Free Falling

Chapter 1 | Only 279 Days Left

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"Everybody has a chapter
they don't read out loud."
~

The only sound in my bedroom is the annoying ringing of my alarm clock. Unfortunately, that means it's time to get up. I hit the snooze button, sinking back under my warm covers, the silence consuming me once more. However it doesn't last long, the snooze button wearing off and the alarm echoing.

I sigh, but relent, and turn off my alarm, sitting up in my bed and pushing my brunette hair out of my face while I let out a yawn. I sit for a few more minutes, just staring out of my window into the darkness. The moon is still shining bright, as if it was still night time. However, the time tells me otherwise. It's currently 6:00 in the morning, the day still waiting to fully begin.

Today is the first day of my senior year. I'm not particularly excited to go back but I did miss my friends. Most of my best friends are on the football team, with the exception of my two girl best friends, Kara and Sierra.

I get out from underneath the comfortable covers and my feet touch the carpeted floor as I walk to my closet, grabbing a pair or spandex shorts and a t-shirt.

Opening my bedroom door, I trudge over to the bathroom that I share with my two brothers, Jacob and Caleb. Sharing a bathroom with two boys isn't the most ideal, but we have a system. Caleb and Jacob share one side of the sink and I have my own sink. We each have our own separate hampers, but that's just so we don't confuse any clothes when doing our laundry.

As soon as I turn on the lights I shield my eyes, the brightness being way too much this early in the morning. I set my clothes down in the middle of the two sinks, undress and turn on the shower.

When the water reaches the perfect temperature, I take a quick shower making sure to shave my legs. When I finish I step out and wrap a fluffy towel around my body, ringing out my hair before throwing it up into a towel as well.

I walk over to the sink and brush my teeth before I do anything else. Once my breath is as minty as can be, I quickly dry off and get dressed. By now the mirror has defogged and I can actually see myself in the mirror. I take this time to wash my face and do my skincare routine.

When I finish with my face, I apply lotion to my arms and legs and then grab my belongings and head back to my room, hanging the towel on the hook. I walk over to my closet and choose my outfit for the day. 

I make my bed and lay the clothes on it before walking over to my vanity and putting my contacts in before doing my makeup. I finish with that pretty quickly and curl my hair before getting dressed. The smell of waffles catches my attention and before I know it I'm on my way downstairs.

"Good morning dear." My mom says, walking over to the coffee maker and getting herself a cup of coffee.

My parents, Jaden and Sarah Richardson, are the most powerful lawyers in Bear Creek. They met in the same high school that I now attend and hit it off in a debate class. They originally hated each other, being pinned up against each other in a heated debate. Not that it really matters, but my mom won that debate. As most love stories end up, they fell for each other and ended up becoming high school sweethearts. They saw their reflection in each other: opinionated, stubborn and strong headed.

My dad was the top of their class, my mom the second, and together they went to Harvard Law School and both got their degrees to become lawyers. My dad asked my mom to marry him the day after they graduated from Harvard and together they moved back to their hometown, Bear Creek, to give their children a chance at the life they both had growing up.

My oldest brother, Jordan, was born one year after they had married and settled down here, working at the local law firm. It wasn't until my second oldest brother, Trevor, was born a year later that they opened their own firm: Richardson Law. They had major success with this firm and eventually they had buildings in places like New York City and Chicago. They always stayed here in Bear Creek though and throughout the years, plenty of competing law firms sprung up around Bear Creek.