Chapter 1
"Bella…Maverick!" Renee yelled upstairs.
"Yes?" I replied.
"What's up Mom?" Maverick's voice came from his room which was right across the hall from mine.
"Your father and I would like to speak with ya'll in the family room…Now please."
AS Renee said this I sighed heavily. Whenever she started a sentence with "Your father and I…" both Maverick and myself knew either something bad was going to happen, or something bad had already happened.
I lied on my bed with my eyes closed for a few seconds after Renee had called for my brother and I to go downstairs.
"I wonder what she wants" I whispered to myself.
Suddenly my door opened then closed, I opened my eyes to see who was there, my brother Maverick was leaning against the door as if to keep intruders out. He looked almost scared.
"Hide Bella" He whispered with a slight chuckle at the end.
I couldn't help but roll over and laugh. I don't know exactly how it happened but I guess I rolled to far, fell off my large bed and landed quite hard on the wood flooring. I lied there for a few seconds before I finally said "Ouch".
"Bells…You ok?" Maverick asked with concern.
"Yea I think so."
He gently helped me up to my feet. Once he looked me over to make sure I wasn't bleeding or bruised, he slung me over his shoulder, as if I weighed 10 pounds.
"MAVERICK" I yelled, "PUT ME DOWN!"
He laughed and with that we were out the door and walking downstairs, well I wasn't walking.
As soon as we got to the door that opened to the family room,
Maverick set me on my feet. He looked at me and motioned for me to go in first.
"Ladies first" He said with an annoying tone.
"Ugh" I stomped past him. I opened the door to find Charlie and Renee sitting on our five person couch, quite far from each other I might add.
Charlie, our dad, pointed to the loveseat across from the large couch.
"Have a seat" Charlie said calmly.
I glanced up at Maverick.
I have had to look up to Maverick for years now, not just because he was older, but because he was 6'7". I don't know where he got it from but he was huge and goodness was he muscular. The muscles he got from sports, he's a great baseball and football player.
He returned my glance, grabbed my hand and pulled me with him to the loveseat.
Once we were seated Renee spoke first.
"Kids I don't know how to tell you this but…" she looked down at her hands that were placed on her lap.
"Renee, would you like me to tell them?" Charlie asked her blankly.
Renee shot Charlie a death glare then proceeded to speak.
"Of course not, we agreed I would tell the children."
"Go ahead then, tell them." Charlie's voice sounded off, I couldn't figure out what it was but something was really wrong. This worried me I could feel the panic beginning to settle in. Maverick could sense my panic and quickly put his arm around my shoulders in an attempt to calm me. It worked a little.
"Maverick, Bella…Your father and I…" Her voice was shaky.
There it was again the dreaded "Your father and I…" All I could thinks was this is bad, really, really bad. Mavericks arm tightened around me.
"WE have decided…to…to get a divorce." Renee didn't seem to be sad when she said this, but Charlie was not pleased I could see it in his eyes. They became glassy and red, he looked like he was about to cry. My father was about to cry. I had never seen him cry, ever.
I was shocked, I stared wide eyed at Renee. I could feel the tears forming. I then looked at Charlie who was looking at the floor a single tear rolled gently down his cheek. That's all it took to send me flying over the edge, I began sobbing uncontrollably, my body shaking heavily. Maverick threw his other arm around me, and I could feel his body shaking with mine. I pulled back a little, just enough to see his face. He too was crying, and when I thought things couldn't get any worse, the look on my brother's face killed me. He was always the strong one, the one who never seemed to let anything bother him.
"No…" I whispered "No…This can't be happening."
"Honey please understand…I'm not…We're just not in love anymore." Renee said, "We haven't been for awhile." Charlie snorted as she said that.
I pulled away from Maverick and stood up. I looked at Renee, who was looking down, until her eyes met mine. They weren't red, puffy, there was no sign that she had shed even one tear. This brought on a whole new emotion, one I wasn't used to, I was suddenly angry. Angry only with Renee, she had done this, she broke my father's heart. She was breaking this family apart. And then I no longer had any control over myself.
"You!" I yelled pointing at Renee, "I n-never want to s-see your f-face AGAIN!!"
That was the last time I spoke to Renee.
……………………………………………………..
It's been one year since that dreaded day, and I am finally getting back to my old self. My best friend Angela tells me how bad I had become. I just couldn't care about anything, it was too hard to show any sort of emotion without remembering what happened that day. So I didn't, I never smiled, never laughed, I did nothing. My softball coach didn't want me to quit, so she told me I could sit out for the remainder of the season, but I had to promise her I would play the following season, I agreed. That was a year ago.