"Well maybe if you put some effort into raising the children that came out of your uterus..." My dad yells at my mom, caught in the middle of one of their fights. One of their many, many fights. They think that in this huge house of ours, we can't hear them all the way upstairs. But they're wrong. I hear every name my mom calls my dad, and I hear every insult my dad throws her way.
On the outside, we're a perfect family.
Happy.
Loving.
Functional.
On the inside we're so broken, fixing the problem seems impossible. And mom and dad refuse to get help.
Daniella creeps into my room, and climes into my bed next to me, like we're two little girls scared of the dark.
I suppose in a way, we still are, the only difference is that our darkness doesn't go away with a flick of a switch anymore.
We don't say anything to each other, and in the morning when I wake up, she's gone.
I smell bacon cooking when I come downstairs for breakfast, mom's typical 'guilt' breakfast. Scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, hash browns, and tomato.
Dad's nowhere in sight.
*****
Sabrina's waiting for me when I climb out of Carley's car, her blond hair whipping against her face in the wind.
"Hey, whore!" I ignore her, but she doesn't seem to care. "Stay away from my boyfriend, before I share your secret."
"Oh no, Sarah, the she-devil knows you're Hannah Montana-oh wait- that's Miley." Carley's dark laughter can be heard even over the cold wind.
"Shut up emo geek; and Sarah, you know exactly what I'm talking about." She walks closer to me, but Carley walks forward, and stares Sabrina down, nose to nose.
"I'm not Emo, you ignorant bitch!" Yeah, Carley gets kinda ticked off by labels like 'emo' and 'goth'. "So why don't you leave now before your layers of make up are knocked off of your fake face."
I have no words, other than GO CARLEY. I've seen her get pissed, but never like this, even when some idiot almost knocked her over on the road. For a hardcore ACDC fan, with a sarcastic attitude and laments about society, Carley very rarely looses her cool.
But that red hair can really get the best of her sometimes.
"Sabrina, come on. Let's go." Amelia gently pulls Sabrina by her arm away from Carley.
She slowly turns away and storms off, Britney almost jogging to keep up with her and Amelia trailing behind.
We stand in stunned silence. Amelia talking Sabrina down? That's practically unheard of.
"Is it totally inappropriate to say that that was totally hot?" Blake has eyes only for his red-haired girlfriend. The awe in his expression is evident, and that's when I know.
He loves her.
Truly, deeply, and unconditionally. It's as plain as the zit on my forehead, everyone can see it. I wonder if he's told her yet.
I wonder if anyone will ever look at me like that.
"Thanks, babe." Carley responds, mashing her lips against Blake's, and I roll my eyes.
"Guys, this is no time for a make out session. Let's get to class before we're late."
***
I'm sitting in Science and can feel My eyes drooping slowly. Mr Baxter rambles on about chemical compounds. Boooring!!! Before my head hits the desk, I feel something hit the side of my head and a scrunched up ball of paper lands in my lap. Obviously Blake.
'Wake up! Oh and by the way, he's staring at you again..' Is printed neatly across the page.
Crap, my head whips up to look at Mr. Baxter, but even he looks like he's half asleep. I look at Blake confused.
'Who?' I mouth
He gestures to the the person behind me and I groan.
I turn around and as I look at him, Zac quickly looks out the window, realizing he's been caught.
I face forward again and bury my head in my hands.
What is it with this guy?
"This assignment is 65% of your grade. Partners are on the list on the notice board."
Huh? Assignment?
As the bell rings the class surges towards the board. Groans and whoops from the students indicate their views on their partners. Blake glances and me and holds up his hand-his fingers crossed. I nod, a slight grin playing across my lips. I hope I'm pared with him, too, but I know that the chances are slim.
"Hey Skittles." Zac's triumphant grin says it all, sending my heart into a confused flutter.
Why? Why me?