Phantasmagoric

Chapter Four - Piper

I silently walked upstairs. Oh gosh, we're leaving? I couldn't believe it. I wanted to talk to Jimmy. I needed to talk to him. I aimlessly traveled around the house like a lost dog in the rain looking for shelter. I saw him on the couch with headphones and his tablet. As I was walking toward him, I got a text from my best friend, Clara.

"Why aren't you a practice?"

I sent out a quiet scoff. I didn't want to talk to her. But hey, I'm like that sometimes. One minute I'm there and the next minute I'm gone with my phone or some hot guys from the football team. To talk about strategy, duh. I sent a quick reply of, "Sorry, I'm busy. Family stuff." She didn't answer for a while. Maybe she was talking with the other cheerleaders to lift my role as captain. I mean, since we're leaving, it wouldn't really make a difference.

I continued to walk over to Jimmy. I always talked to him when I was down. He wouldn't make sarcastic comments like my sisters, and didn't interrupt me to go grabs some chips like Jason. No, he actually listened and gave me his best advice. I gave him a subtle "Hey," and he lifted his headphones and shut off his tablet.

I didn't know what to say. What could I say? "Hm? What is it?" He asked me. I ran my black-painted nails through my long brown hair.

"Well Jimmy, I don't really know how to put this but-" Just as I was about to break the news to my brother, Whitney and Arabella came through the kitchen door. They tried to give a smile, but it soon faded back into a sad look.

Jason must be down there helping Pepper, and Arabella must have told Whitney, I thought. They both walked over to us. I knew they would be better at breaking the news to him than me. I looked down. "Jimmy," Arabella gave a gentle and calm voice to him. It started to remind me of when I was little and I would fall off my bike, only to scrape my knees. It was Arabella who was the first to rush over to me and use the first-aid kit. She's only a year older than me, but she's as mature as they come.

"Pepper is going through some tough times and we might-" She started crying. Whitney immediately began to rub her back and tell her everything's okay. I felt so useless, so hopeless, I couldn't do anything to cheer her up- not any of them. I've always felt that way. The way Jason was always with his friends, the way Arabella and Whitney connected so well, and Jimmy never thought of me as a role-model. He always went to Arabella or Pepper. He's only twelve, but I bet he could run a country. Some may think of me as one of those popular snooty girls, and never look behind the beauty. I thought I should try my best.

"Yeah, Pepper is pretty rough, and someone... I think, is questioning her custody of us." I looked at Arabella for approval. She slowly nodded.