Winter: Gone Wrong [KENDRATELLO]

Ch. 1

Snow pattered lightly against the busses windows, creating a beautiful array of snowflakes. She'd stayed another late night at school, and the exhaustion was tugging on her very bones. She could feel the burnout of many late nights studying wearing her down.

She'd pulled another all-nighter to make up for her declining grades in honor classes whilst juggling her technological heists for the purple dragons.

But by the eye bags and rapidly dropping weight, she knew she wasn't handling it as well as she'd maybe hoped. And certainly more serious than how she was casually playing it off her to her friends. At this hour, most of the people on the bus alongside her were old businessmen finally coming home from working all day. During these rare but appreciated moments, she finally had a chance to think.

Last nights heists were thwarted again by none other than those stupid teenage mutant menaces. She hated them. Sometimes, she thinks she hated them more than anyone she's ever hated before, but that was a lie.

And she knew this as her stop pulled up, and the clear outline of her stepmother stood by the wide open door. Face red and fuming with a well-known wrath, hands crumping a hastily thrown on Parka jacket, and despite the sheer cold, it seemed to do nothing against the boiling rage seething before her. She waited for the bus to leave before approaching, knowing she didn't want anyone to witness what was about to befall. And, sure enough, the moment she stepped out from the busses shelter, her step mom took immediate notice. "KENDRA LEE!" Her stepmother screamed as she continued her own cautious but withdrawn approach towards the door. Hands deep in her purple jackets pocket if only to hide their trembling. Oh great, now what?

She didn't get a chance to retort some snarky remark or even snap a biting comment before her step mom was grabbing her by the wrist and bodily dragging her inside, "Hey! Ow, ow, ow, " her face pinched as she struggled to pull her arm out of the older woman's grip, "let me go!" She screamed in hysterics, but the other didn't let go. Not until Kendra found herself tripping into their houses kitchen, knees roughly scraping against the porcelain tiles, but her concern was more in trying to rub the pain shooting up and down from her left wrist. Stupid imbecilic woman, now it would be harder for her to work on her tech later tonight!

"Do you know what your grades have slipped to?" She swears if she wasn't human, the lady would be frothing at the mouth like a rapid dog. "80, Your social studies have fallen to an 80. Do you have any idea how that will affect your GPA? Your track record? Your honor roll?!"

She rolled her eyes, "so what? Does me not looking perfect fuck up your plans to launder my dads money?" Her step mothers eyes grew fiery with unshed tears, "how dare you say that?! Do you know what I've done for you? For this family?" The only answer she gave back was her own rigid glare. She said her piece, and she knew damn well she meant it.

"I gave up my fucking Hollywood dream for this" she hissed, tears beginning to run down her cheeks, "only to raise such an ungrateful brat I didn't even want!"

That was it, that was her own breaking point. Kendra stood up suddenly, screaming in utter anguish, as a tear of her own rolled down her cheek, "I'M NOT EVEN YOUR DAUGHTER!!!"

SLAP!

She stumbled back from the force before the sting across her cheek finally registered.

There was only a moment of stunned silence before Kendra ran with a distant, "Kendra wait!" She was out the door in moments, used to running from faster things, like those pesky turtles.

"Kendra!" Her step mom cried from the hall as she hastily summoned a drone with the click of an emergency button on her phone, grabbing the leg to carry her off into the air and out of reach from those grabbing but cruel hands.