𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐂𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐆𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐀𝐋𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐘.
𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐀 𝐍𝐔𝐂𝐋𝐄𝐔𝐑 𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐘.
𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐔𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐈𝐕𝐘 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐆𝐔𝐄𝐒, 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐎𝐑 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑.
𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐖𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐒𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐍 𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐔𝐏 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐇𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐎 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐆𝐎?
When my brother was eight our parents sent him away. He ended up moving to Southside Chicago. Although my parents cut contact they still let me see him.
I was five when he moved out originally. He had moved in with our aunt after getting into a fight at school. I remember going to Jackie's house one day and I saw a boy with dirty blonde hair sitting on the sidewalk trying to fix his bike. The ground was covered in snow and he didn't own a pair of gloves.
Jackie had gotten me a bike for my birthday. It stayed at at his house so I wouldn't get in trouble with my parents if I got hurt while riding it. I begged my brother to let me give my bike to the boy, but he finally caved in after I pulled out my fake crying skills.
That boy turned out to be Lip Gallagher. He was my best friend, but after I moved in with Jackie we've been attached to the hips. Or at least that's what Fiona says.
My parents tried sending me off to live with my other older brother and his family, but Jackie quickly got custody over me and has been my legal guardian for three years. Why you may ask did my parents want to send me away?
When I was thirteen my parents thought I was acting different. They took me to a therapist and I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, anxiety, and adhd. Some how my mother hadn't told my father that mental health issues run in her family.
My aunt was a therapist, but Jackie had his own struggles with depression. He said he would be able to help me. And that's one of the reasons that I'm now running down the Gallagher's stairs.
"Who took the hair gel!" Fiona shouts after seeing my frizzy curls.
Carl throws her a bottle of gel and she pulls me over to the kitchen sink. She turns the faucet on and sticks my head underneath it to soak my hair. She quickly scrunches the water out of my hair with a t-shirt that she found on the counter and then puts a handful of gel in my hair.
"Don't get me wrong. Reese I think you're amazing, but when are you going home?" Carl asks as Fiona takes his stained shirt off and flips it inside out.
"Come on! She got her last night." Lip argues with his little brother.
"Is Jackie having an episode again?" Ian asks curiously and hands Debby a piece of paper, "I have a field trip. I need Dad's signature."
Debby grabs a pen and signs Frank name on the paper. I had watched her write a million times before, but this time it looked real. She hands it back to her brother and I say, "It almost looks like the real thing!"
She gives me a smile and I put a twenty dollar bill into a box that Ian passed to me. Fiona crosses her arms and says, "You're our guest. You don't need to pay!"
"Yeah. A guest that lives here." Carl scoffs and says, "She's here more than Dad is."
I grab my tumbler and fill it with the cup of coffee that Fiona had made for me and say, "Well I'm glad to see you."
I hand Liam to Fiona and grab my backpack. Lip gets up with a bagel still in his hand and follows me to the door.
"You're going without us?" He asks confused, but jokingly.
I point out the door and say, "I'll meet you at the stop sign. I have to take my meds."
The Gallaghers were aware of my mental health. Fiona made me take my meds even when I didn't want to and Lip was always making sure I had them with me. I wasn't going to tell them that I hadn't been taking them though.
𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐋 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀𝐋𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐌𝐄.
𝐋𝐈𝐏 𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐓𝐔𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐏𝐄𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐄,
𝐅𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀 𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊,
𝐃𝐄𝐁𝐁𝐘 𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐓,
𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐋 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐔𝐒𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐈𝐍 𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍.
𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐋𝐄𝐅𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐒𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑.
𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐔𝐒𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐊 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐏𝐈𝐃 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐒𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐎𝐁𝐒𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊. 𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐁𝐎𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐒𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 "𝐎𝐁𝐒𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐃" 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇.
𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐆𝐎𝐓 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐏, 𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐒𝐄, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐓𝐎𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐘𝐒' 𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐌. 𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐒𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐆𝐎 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄, 𝐁𝐔𝐓 𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐒𝐋𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑.
"I know Ian can pull." I joke as Lip lights a cigarette and hands it to his younger brother.
"Not really." Ian says, "I've gotten two nock jobs though."
"You didn't come rushing to tell me!" Lip says.
"Why would he?" I ask.
"Because they were two guys!" Lip jokes. I elbow him in the side as I watch Ian's smile fade, but small laughter erupts from his mouth as Lip folds over in pain.
I hear Fiona's heels click on the floor and a new voice coming from downstairs. I quickly get up to follow Ian and Lip downstairs, but pull the ginger boy back as Lip rushes down.
"Ian?" I ask quietly.
"Yeah?"
"I haven't taken my meds all week." I say and Lip turns back to get us, "Don't tell Lip."
"I won't." He promises and I run to catch up to my best friend.
I follow him down the stairs and into the living room where Fiona, V, and brunette man is sitting. Debby is sitting on the couch while coloring in a book and Carl is on the floor. Lip and I sit next to each other in the second couch and Ian sits on the stairs.
"How many of you live here?" The man asks confused.
"Not me." V says, "I live next door."
"Re lives here part time." Lip says.
"Half siblings?" He asks.
"She's Lip's best friend." Fiona explains, "Lives on the other side of us."
"Family problems." I quickly say before he can ask anymore questions.
We all introduce ourselves and I soon find out that his name is Steve. He had beaten up a bouncer and tried to get Fiona's purse back, but Carl kept making fun of him for falling.
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐋𝐈𝐏 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐃 𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐒𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐘 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐋 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐇𝐈𝐌. 𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐆𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐍 𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐓𝐇 𝐏𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐂𝐊 𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐀𝐒 𝐊𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐍 𝐉𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐒𝐎𝐍.
Ian recites the Periodic Table as I hold in my laugh. Lip stares at me with an odd expression on his face. It looks like he doesn't know whether to be serious or laugh.
I hear footsteps coming from the stairs and I kick my foot against Karen's leg. She doesn't emerge from underneath the table as her father walks into the kitchen and Ian gives me a scared look.
An apple falls from Mr. Jackson's hand and starts to roll near the table.
He approaches the table and I kick her one more time before he notices her "hiding".
"What's my Karen doing hiding?" He asks and gives me a smile.
I shrug and say, "Science can be scary!". Lip gives me a "good effort" smile. Mr. Jackson lifts the table cloth as Karen gives her father a smile and she wipes her mouth.
The older man lets out a yell and Ian jumps up. Karen's father flips the table, but it lands on my hand before I can move. Lip grabs my arm and pulls me up. He runs upstairs as I follow Ian out the door.
I grab my shoes and quickly put them on as Ian runs after me barefoot.
"The farther you run the harder I'm going to get you!" The older man yells as Lip catches up to us.
His ankle looks swollen and I reach out to help him. Before I can talk he asks, "Are you okay? Is your hand okay?"
"Lip you jumped out of a window!" I say shocked, "Are you alright?"
About ten minutes later Lip is getting treated by V and Fiona is icing my hand. It shocks me how I skip school once and I might've fractured my hand. According to V the E.R. is a scam, but she also got her doctor's license taken away.
"I bet they were running from the train station cops." Fiona says and rolls her eyes.
V looks at her confused and says, "With Reese with them? No way."
"True. Reese won't even touch a cigarette." Fiona says.
My face gets hot when she says that. I move away from her without thinking and get up. Lip reaches out to grab my arm, but he's not close enough. I grab my coat and quickly put it on.
"Reese!" Lip calls after me, "What's wrong?"
I look at him. His eyes have a look of confusion in them, but I just say, "Jackie needs me home."
I run out the front door and hop the fence into my front yard. The front door is opened when I walk in. Jackie's lifting weights with a cigarette in his mouth.
"You're insane!" I say as I close the door. I take my scarf off and hang my coat up.
I wait for him to put the weight back on the rack and I take the cigarette out of his mouth. He reaches for it, but I stick in my mouth. My brother's face drops as I blow out smoke and hand it back to him.
"Reese what did Lip do?" He asks confused. He reaches for his shirt and puts it on.
"Nothing!" I tell him, "Fiona said I wouldn't smoke."
Jackie scoffs and throws the cigarette on his ash tray. He looks at me with compassion and says, "Yeah because you wouldn't. You're too good for this town."
"You're joking." I say, but he hands me some cash.
"You're going to go down to the store and buy a pack of cigarettes. Say their for me if anyone asks you why." He says.
𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐒𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐘 𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐒. 𝐇𝐄 𝐔𝐒𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐃𝐎𝐄𝐒 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓'𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐇𝐄𝐑. 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐘.
And when I don't listen to him is when things go wrong. That's why I'm walking into the store with shaky hands. I had taken my bipolar and anxiety meds, but added my adhd medication.
By the time I built the courage to go to the store alone it was already dark. Ian had gone home already, but Kash was still working. I got a weird feeling from him. I didn't like the way he looked at Ian.
I get the cigarettes and make my way back home. Jackie's car is gone and I'm shaking more now than I was earlier. I hope the fence and see the Gallagher's car is gone as well.
I find a rock and position my arm to throw the rock at Lip's window, but I see him fighting with his brother. How many times do I have to tell them to close their curtain when they fight?
𝐋𝐈𝐏 𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐍'𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐘𝐏𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐎 𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐑𝐘 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐘, 𝐁𝐔𝐓 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐔𝐏𝐒𝐄𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐒𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐁𝐎𝐃𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐇𝐍𝐃 𝐇𝐈𝐌. 𝐒𝐎 𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐅𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑.
"Reese doesn't just leave like that!" Lip says, "One of us upset her."
Ian swings at him as Lip pushes him against the wall. He glares at his brother and eventually pushes him off.
"Reese is off of her meds!" He blurts out. Lip looks at him in shock and eventually slaps his brother.
Ian wipes blood off of his face and Lip asks, "How long have you known?"
There was no reason to hit back.
"Since yesterday. She said she hasn't taken them all week." Ian admits.
Lip knew what was going to happen. His mother was bipolar and would go days without her medication. Once she did take them she would end up in the hospital.
I see him turn to walk towards his door. I throw the rock at his window and Ian quickly rushes to open it. Lip pushes him out of the way, but runs down the stairs once he sees me crying.
"It's alright." Lip says as he pulls me inside. He leads me upstairs, but doesn't take his arms off of around me.
He has me climb up onto his bed with him and he wraps his arms around me. It was something that he did when we were younger, but not anymore. It's to comfort me though. He likes to make sure I'm safe Ian says.