A Walk in Your Shoes

CHAPTER 1

A soft yellow light illuminates the room, and the click of my bedroom door closing catches my attention.

"Lucille," I moan, still half awake.

She sure knows how to ruin my sleep. It's only a quarter to six in the morning and here she comes traipsing into the room like she owns the place by throwing open the blinds and nudging me awake. I groan and cover my face with the violet down comforter draped over my bed. I don't think I'll ever truly get enough sleep, it's like my brain never shuts off.

"Marnie up and at 'em." Lucille passes by the door giving three quick knocks, then jets off to go make breakfast.

At least there's a highlight to waking up at the crack of dawn. Lucille's cooking has always been spectacular. Her breakfast muffins are to die for. Without her as our Nanny, our house would fall apart. Especially since dad burns practically everything.

I let out a lip curling groan, before finally throwing the comforter off of me.

My closet looks like a tornado passed through it. I step inside and attempt to sort through the disaster, sniffing each outfit to test for its cleanliness. The temperatures this time of year are chilly as we hit the dead of winter. All of my cute clothing gets shoved aside for hot cashmere sweaters, and big puffy jackets.

Thankfully, I can cover my bare arms with my collection of long cardigans courtesy of Marc Jacobs. I yank a dark grey cardigan off the hanger and toss it over my white button down blouse. In the mirror on my closet door I spin to check how my black skinny jeans look from all angles, and pair it off with my favorite worn out black converse sneakers. It's one of the only items I wear to still match me.

"Marnie!" Lucille's voice rages over the intercom that connects to my room.

"Yeah, yeah I'll be right there." I mumble to myself.

She can't hear me because I haven't pressed the button on the intercom to answer back.

Back in the mirror I try to ignore the purple bags under my eyes, and my pale winter skin. Oh, how I miss summer and my perfect tan lines. Memorial day is just over four months away. I can't wait to feel the heat of the sun on my skin again.

I run my hands through my unruly, newly dyed red hair and attempt to create some kind of fashionable look. It turns into a weird half-up half-down thing, with a messy bun. Satisfied, I grab my school bag and head downstairs.

Every morning Lucille makes us breakfast, and it's like one of those brunch buffets with muffins, eggs, bacon, pancakes, fruit. Sometimes she makes french toast too. The smell permeates through the whole house, the blueberry muffins on top of everything else. I'll never get tired of her cooking.

There aren't a lot of us in the house. It's me, dad, Lucille, and my obnoxiously loud brothers, Dom and Derek. Downstairs is quiet, but won't be for long. I can already hear the stampede running down the hallway upstairs.

In the kitchen Lucille is washing dishes and staring out the window at the first sign of the rising sun over the mainland. The food has been set out along the green marble counter in the center of the kitchen.

I don't even have a chance to grab a plate as my brother's come barreling into the kitchen like a herd of wild animals. You would think Dom would be a little more mature by now, he's in his second year of college, but still acts like he's some rowdy teenager. Derek shoves into Dom, as they reach the counter causing him to drop a bunch of bacon on the floor. Lucille stops washing dishes and turns, pulling her jet black wavy hair into a ponytail like she's getting ready for a battle.

Dom grabs a hold of Derek's poofy gelled hair attempting to remove him from the area. Dom yells and shoves hard at Derek. I can't stand to watch anymore, so I turn and grab orange juice from the fridge. With it in hand I reach into the cabinet above the sink that holds the glasses. I start to put the juice down when Dom grabs it from my hand, opens it, and takes a swig from the bottle.

"You guys are such pigs," I groan, watching his scruffy throat bob with every chug of juice.

"Dominic, put the juice down!" Dad's booming voice immediately solves everything, and the two hooligans stop acting crazy.

He walks straight to the keurig machine that Lucille pre-set for him. He's already dressed for the day in his favorite gray suit and purple tie. For him it's just another day in the office as Mayor of Brooke Wood.

He'd only been in office for a year and a half. He's a favorite of the women of this town. He still looks like he's in his twenties, not a speck of grey in his jet black hair or short trimmed beard. Not everyone is a fan, I don't follow local politics, but apparently my dad is all talk and no action.

Dad's eyes never leave Lucille. I'm not imagining it. Her cheeks turn a shade of pink like they are hiding some dirty secret. I keep my eyes on them, ignoring how loud my brother's still are as they argue.

Out of the corner of my eye I catch Dad's hand gently brushing hers. If I wasn't watching I never would have noticed.

I attempt to fill my plate. I'm nauseous as hell thinking about what happened between them. I grab whatever is left. It isn't much. Dom and Derek have pretty much cleared the food. I don't want to sit with them at the table, but I have no choice since the counter is covered in food. Derek's shoveling it all in like he's never eaten a day in his life. Dom is busy with his new Iphone now scrolling through laughing as he eats, spitting food onto the table.

"Still on a diet Marnie?" Dom teases. He's still on his phone, but lifts his eyes to make a comment about my eating.

"Shut up Dom!"

I move my food around the plate suddenly, not hungry at all. I pull my attention from them to Lucille and dad, who stand close together whispering. Dad's a good looking guy, the ladies love him. I've had moms of other students come up to me asking for his number, it's really sad. He hasn't dated since mom left, and that was fourteen years ago. He's been in the public eye since before I can remember. He's always been a huge part of the town's government, like his father, and my great grandfather. Our family is well known here, and like any small town people gossip. My father is not immune to it.

I avert my gaze away from them, as a strip of bacon smacks against my face. Dom hides behind his phone, and Derek snickers next to me.

"You idiots are in for it!"

I pick up my juice, lifting it in my hand. I start to lean over the table ready to pour it on his precious phone when dad's arm appears out of nowhere. I lose my grip on the glass and the juice goes all over dad's sleeve. The noise in the room stops. I'm afraid to look up. In the corner of my eye I catch dad's face redden. His jaw clenches.

"Now I'm going to be late. Can't you three behave for more than two minutes. You act like children." He grumbles, stomping out of the room to get changed.

Lucille is at the table in a heartbeat cleaning up the mess, her eyes occasionally darting towards the entryway my dad left through.

I sigh. "I didn't mean..."

"He knows Marnie, just a little stressed with work," she says.

That doesn't make me feel any better. I scowl at my brothers who are trying to hold in their laughs, but are doing an awful job at it. Pushing my plate away, I stand. Suddenly, I've lost my appetite.

"Derek, let's go. I'm not waiting."

Derek is two years younger than me, and in his sophomore year. I've been driving him to school every morning since I've gotten my license. It was the only way I could get the red Porsche dad promised me when I was sixteen. I'm not a car person, but she's a beauty.

"I'm not done," he tries to say with a mouth full of food.

"Don't care, it's either that or you walk."

It's not impossible, but it would take him at least an hour to get to school by foot. We live in the heights, it's the wealthy part of Brooke wood and on it's own separate little island. It's not big enough to have it's own school, so we are forced to go to the mainland school district.

Derek sighs and grabs an extra two slices of bacon before sliding out of his seat and standing. I don't say a word to Dom who's busy listening to a sports cast on his phone, but I do give a small wave to Lucille as I pass. School is the one place where I feel like I'm in charge, and can hide from my drama filled life at home.