I woke up earlier than usual this morning, which isn't good, but then again, when is it ever going to be good for me? I tiptoed past my dad's room in a pair of blue basketball shorts and no shirt, and slipped down the stairs to make breakfast. Maybe if I started out on his good side, I would be okay for the day, or at least until I went to school in 2 hours. I was quiet as a mouse, trying to keep from stirring my parents, because it was way too early. I reached for everything smoothly, yet quickly, because that way if I were to make a noise, it wouldn't be too big or loud. My family consisted of 5 people including myself. My father, who was a little bit of an alcoholic, my mother, who protected us all as much as she could, and my two little sisters, Annie and Claire, the loves of my life. I treated them as daughters, because my dad was working, drinking or sleeping, so I was the closest thing they had. Annie never woke up before Claire, so I usually was accompanied by Claire while I made breakfast.
I heard small footsteps scurrying toward the stairs, and then Claire's little head poked out from between two banisters. She smiled and wave toward me then casually pulled her head back through, and headed down the stairs to greet me. Claire was the helpful one, even if she didn't want to; she was always offering to help me or anyone in the house.
"Good morning Edward," she whispered pulling her long brunette curls behind one ear, and smiling. She reached her arms up for a hug, and I quickly embraced her and lifted her into my chest, sitting her down on the counter next to where I was preparing to cook breakfast. "What's for breakfast, and is there anything I can do to help," she whispered again. In my house if you don't whisper in the morning, you get a belt to the back, so we learned that rule very quickly.
"Claire, I was think eggs, toast and jam, with a side of bacon," I said just loud enough for her to hear me. "If you would like to help I could teach you how to make the best eggs in the world… but you would have to do exactly as I say. Can you handle that?" Claire nodded and stared intently at the quick motions of my hands. She was a fast learner, which was good.
When she thought she got the hang of it, she pulled at my sleeve, and pointed at the bowl. I laughed silently, and pulled her off the counter holding her close enough to reach, but when she got excited, she was a little wound up. The next thing I knew there was a loud crash of the glass bowl hitting the floor, and the splat of egg yokes following close behind. Without thinking, I put Claire down and hid her in the cupboard by the sink, which Dad never looked in, and told her to stay put, she began to protest, but I closed the door just as I began to hear loud footsteps thunder through the house. I grabbed the dish towel and dustpan and began to wipe the floor up until I remembered there was glass. I cried out in pain as a huge cut in the middle of my left palm began to ooze deep red blood. That's when I heard the footsteps hit the stairs, and I kind of wish I could be hiding right next to Claire in the cupboard, but instead I continued to endure the pain, and wipe the rest of the mess clean, leaving my hands completely torn up. Both hands now dark with blood, I trembled on the floor as I heard the footsteps reach the first floor, along with long lines of profanity. Dad was madder than ever and when he saw me curled up on the floor, with blood dripping from my hands, his eyes burned red. He reached down and with a firm grip on my arms hoisted me up to his eye level, which was a good foot taller then I was to begin with, so you have to imagine how scary it was to go from practically laying flat to about 7 feet in the air in one swift motion.
"Edward, what the hell is the matter with you! Don't you know better then to wake me up this early in the morning?" He screamed, spitting venom in my face with every word. "How the hell do you expect me to get Claire and Annie to understand to stay quiet until at least 7:30 in the morning if you can't even do it?" He shouted through clenched teeth now, trying to calm himself down.
"Dad I-I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to. It was and a-accident." I stammered in a mellow tone. I looked him straight in the eyes, and calmly as possible said "I-I really am sorry." He put me down, but kept one hand clenched tight around my arm. He dragged me through the house to where he took his belt off the night before.
"You know the rule Edward, and this isn't going to be an exception!" He yelled eyes still burning red. I braced myself for the pain and waited for a while with my eyes squeezed tightly closed, and when the belt slapped my bare back, I heard the gunshot sound, and immediately fell to my knees in pain. Dad looked down at me I felt his eyes burning a hole in my back, where he had drawn blood from one hit. He had never hit me that hard before, and he knew that as well as I did. I looked up and when our eyes met I saw not a devilish frown, but an apologetic one. He reached down and gentle grabbed my arm hoisting me slowly to my feet. By this time everyone in our house was up, and Claire still remained in the cupboard, because I had told her to stay put. Annie was staring as mom cleanly wrapped my hands and torso with bandage, and then I heard Dad say, "Go get ready for school," his words were slurred a bit, and they left his lips coldly. He was drinking, and we all knew it. I obediently stood and walked through the kitchen, pulling Annie and Claire, who had finally left her hiding spot, behind me and up the stairs.
We got on the bus, which was the scariest thing to the younger kids, especially with Looney Lena as our bus driver on a rainy day, and today it happened to be raining so thickly, we couldn't see the road in front of us. I would rather walk one mile all the way to the school. I closed my eyes, picturing this morning over and over in my head, and trembling every time the image came back in to my mind. The bus jerked to a stop, interrupting my thoughts. When my eyes swung open, she was standing in front of me. Amelia Turner, her long blond curls bouncing as she walked to the seat I was in. her tan complexion, and her natural beauty. Most girls in our school caked on make-up, and it was overly noticeable, but no Amelia, she wore no make-up and was still stunning. The moment it took her to walk to my seat seemed to pass in slow motion, as she spun around sitting next to me.
"This seat isn't taken is it?" Amelia questioned looking concerned with a hopeful expression on her face. I shook my head mesmerized by her beauty. She giggled and said, "Well now it is… I'm Amelia Turner by the way, what's your name?" she asked extending her hand for me to shake.
"Edward, Edward Thompson," said taking her hand and kissing it softly. She giggled again, and replied by smiling with the most perfect smile I had ever seen.
"Well Edward Thompson, it is a pleasure to meet you. What's your schedule look like? Maybe we will have some classes together," she said pulling her bag from her side on to her lap and rummaging through it as I did the same. We exchanged schedules as we gasped in surprise; we had the exact same schedule, and locker, which meant we had a rough morning.
When we arrived at the school, thankful that we lived through the bus ride, Amelia and I walked into the building and informed the office of our problem. The secretary looked and said, "Wow this is a problem, could you two go to homeroom and we will sort out the locker crisis later?" the secretary demanded it in a question form, which could scare anyone into doing what she wanted. We both nodded and stumbled out of the office and down the hall. Amelia looked at me and smiled, "Well, will you walk me to class?" she was joking, considering I had to go to the same place.
"No I can't, I won't" I teased sarcastically. "Of course I will," I said a bit more seriously. We walked on laughing, and then we stopped suddenly and began a conversation that nearly scared us both out of homeroom. "Have you heard about this Mr. Cooper guy? I hear he molests his female students, and on the third day, he hides them away forever and they are never seen again."