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‘Mum, where’s Ellie?’ I shouted, as I ran down the stairs with Rufus bounding after me.
‘She’s at work and she gets home any minute now!’ Mum replied, with a smile.
‘Work! What do you mean work? She is only two years old!’
Just at that moment, a teenage girl with dark hair and a serious number of freckles burst through the door.
‘Hey Mum, hey squirt,’ she said, giving me a playful nudge. I stared at her with my mouth wide open. She was wearing a yellow and red uniform and she had a badge that said: ‘Hello, I’m Ellie.’
Wait, that was Ellie? What happened to her?
‘Hey Em, do you want me to take me to school? If we don’t go now, you’ll be late,’ said this strange new Ellie. ‘Em, come on.’
But I didn’t move.
I was scared and sad. What could I do? I couldn’t really talk to Mum, Holly or Ellie. They would think there was something wrong with me. I couldn’t call anyone who would understand. Everything was changing. Everything was different. If this was my sister, she was now seventeen or something, and my mum was better. When Dad died, it really changed Mum. Now she was happier. But things like school, Mrs Allen’s (Mrs Jennings’) garden, the statue and the new dog. Those small things had all changed and I would need to get used to it.
I had a new life now with Mum, Dad, Ellie and Rufus. I couldn’t go back to my old life. This was my new life, and I couldn’t change anything. It was sad that I didn’t get to see my little (now big) sister grow up, but Dad was here. He was alive! Now I could be with my happy mum, my older sister and my dad. I would just have to get used to the other things.
I followed Ellie out the door, grabbing my bag and skateboard on the way. When I opened the car door, I felt the leather seats. They were warm from sitting in the sun. As I pulled on my seatbelt, I asked, ‘Hey Ellie?’
‘Yeah?’
I smiled slyly. ‘Can we go to the skatepark instead?’
She laughed. ‘So, you’re skipping school?’
I nodded, and she laughed again.
‘Cool, let’s go,’ she said.
We pulled out of the driveway and Ellie handed her phone to me and said, ‘Shotgun picks the music.’
I smiled and thought: This is my new life.