The Pill

Chapter 1: Ava

I wake up to the sound of my two younger siblings arguing over a toothbrush.

"This one is mine!" Ince shouts.

"No, this one is yours!" Rachel shouts back.

I slowly roll out of bed and check the clock on the wall. 5:50. I could've slept for another 10 minutes. I get up and close my door to get dressed. My mother probably woke my siblings up before she left for work and expected me to get up on my own. Figures.

"No, because you used that toothbrush yesterday!"

"Nuh uh"

"Yea huh"

I roll my eyes as I finish getting dressed. Both Ince and Rachel argue over their toothbrushes almost every morning. That's because one of the toothbrushes is about 6 months newer than the other. Both of them always want the newest toothbrush, even though both of them are in bad condition. The problem is that even with our mother working 2 jobs, we cannot afford to buy new ones. All of the money goes to putting food on the table and sometimes there isn't even enough for that.

"Ava," Ince whines as he comes into my room, "Rachel won't let me have my toothbrush"

"Well you had the good toothbrush yesterday, so let her have that one today," I say.

Ince groans as Rachel begins brushing her teeth with the newer toothbrush. Sometimes I think it would be better if Rachel and I shared a bathroom instead of her and Ince. There would be less arguments, and as an added bonus, I wouldn't have to share a bathroom with my mother. My mother is always a mess because she is always in so much of a hurry to clean anything up, and this especially shows in her bathroom. What little hair supplies we have, she leaves out on the counter. Today, her hairbrush is on the floor and her curler is lying on the counter. I pick up the hair brush and put it away along with the curler in the cabinet behind the mirror. After I close the cabinet I take a moment to look myself over in the mirror.

I am surprised by my reflection almost every time I see myself. Even with my messy hair, I cannot believe how similar I look to my mother. My hazel eyes, rounded jaw line, small chin. The only noticeable difference between me and my mother is my bright golden hair which my siblings and I inherited from our father. It's a striking contrast from our mother's hair which is a dark shade of brown.

As I brush my hair, I ponder about my father. I wonder what he is doing right now, or if he is even alive. He left our family long ago when my mother was still pregnant with Ince. From what I remember, he never had any good qualities, save for his luscious golden hair and the fact that he was Highborn.

"Ava!" Rachel shouts from the kitchen, breaking my train of thought, "Hurry up before you make us late!"

Sighing, I quickly brush my teeth and join my siblings for breakfast. On today's menu: dry cereal. Quite simply, we couldn't afford milk to go with it. I shouldn't complain though, there are some people out there that cannot afford anything for breakfast. After we finish our dry cereal, we all grab our books and wait at the bus stop. The good part about riding the bus is that it is one of the only places where there are no Highborn kids since they all drive in cars. All of us Low kids don't have that option since none of us can afford cars. I used to wonder why they even let us Lows go to school with the Highborns, but my mother said it was some law that was in place that the Highborns had yet to destroy. My mother also told me that in the past, there was never a divide between the Highborn and the Low, and that there used to be just rich people and poor people and there was everyone in between. She said that this land used to be free and that everyone was equal, but something changed that. Granted, I don't know if that is true or if it was just something my father told her.