Inner Beauty (ON HOLD)

Chapter 1: Intro

"Love me for who I am, not for who you want me to be."

Chapter 1: Intro

First day of college. Wow, time really did fly by. It's like just yesterday I was sweating over my first day of high school and now those four years of my life are over. Let me just say they weren't the best years of my life. I went throught way too much but not in school; at home. But, I'd rather not go back there right now.

Anyways, let me introduce my family. My father, Mark Miles, is, well, was a successful software engineer in a really big company a few years ago but unfortunately his company laid him off and after being unemployed for quite some time, he got a low paying job at a small company an hour away . My mother, Samantha, with only a high school diploma, is working her butt off as a cashier at a small food market around the corner from our house. And my younger brother, Brandon, is starting 7th grade at Enderson Junior High. As for me, I make money by babysitting on weekends and tutoring middle school kids on weekday evenings at the library. I don't make a whole lot of cash but, hey, it's enough for now. Today's my first day at Cyanne University, which is a couple minutes away from my house. Luckily I had recieved a full scholarship there with my all my volunteer work and straight A's in AP and honors classes. There was no way I could have afforded going there without this scholarship so i'm highly thankful for it. My father had decided not to send me to college at first. He told me I could find a job with my high school diploma and not have to worry about loans and all. Wow, Dad, thanks for the support. But my mother, on the other hand, opposed his decison and had promised to help me pay for college tuiton even if she'd have to work two jobs. She cares about my future and dosen't want me ending up like her standing for hours ringing a thousand items each day and putting up with angry customers not finding what they're looking for.

You see, after losing his high paid job, my father has gotten very greedy when it comes to money. When going shopping, he makes sure we buy the cheapest brands of food and clothes. He even sold our second car for cash and cut off our cable and daily spendings. He was even on the verge of taking mine and Brandon's cellphones away but I agreed on paying for my own bill and Mom agreed to pay for Brandon's. He was taking away our whole life but my mother never lets us feel like we have no money. She always buys us whatever we want, not caring about how expensive it was even though she makes less than half of what my father makes. Dad always yell at her for it and gives her the whole "money dosen't grow on trees" lecture but she never cares. She told Brandon and I that our happiness comes before anyone's and that is why our mother is our true hero.

Anyways, after telling my father about my scholarship, my father almost jumped out of his seat and happily agreed to help me pay for my books and other small expenses. I bluntly told him that I could manage it on my own though with some extra babysitting and tutoring. I wasn't going to tell him that mom already agreed to help me pay for al that. He didn't seem to feel bad for me though, all he said was that I am going to be 19 soon and I should be able to pay for my own expenses. Then he started another lecture on how hard he works and that he dosen't make enough money to support all four of us. I just walked out of the room without another word; I was not going to waste another hour of my life listening to him moan about how dreadful his life is. He dosen't seem to care about our lives at all; it's just always about HIM.