Taking Chances (Official Second Draft)

Chapter 1

"Naiomie come on you're going to be late for school!" my mother yells from downstairs. I groan and pull the tooth brush out of my mouth.

"I heard you the first three times!" quickly I stick the toothbrush back into my mouth and finish brushing. I then grab my bag then continue to walk down the old wooden stairs of my house. My mother sits in her chair and my father stumbles out of the kitchen clearly still drunk from the night before.

"Well what are you looking at?" he slurs angrily. "Nothing I was just leaving for school." He stares me up and down, my body as still as a statue, I wait patiently until he begins moving away. His deadly look burned into my soul sending chills down my spine.

"Thomas leave her alone." my mother chirps in unexpectedly. His head snaps over to her and then back to me. He slaps me hard across the face, as I tumble to the ground. He walks over to her quickly slapping her as well. I scramble to my feet trying to go to help her, but he shoves my shoulder back and stops me.

"Go to school. Don't make me do something i'll really regret" He spits lighting up a cigarette. My mother is huddled on the couch holding the side of her face. She motions me to go and I look at her softly, then turning around and rushing outside. The cold Canadian air hits my face as I sigh sitting down on the front porch step letting tears escape my body. I take out my phone to see my reflection, as my cheek is stinging and red still. I can hear my mother screaming at him from behind the door.

"You have a problem Thomas! You are not the man I married! And maybe if you didn't drink as much you could see the way you treat us." She screams. "What are you the president of Alcoholics Anonymous?! I'm not the one with the problem here! This is both of your and that shitty daughter of ours fault! I'm sick of both of you!" He yells back. "And don't you dare tell me what to do again. I'm the man of this damn house." I hear her sigh. "What about Lily? Huh? Do you hate her as much as you hate us." I hear a hard shove and something breaking. "Don't you ever talk about her again, or I swear I will beat you to a fucking pulp." I push myself off the ground not being able to hear anymore. Pulling myself close into my coat standing up. I want to get away before I hear what else is going to happen. I set a pace and begin walking to the bus stop, which is several blocks away. Cold days like this is when I wish I owned a car, but sadly a part time job doesn't go very far when i'm trying to pay bills and get groceries for my family. Most of my mother's money goes to my sister Lily's medical bills. My mother works two jobs to support us. Lily has a cancerous brain tumor, and my father is on disability because of his health problems. We all know really its from his excessive drinking problems. This leaves us with little to no money and me without a car. I feel the snow crunching beneath my feet as i'm lost in thought. I begin to focus on the beautiful scenery. Snow glistens off the tree trunks as snowflakes slowly fall onto the small town on Nottawa, Ontario, Canada. I understand why my parents wanted to make a family here. It is truly beautiful. I hear footsteps behind me and I spin around. I see my best friend Matt running up to me. I cheer up immediately as he arrives breathless.

"What are you doing here? Why aren't you driving?" I question him as he puts his arm around me.

"My car is in the shop until after school, I wanted to see If I could cook an egg on the engine this weekend and well let's just say it was a little more than fried." He gestures his hands up with sounds of smoke and explosions and I chuckle at his dorkiness.

"You are the biggest idiot I've ever met, you know that right? You literally fried your car with an egg. Where did you even get that idea?" He rolls his eyes and pulls me into a hug.

"Yes but that's why you love me. Because i'm your stupid idiot." He lets go of me.

"I suppose that could be true."