Beyond The Broken Glass [Complete]

1. Ripping holes where they shouldn't be

   I stood outside the building watching all of the kids spill out as they departed from the hell-hole that adults called high school. Their faces passed in a blur of browns and dark browns and pale white. Her school was well diverse. Even more diverse than mine. I squinted against the sun and looked around until I saw beige colored face. The skinniest but the tallest freshman girl. She looked so unsure of herself as she shyly waved to a group of girls who spoke to her in passing.

   When her eyes landed on me a small smile spread across her face and she crossed the grass to get to me. This was tedious work. Dropping her off and picking her up every day from a different school. But with my parents' work schedule it wouldn't be possible for them to get her. So I stepped up.

"Hey." I smiled as I looped arms with her and headed for the bus shelter where all of the other delinquents were. It was so hot and I felt like I was in rival territory. The girls stared us down, and the boys fooled around. I felt like I didn't belong, even though I'm probably the same age if not older than these kids. I'll be glad when I can afford my first car. Chicago public transportation has never been my favorite.

"Daddy said he wanted to take us to visit Gran." She said out of nowhere as she sat next to me on the bus. It had been years since we had been to visit. I somewhat forgot what her face looked like, but her voice was still familiar with the two-hour-long phone calls. "He wants it to be a family trip. Me, you, him, and mommy."

 I figured how [not] fun that would be. But I didn't have time to contemplate those scenarios seeing as it was strange that one car would be in the driveway at this time. It was even stranger that both cars would be in the driveway at this time of day.

"Hey." Our mother smiled as we came in. Kyra and I shared a quick glance before we shrugged. "How was school?"

"Why don't you girls come and sit down." Our father butted in before we could answer her question.

We slowly approached the couch and dropped our book bags at our feet. He looked at her and she looked at her left hand as she toyed with her wedding ring.

"Your mother and I agreed that it was time for a family meeting. We love you both and wanted you girls to know that this has nothing to do with you. You two are perfect."

   I watched their lips move but their words were inaudible. It was weird, it was like sitting in front of two complete strangers. Like we didn't even know each other. They've been married for the last Fifteen years and they are sitting here awkwardly in their own home. I didn't think this was how my Friday would go.

I went to school and expected to come home to a regular rest of the day, but here they are telling us how sorry they were and how much they loved us and how nothing would change. 

"We tried to make it work for you two. I swear we did." She spoke with a shaky voice. Her makeup was washed away by the waterfalls pouring from her eyes.