got there.

I reached my hand into that filthy trash can.

The stench was overwhelming, but I dug through it over and over. But the watch I had thrown away wasn't there.

I bit my lip, wanting to slap the self that had thrown it away.

Even selling it for parts would have given us a few hundred bucks!

I searched for hours. I went through every piece of trash in that can. No watch.

Devastated, I started walking home.

The streets were deserted now. The rain was coming down so hard it actually hurt.

When I got home, Dad wasn't back yet.

The house that usually felt warm now felt freezing cold.

I waited, and waited...

Finally, just one person came running to tell me the news.

"Your dad and mom... they jumped into the river together."

That was the year I was a senior. I lost both my parents and became an orphan.