Covered In Ink

Chapter 2|Are you bipolar?

"Whenever the assholes in charge decide we need a break from this shitty desert," he said bitterly.

"What are you actually doing over there?" I asked curiously.

"C'mon H, you know I can't tell you that."

"It was worth a shot right?"

"If you say so," he chuckled.

"Yo lover boy, hurry up with the phone would ya?" A muffled voice said in the background.

"I'm talking to my sister, asshole," Caleb growled.

"Oh...is she hot?"

"Fuck off Peterson," Caleb snapped.

You could say Caleb was a tad overprotective.

"Sorry H, that guy is a butthead," he said, returning to the conversation.

"Clearly," I chuckled.

He sighed. "I should go."

"Yeah.."

"Look after mom for me, yeah?"

"Okay."

"I love you, H," he said softly.

"Love you too," I replied.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be home before you know it," he said, before disconnecting the call.

"How can I not worry?" I wondered aloud.

That was depressing and I still didn't have my sketchbook.

I sighed and peered out the window. True to what Tara had said, there was a window directly across from mine. The room looked like any typical teenage boys bedroom; unmade bed, cluttered shelves, clothes scattered all over the place. I frowned, how had I not noticed that before?

I looked at my own room and wondered if my previous statement had been sexist because my room was in a very similar state.

I shrugged, giving my backpack a kick for good measure, before heading downstairs.

I strolled into the living room where the remaining three members of my family were chatting animatedly about the health benefits of eating vegetables daily.

None if you ask me.

I threw myself into an armchair and waited for them to acknowledge my presence.

"Hey kiddo," dad said.

"Hey dad," I replied with a lazy smile.

"How was school?" He asked, turning away from my mom and sister who had now moved on to the subject of civil rights.

Of all things, why civil rights?

"Just the usual," I replied, shrugging my shoulders.

"C'mon Hazel, give me something interesting."

"Well, I recently realised that the Smiths don't live next door anymore."

"What?" He asked, surprised at my discovery. "They don't?"

"Nope apparently they moved out two years ago," I clarified.

"Huh, I never noticed."

Well that explains a lot

It's funny how life works. I was only biologically related to two of the people living in that house, yet the one I wasn't related to paid me more attention than the other two combined.

My mom had major mood swings. One minute she treated me like I was I was the magical fairy queen and she was a peasant, and the next she could barely look at me. I had a fair idea why she was like this, but she could at least learn to control herself.