CHAPTER ONE

It was the middle of April, I woke up at the same time I do everyday; 6:30am. I would mostly hear my siblings running around downstairs in the kitchen while moms telling them to grab a seat and eat their breakfast. But this morning was different, it was quiet. Probably too quiet. I got out of bed and walked slowly down the stairs trying not to make a creak in the steps. I peaked over the corner of our kitchen door, empty seats, no dishes, not even a single bread crumb on the floor. This was odd. Have they not woken up yet? I thought. My heart started to beat, faster by every second. I’ve had this condition since I was three years old. It all happened when I got lost in an amusement park and couldn’t find my mom for hours. I thought I would’ve lost her forever until a young couple found me and contacted my mom. Ever since that day I have had a condition called “separation anxiety”.

I jolted up the stairs. I could care less if the stairs made too many noises. I first checked my siblings room. Nothing. Then I ran to my mothers room. Still Nothing. I began to panic even more, heart beating too fast to the point where I thought I couldn’t breathe. Then finally I heard someone. “God damnit! This dang truck is gonna cost me the rest of my life savings.” It was mom, she was standing under the hood of our 1949 Chevrolet pickup. It was dads truck before he left, my dad didn’t want anything to do with us after he found out my mom was pregnant. He just took off one day without a trace. I ran down the steps to check on mom. “What’s wrong mother?”, is everything okay?” My mom turned, sweeping her golden blonde hair out of the way. I watched it fall back perfectly. She looked at me with a concerned look, “Honey I think the radiator gave out you’ll have to walk yourself and your little sisters to school.”

School was about two miles away, but I didn’t mind the walk. “Would you please go get your sisters, Y’all don’t wanna be late to school now,” mom said as she went back to looking at the truck. “I don’t know where they are.” Mom turned towards the backyard and pointed her finger “They’re in the treehouse that you’re ungrateful father made a long time ago.” Mom wasn’t really a big fan of dad after he left, she didn’t like it whenever we’d bring him up and ask where he was, so after a while we stopped asking. As I walked closer to the tree house I could hear my little sisters laughing and giggling. “Sarah, Lexi! C’mon we gotta get ready for school. Mom said, we have to walk the trucks down.” Sarah peeked down, she looked much like dad with her dark brown wavy hair and freckles, or at least that’s what mom would say. But mom still loved her. “Coming Chloe,” Lexi said, as she peered over not too long after. Lexi looked a lot like mom, her long golden blonde hair, blue eyes, and the most adorable smile. I couldn’t tell who I looked like most because I have both brown wavy hair and blue eyes.

As the girls came in to get ready I made some toast for breakfast. Mom walked in and joined me to make breakfast. As mom was just about finished with breakfast I set up the table. What was wrong with the truck? I asked as I was setting down some forks. “The radiator is down and the starter is out. I would have to call in a tow truck to take it down to the shop.” I knew mom wasn’t too happy because we were short on money, mom’s job wasn’t the very best paying job. Afterwards, Sarah and Lexi came down. We all sat at the table to eat our delicious breakfast. As I was eating I looked at the time and didn’t realize how much time had passed. “Oh shit, we’re late for school” I started to run upstairs to grab my bag. “We do not use those types of words in this goddamn household!” mom yelled from downstairs. “HUH, I WONDER WHERE I GOT IT FROM!” I yelled back from upstairs. I could hear my sisters laughing from downstairs, as I walked down I could feel mom giving me a hard look but I just ignored it.

We started walking down our dirt road and as we were I saw the most handsome boy I have ever seen in my life. It was our new neighbor, I overheard mom talking about it to one of her friends when we were at the marketplace. His name was Richard, he was about my age, maybe a little older. As we walked a little more down I could get a clear view of him. He was tall, maybe about 6ft, had the most dreamy hazel eyes, and a generous smile. “Hello beautiful, how are you doing on this fine morning?” he asked, as he saw me and my sisters walking past. My sisters giggled, “This fine beautiful lady is late for school so if you don’t mind I must be on my way now,” I replied trying not to show how blushy I was. He smiled, “Would you ladies like a ride?” he asked pointing to his car. “No! I mean. . . sorry we would love to but we wouldn’t want to bother you,” I said quickly trying to find a way to get out of there. “Actually, we don’t mind my legs are actually kind of soar,” Sarah exclaimed, as she dramatically rubbed her knees like she had a cramp. I shot her a look, “Fine.”

As we were riding to school my sisters made me sit in the front with Richard. “So how are you liking this part of town?” Lexi asked, leaning over the seat. It’s okay, we moved here after my mom passed away he said with a sad tone. “I’m so sorry to hear that,” I said, feeling horrible, I could see the hurt look in his eyes. At that moment I had the urge to just hug him but I didn’t. Before we knew it we reached school. The bell hasn’t rung yet. As I was just about to get out he opened the door for me. I could feel the butterflies coming back,” Thank you,” I said nervously. “No problem,” he replied with a generous smile. 

Everybody was looking at us as we walked through the school doors. I felt like I was in a fairy tale, but  that moment was ruined when I spotted my worst enemy. Her name was Rachel, the queen bee of the school, also known as my ex-best friend. She walked up to us. “Hey bro, what took you so long? And why are you with this girl?” she said, giving me a stare down. “I’m sorry – Bro?” I asked curiously. “Um yeah this is my brother,” my heart dropped, I wish the ground would have swallowed me right there. “You didn’t tell me you had a brother,” I said, shocked. That’s because he was in boarding school this whole time and my family didn’t talk about him that much, Rachel said in the rudest way. “You two know each other?” Richard asked as he blankly stared at both of us. “Yes, no offense, but your witch sister used to be my best friend until she stabbed me in the back to become Miss Popular.” Annoyed, I started to walk away but felt someone grab my hand, it was Richard. He looked at me curiously, “Meet me by the lake after school,” I stared at him quietly. “Okay. . .” He walked away with Rachel, meeting up with his friends. I could feel Rachel eyeing me out as I continued to walk to class.

 I don’t usually go to class before the bell but I was too shocked to stay in that hallway. As the bell rang Rachel walked into the class with the most evil grin. I didn’t wanna know what she was planning so I just ignored it. Just then the teacher walked in and told us to take out our textbooks. Later in class I looked over and noticed that Rachel was gone from her seat, which made me anxious. I asked the teacher if I could go to the bathroom. On my way to the bathroom I saw Richard talking to one of the teachers, he didn’t look too happy. I didn’t want him to think I was stalking him so I went to the bathroom on the other side of the hallway. As I entered the bathroom Rachel was there standing next to the sink with a smile on her face, as if she planned the whole thing out. “What do you want, Rachel?” I said, annoyed. “I want you to stay away from my brother,” she replied as the grin disappeared from her face. “I’m sorry but the last time I checked you weren’t my mom,” I added feeling proud of myself. “Ugh whatever,” she said as she walked out angrily. I walked back into the classroom and sat back down on my seat when the teacher said, “Okay class, now please do page 132 to137.” 

After the bell rang, I ran down the hall to pick up my little sisters. “Chloe, is Richard your boyfriend now?” Sarah asked, pouting her lips at me. “No, nonsense! We just met,” I replied. Now c’mon mother must be waiting, I said walking on without them. As we got home mom was at the table drinking her afternoon coffee. As the girls went upstairs I took the chance to ask mom, “Is it okay if I go meet my friend at the lake?” What friend? she asked curiously. “The boy down the street his name is Richard” –  mom’s face changed. “No, I will not allow you to hangout with that boy,” she said angrily. “But he’s my friend!”

 “Don’t raise your voice at me young lady, I say no and it must go that way”. Why do you always have to ruin the chances of me having a boy as a friend!? I yelled back angrily as my eyes started to tear up. “Just because dad left you doesn’t mean you have to take it out on me!” I yelled without thinking. I stopped really quickly, realizing what I had just said. I could see the hurt in moms eyes. “Mom . . . I’m sorry you know I didn’t mean that,” she looked at me with rage “No! You wanna go hangout with him, FINE, but don’t come crying to me when that boy ends up breaking your heart!” I turned away feeling guilty for what I had just said. I stayed home for the rest of the day, I would just have to tell Richard that something came up and I couldn’t make it.  I stared at the ceiling. I felt guilt, anger, and most of all hurt. 

CHAPTER TWO

I woke up the next morning with tears still in my eyes. How could I have done that to mom, I thought. Mom and I have never been into a fight like that before. It was new, a bad kind of new. I got out of bed still thinking to myself when I suddenly heard a knock at my room door. “Hey honey it’s me..” mom said, with a sad tone. She opened my door slowly, “I know I’ve been a little too harsh with you lately” I stopped her “no mom it was my fault, I shouldn’t have said all of those mean things to you about dad” I could feel the guilt coming back, it was eating me from the inside. Like a worm that has just bitten through an apple. I could feel tears forming, I ran to her and gave her a hug. I could tell she was crying all night too, from the way her eyes were puffy and I could see them coming back. We stood there for what seemed like a lifetime, when suddenly “Hey are we going to school or not?” I turned around to find Lexi in her school clothes, her oversized backpack that was double the size of her. “Lexi, we don’t have school today, it’s Saturday,” I said, with a funny look. She paused. “Are you telling me that I got up early and got ready for nothing!” she yelled as she stormed off down the hall into her room. Me and mom looked at each other, and we just laughed. “I love you mom” we both looked at each other with smiles, tears still in our eyes. I’m really glad mom and I made up, I never wanna fight like that again with her. Now I just need to figure out a way to come up with an excuse to Richard that I couldn’t make it.