Against All Odds

Chapter 1 • Reese

"Reese! This house is a mess!"

I stomped down stairs and looked at the mess I had made from the party I had a few nights ago. Yes. A few nights ago. I am not very good with cleaning up okay? There were red solo cups laying around everywhere. Pizza boxes sitting on the counter- not to mention with no more pizza in it. And for some reason there were multiple socks laying around. And a shoe. One lonely shoe.

"Thanks Dad. You come home from a 30 day business trip and that's how you greet me?" My hands went to my hips and I raised my eyebrows. If you're asking OMG your dad was on a 30 day business trip? Then the answer to that is- yes. 32 days actually. I know. It sucks. He goes on a business trip every few weeks and when he doesn't he still has work twelve hours a day. And my parents got divorced ten years ago so I'm home all alone- except for our maid occasionally but normally I let her off cause I feel bad.

"Sorry sweetie," he went in to hug me and I rolled my eyes, "I missed you. Why didn't Janice clean this up?"

"Because. I felt bad. Just because she's a maid doesn't mean she should be cleaning up all of our messes," or does it... Oh well.

He rolled his eyes and we laughed. It was so nice having him home. Honestly. Everyone says "omg you're so lucky! Your house is so huge and your dad doesn't care what you do!" But it's not fun. I love my dad and when ever he leaves it's like a piece of my heart leaves too. And when ever I'm home alone I feel like there is someone else who's supposed to be there. Of course I'm rarely home alone though because my best friend Brooke is always- always there too.

I guess having a huge house on the beach in Los Angeles is not bad- but when you have no one to share it with 90% of the time- it's pretty bad. Which is the reason I invite Brooke over- and Sloane too. She's also one of my best friends. But when they're not here it's like there should be something going on in this huge house. Which is why I threw a party. Well- I also threw a party because Sloane and Brooke forced me to. But I convinced myself to believe that was the reason.

"Okay well let's call Janice and tell her to clean it up," my dad said as he bent down to pick up a cup. I nodded and pulled my cell phone out of my pocket. I have to say though- Janice is also one of my really good friends. She might be twenty years older than me but she is awesome and also hilarious.

"Janice! Hey girl! Uh listen. You're back on the hook. My dad got home and now he wants you to clean up the trash from the party I threw," I said into the phone as I walked around the house and dropped down onto the gleaming white couch.

"You had a party? And didn't invite me? What makes you think I will clean up that mess then?!" She yelled into the phone, kidding me obviously. I smiled and shook my head.

"Well I'm sorry. I didn't think you would want to be in a house at 11:00 at night with tons of teenagers. If I did I would have invited you," I joked back, looking over at my dad as he glanced at me and smiled.

"Good. You should be sorry," she paused for a second and I looked around the messy house, "I'll be right over. John can watch the kids."

Janice has three kids- triplets actually. They're adorable and they're also all 4. Obviously. Her husband is John and literally he is the coolest guy I've ever met. He works for Google and I swear if he didn't bring me any Google pens I'd have none because that's the only writing utensil I use. I laughed into the phone and nodded, pressing the end button at the same time because there was nothing else for us to say. We were like that. Short and to the point. She was awesome though and I loved her- she was always a shoulder to cry on when ever I missed my dad.

A few minutes later there was a knock at the door. I galloped over to see who it was- expecting it to be Janice. I turned the door knob to reveal who I was expecting- our amazing awesome maid who I love to death.

"Hey Jan!" I squealed, hugging her violently. I guess you could say I missed her because the last time I saw her was like two weeks ago.

"What's up Reese! How ya been?" She replied, extremely happy until she looked at the place I had destroyed. "Oh my god what did you do? You really hate me don't you."

I giggled and looked around. I turned back around to face her and shrugged. "Ehh I'm not very good with parties. Especially when they're at my house. Brooke and Sloane forced me to have one because they wanted me to have some 'fun'. Of course we both know this isn't fun to me. Fun for me is reading books silently in my room while listening to Taylor Swift and you know- country music."

"Okay well let's get started. If we're going to clean this pig sty up we might as well begin now!"

I nodded along and we went through the whole house and started to pick up all the trash the idiots left behind. Do people have any kind of respect these days? I mean come on. "Oh let's throw these cups on the ground because this isn't my place and we don't have to clean it up!" Is that really what's going on in their heads? Plus how could someone lose a shoe? Considering that it's a leopard print high heel I'm going to consider that it's Ella McBlarin's- the schools Barbie doll.

I sighed, picking up another cup and throwing it into the almost full trash bag I was holding with my other hand. Why do I feel like there's something missing in my life? My dads back. I've gotten used to my mom not being here. I am extremely thankful Brooke and Sloane are gone- not that I hate them they just annoy me. But still, I am sad. Depressed. Something is wrong.

I looked out the window only to find what I had hoped I didn't. The Palm trees are saggy. The sand in the back is not as white as it should be. The sun is not as bright as it should be. The grass in the front is a darker green. Maybe it's just me but everything just seems weird. And unusual.

I just shrugged it off and continued to pick up trash. Yay. Trash.

~

Chapter 1 is done! (Hehe that rhymed)

Thanks so much for reading guys! Hopefully you enjoyed!

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Okay bye!

<3 Josie