Days of Smiles

Chapter 13- Skyler

Rae's POV

"The books go in those boxes, while the trinkets go in the other boxes at the left." Elena points at the set of cardboard boxes. I'd been exploring the house when I walked in on her organizing some stuff in the library. She'd explained to me that every two months she would pick a certain room in the house, and would organize stuff to see if there were any items not in use. If there were any in good shape, she'd give it out to charity anonymously. This time it was the library.

I then joined in, and in a few hours, we'd picked out a lot of books and trinkets that weren't necessary. I found it really sweet and kind that Elena was doing this, it further proved how good of a person Elena is, I couldn't have asked for a better foster mother.

While selecting the items, my eyes fall on a blue book at the corner of a shelf. I walk over and pick it up. I'm about to ask Elena if it's to go to charity or not when something falls out of it. I pick up the little paper and turn it over to see a picture.

My eyes immediately recognize the dark-haired boy who's sitting beside a girl. It's Trevor and a girl I don't recognize, his arm is around her shoulder looking at the camera, while the girl is staring at the book in her hands. It seems to be the same book in my hands.

They're sitting side by side on a long stool, a large piano at their back, in a room. They both have smiles on their faces. I study the girl intently, I realize she looks a lot like Elena. The only difference seems to be her platinum blonde hair which is cut short to shoulder length, a complete contrast to Elena's dark long hair. I can't see her eye color because she's looking down.

Skyler Evans.

The one who seems to be my reason for being here, the one who I don't even know a thing about except her being Elena's daughter, the one whose name hasn't been mentioned except once when Trevor first met me. The one-

"What're you looking at?" Elena's voice pulls me out of my thoughts. I jumped a bit, not knowing she was quite close to me. Her eyes fall on the picture and book in my hand, and immediately her smile drops.

"I'm sorry...I'll just put it back..." She shakes her head. "Don't..." I pause my movements, staring at her. "You owe me no apology, rather I'm the one to apologize...I should've told you earlier." She gives me a small smile and walks over to a couch, patting the space beside her. I walk over to her and sit, the book and picture in my hands.

"Can I?" I hand the two items over to her and watch as she traces her thumb over Skyler, a single tear slipping from her eyes. She quickly wipes it away.

"I'd like to tell you something important, something I should've told you the moment you got here." She gives me a glance. I watch her, glad to finally learn the story behind Skyler.

"We were once complete..." When she said 'we', I'm assuming the Evans. "Trevor, my daughter Skyler, my husband David, and I, one happy family." Her eyes glazed over as she stared into space, probably reminiscing about her previous life.

"We weren't perfect, but we were happy, and that was all that mattered. Trevor had been doing well in football, Skyler was the best piano player I'd ever known, and David and I were so proud. David wasn't always around as he always had to travel a lot due to work. I never complained, as long as my kids were with me, I could never complain. Due to the nature of my work, I couldn't always be around, but whenever I was, I would make the most of it, and whenever I wasn't, I could always count on Diana.

"Skyler was the best daughter you could ever ask for, she was beautiful, talented, smart, and confident. She loved music a lot, it was her passion, especially playing the piano. She'd spend hours practicing, locked up in her room. This book here..." I looked down at the blue book in her hands. "It was gifted to her by Trevor so she could write whatever song she composed. To cut the long story short, she had qualified for the finals in a competition, and while on their way, she and my husband died in a car accident." She looked over at me, gauging my reaction. I gave her a sympathetic look and she returned it with a sad smile. She looked away once more, completely zoning out, and I watched as tears freely streamed down her face.