As Amara and Micheala steadily speed walked toward Riverside Park in NYC, a giant truck lunged for them, roaring to the side and just barely missing them. Alarmed by what just happened, Amara took Micheala’s hand and started sprinting towards the park, shaking off all of her nerves. 

“Maybe we should just turn back?” Micheala suggested. 

“We need to get there in time! I want to get a good spot in the front and actually make a difference this time,” Amara pleaded. 

“Ok, but you have to promise you’ll be safe this time. There will be no one to protect us now,” Micheala begged. 

“I will, I promise.” 

Amara pulled her close and squeezed Micheala against her chest. She led Micheala towards the park, and took a deep breath. In and out. In and out, Amara reminded herself. As they got to the park, hundreds of people were rounded up towards a giant hill, with an energetic African American woman at the top. Trying to jump up to see the woman on the hill, Amara accidently pushed an elderly woman.

“Ooh, careful honey!” the woman exclaimed. 

“Oh my god, I am so sorry. Are you ok?” asked Amara. 

“Yes, perfectly fine dear! Just make sure you are safe during the rally. This is a Black Lives Matter rally, you never know what could happen!” the woman squealed. 

Amara and Micheala rushed to the top of the hill, trying to get a piece of the action. “Oh, the rally is about to start, let’s try to get to the front!” Amara shrieked. 

“Stop moving now! This road is blocked off to all you people. You trash don’t belong here!” screamed a policeman. As people shifted out of the way, Amara got a glimpse of 10 officers along the road, nodding their heads in agreement to the lead officer. Stunned, Amara scurried to the front, ready to break the rules. 

“Amara, what are you doing?” Micheala questioned. “I’m about to put that man in his place!” she smirked.

 Amara shoved her way through the crowd to the front to stand beside the leader of the organization. “How could that police officer speak to us that way? Who does he think he is?” Amara asked the woman. “That’s how others treat those who they think are below them. They don’t realize we are equal in so many ways.” The woman replied. “He is about to get what he deserves,” Amara whispered under her breath.

“Who do you think you’re calling trash? We are all equal, and you have no right. You should be ashamed of yourself!” Amara shouted. She looked behind her, scanning for Micheala. After taking a few steps back, Amara discovered she was nowhere to be found. “Oh no, what have I done?” Amara groaned. 

“Hey you! You are being arrested for verbal assault. You idiots think you have a chance against us? No wonder you are all dumb!” the lead police officer chuckled. As he pointed towards Amara, three police officers knocked the crowd aside to handcuff her. While the police officers thrusted her toward the head officer, he smiled and threw her into the back of the car. Amara glanced at the rest of the group as the car drove off into the highway. Big drops of liquid trickled down her face, and she shut her eyes before the noise clouded her head.

Amara woke to a large crash of a huge, metal door that was guarding her way out. Outside, police officers chit-chatted, with their freshly bought coffee from the cafe next door. As Amara glanced outside the window to her left, a bubble-gum colored sunset gleamed brightly in her face. 

Suddenly, Amara’s eyes shut and a vision of her sister being swept away with the crowd filled her mind. Micheala ran in the direction of the crowd, looking side to side. Amara opened her eyes, and tears clouded her eyelids. She couldn’t believe what she’d seen and what ifs began popping in her mind. Amara knew she had to get out of here, but there was no way. Micheala still needed supervision, and they were on their own. Amara clenched her firsts and they began turning a reddish-brown. Sweat clamped her hands together, and she fell onto her knees.

“Let me through, now!” a booming voice erupted from down the hall. Amara listened as a pair of heels clinked through the hall, reverberating across the walls. She watched in awe as the elderly woman from the rally paid the bail money. Micheala, who was clenching the woman’s hand, smiled at Amara. 

“What? How? Who?” Amara exploded with questions, as a police officer escorted her out. The man at the desk returned her belongings, and Amara gave him a frown. 

“Where is my bracelet? I need it, it’s the most important thing!” she exclaimed with frustration. 

“Must’ve gotten lost, sorry,” the man shrugged her off and went back to his computer. Anger filled her head, and Amara felt like she was going to burst. A cold shiver echoed through her body, and goosebumps formed on her arms. How could they lose the only thing she had left of her mother? How come everything was falling apart? Amara couldn’t help but question herself with things she knew she couldn’t control. Just gotta keep moving forward, Amara thought to herself.

Out of the blue, Micheala sprinted towards Amara and knocked her down with a hug. Amara’s feet dropped from under her, and a thump on the floor supported that. Micheala squeezed so hard, it felt like magic had flown off her fingertips into an inseparable bond between Amara and Micheala. Amara gently crawled under Micheala’s arms and out of the hug. She was never a big fan of hugs, but since she had left Micheala, Amara decided it was okay. 

“Hi, dear Amara. My name is Harriet, and since I met you I knew it was my duty to protect you. Especially after your sweet little sister approached me!” Harriet smiled. Her eyes twinkled with delight, and Amara knew that this woman would be the solution to all her problems. Amara knew that she could answer all her questions, and this woman seemed like the most caring, loving, and respectful person ever.

Harriet led Micheala and Amara outside to her convertible. As they got in the car, a gentle sound played from Micheala’s pocket. She took out her phone, and her eyes widened. 

“Oh my god! Um, Amara you might want to look at this,” Micheala whimpered. 

A video outlined in a snapchat filter appeared, Amara in the center. It was a replay of Amara talking back to the police, except this time she punched him. The police officer fell to the ground, and hit his head on the curb. Others surrounded him, checking his pulse. Looking around, Amara sprinted to the left, grabbed Micheala’s hand, and ran away. 

“How? What? Who?” Amara couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Someone had posted a fake video of her, that now had over 1 million views. 

There were now thousands of comments with words like “OMG”, “What the heck?”, “Wow, what a criminal”. Amara wanted to disappear. She felt so visible and had a feeling something even more terrible was going to happen. Micheala also wanted to delete the video and forget about it, but this was a big deal. Amara was going viral and it was an unfortunate way. The one time she went to something important, and used her voice, bad things happened. Darkness filled Amara’s mind, and a replay of the scene lingered in her head.

Perplexed by everything, Harriet drove off with the girls to Manhattan. When they reached her house, it was gigantic with blue stripes on the left side. The handle was pure gold with a tiger door knocker. A giant fountain stole the center of the driveway, and the stone work was impeccable. Azaleas, chrysanthemums, and daffodils lined the ground next to the porch. It was the most beautiful place Micheala and Amara had ever been.

Amara sulked as little beeps kept popping out of Micheala’s phone. She silently looked and returned it to her pocket. The three of them walked up the stairs and in through the front door. A puppy trotted towards Harriet and avoided Micheala and Amara. 

“She doesn’t really like new people. I don’t know why. She just always avoids them!” Harriet said. 

“I think I’m going to take a quick walk outside. I just need to clear my mind really quick,” Amara stated. Harriet nodded, but she wasn’t going to let anyone stop her. Right now, all Amara needed was to think alone. Alone time, she thought, Yes. That will solve my problems. 

As Amara skipped down the front steps, she recapped all that had happened in the past few days. Leaving her apartment. Walking to the rally. Getting arrested. Being saved by Harriet. She couldn’t believe that this had started by leaving the apartment that was her parents’ dying wish. 

“Aah!” Amara screamed as she tripped on a rock. Amara slammed down hard, right on the back of her head. Reaching for the bump on her head, a shadow appeared behind her. Amara’s vision was blurry, but she could make out a tall man. The figure pointed something at her and a deafening sound boomed.

Back at the house, Micheala and Harriet were worried about Amara's disappearance for it had been an hour since she left. As they exited the house and walked down the steps Micheala shrieked and fell to the ground, bawling her eyes out. Harriet tried to keep it inside, but she couldn’t believe what had happened to this poor teenage girl. Amara’s body lay limp on the ground in a puddle of blood.

Harriet rushed back inside and called the cops, as well as an ambulance. She knew there was nothing it could do, but the cops needed to solve the mystery. They needed to figure out who did this. Harriet and Micheala already knew why.

“While the police are investigating, we need to plan a funeral. This is my only way to make it up to my sister,” Micheala sobbed.

 “Absolutely, we also should plan something in remembrance of her. Like a peace rally, or a party,” Harriet squeezed Micheala tight in her arms. 

“I promise to protect you forever,” Harriet smiled gently at her.

“I know you will, but we’ve got a funeral to plan,” Micheala uttered.

She spent hours writing the best speech she had ever written. This wouldn’t be perfect, but it needed to be as close to flawless as possible. The funeral would need to be a day remembered in history. To honor not only Amara, but everyone that had died by police brutality, racism, and abuse. Micheala was young, but she was certainly not dumb.

At the funeral, Micheala read her very own speech in remembrance of Amara. Almost everyone cried, including herself. When she stepped down from the stand, she placed a set of daffodils, took one last look at the coffin and stepped away. Micheala knew that Amara would forever be in her heart, but she didn’t know how she would manage without Amara. Amara had been her whole life, and now what was she going to do? Micheala knew her future passion was right in front of her, but she couldn’t figure out what. 

“I do have one more surprise for you! Please don’t be mad, but it seemed like the right thing to do,” Harriet smiled halfly. 

The car reached a big, green field and they got out. Hundreds of people filled the space with signs, lights, and shouts. Micheala glanced at the signs and read “Black Lives Matter”, “RIP Amara”, “She Matters”. Micheala grinned to herself, and joined along with the crowd. 

As the group walked along the road towards the place where Amara was arrested, they chanted “Black Lives Matter and so does Amara!”. At a fast pace, the protesters reached the police station with the police officer that arrested Amara. The crowd also walked towards the Riverside Park, in remembrance of the original rally Amara had gone to. 

Suddenly, Micheala knew exactly what had been right in front of her. Amara had made an influence on her, and Micheala knew precisely what she was going to do. An organization, “She Matters”, was the passion that was meant for her. 

The group’s chants faded into the distance. Cars honked and swished past her. The sound of the city, the sound of danger. Micheala knew that whoever murdered Amara assumed she was going to come after them, and they were right. Not by a killing mindset, but by the strength of her voice and the power of her heart.