hello. i want to thank you for reading my story. i know it's probably not that great and maybe even a little cheesy, but at least im trying.
Chapter One-
One, little event in life can alter reality in so many ways. It could be accepting help from a total stranger, and your life as you know it, will never be the same.
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Terriy came jogging in the kitchen as I opened the door to let him in. he went over to his water bowl, panting, and noisily lapped at the iced water. I went back to the last thing on my list of chores assigned to me while Peter and Stacey were out at dinner. It was a Friday night, and I was stuck scrubbing an already perfectly cleaned toilet. Just where every 17 year old wants to be. Yippee.
I had already finished the dishes, dusting the sitting room, windexing the windows, vacuuming every room in the house, and cleaned the humungous fish tank full of rare tropical fish that Stacey just had to have.
I put all the cleaning supplies away and went upstairs to my new room, in the new house, in the new town, of the new state. The only thing missing was a new country, which was on Stacey's list, but peter said no because he knew that I would definitely run away if they decided on that.
Stacey got everything she wanted, the minute she wanted it, the exact way she wanted it. I've never even heard of a time she didn't get what her little heart desired.
I was watching TV when I heard the door open and the loud, obnoxious laugh of her echo throughout the monstrous walls of the foyer. She called for me, like a cow to a bell. Involuntarily, I went to her, the yank of the impossibly short leash of my now miserable life. I saw her when I got to the top of the vanilla cream carpeted steps.
Announcing the She-Devil herself.
I stopped myself at the mahogany banister without even a thought of setting foot on the first step to a long way down.
"Did u finish your chores?" she snapped at me, looking away from the face of my father, or at least what was left of him. I didn't even like him anymore because of her. She ruined everything she laid eyes on, except for me and Terriy. I had managed to save us from her.
"What if I didn't?" I threw at her.
Her face puckered up as she got mad. Her lips were pursed, her eyebrows wrinkled. Her big, green eyes narrowed in on me. She let go of peter and crossed her arms.
"You did not finish your assigned chores?" she questioned me.
"Im not saying I did and im not saying I didn't. Im just asking, what if I didn't?"
Peter shot a 'look' at me, trying to tell me to stop, but I never listened to him anymore.
"Ameira Marie Constaline!" she yelled. "I am your mother and you will-"
How dare she say that! "You are not my mother! A woman named Alicia was my mother! You are nothing to me! So do not try to tell me that you are my mother!"
"You stop yelling at me right now! I may not be your mother by birth, but by law, I am your mother now!"
"Screw the laws! They're just lying, greedy people anyway! They're the reason she's dead!" I ran up to my room and opened my closet. I grabbed a bag I have had since the first time Stacey tried telling me she was my mother. It was filled with clothes, money, food, and water.
I went down stairs. I didn't care if they saw me leave. I wanted them to see me. I ran out the front door with a loud slam behind me from the door. While I ran, the last thing I heard was them.
"ameira!" I heard my dad yell.
"Let her go!" Stacey said to him "she's no good anyway."
That, and the fact that my father didn't make a sound when, and after she said that, made me run even harder.
When I got a few streets away, I stopped running. My legs were getting ready to fall off. I sat on the curb of a street, staring at the houses. I laid back on the grass, now covered with a thin layer of fresh dew. I closed my eyes, trying to slow my breathing. Everything was silent on this street, peaceful.
I started thinking about the way life was before Stacey. Then, I remembered the last time Peter said he loved me.
It was a few days after Valentine's Day of 2002. I was only 10 at the time. Aunt Kaylee dressed me in a long, flowy, black dress. It was simple, no designs. It tied behind my back. She gave me a rose as red as an apple and said to me "This is the rose of your life."
After the service, when we got home, Peter wouldn't even eat. He could barely even look at me. When he tucked me in that night, I said to him "I love you, Daddy." He just stared at me, dazed, and said "I love you too, sweetie." Then he walked out of my room.
The horrible thing about Alicia's death is that she died on Valentine's Day. We were devastated. But, a year later he started dating again. And, exactly two years after Mom's death, he married Stacey. It was only on Valentine's Day because Stacey wanted to be married on the "most promising day of love" as she put it. And so that day, Miss Stacey Angela Ruth becam Mrs. Stacey Ruth Constaline. Also on that day, I swore to myself that I would legally change my name, I was not sharing a name with a monster. That day still hasn't come yet, but it will happen before June 16, 2010, the day I turn 18.
"Hey, are you okay?"
There goes the silence.
It sounded like a guy, a young boy. I just laid there, breathing heavily.
"Are you okay?" the strange voice repeated.
I opened my eyes and stared directly upward. I saw the sky, so whoever he was, he wasn't hovering over me.
I sat up and looked for the source of the voice. I saw a person, standing a few feet away from me. It was a boy. He was probably 15 or 16.
"are you okay?" he asked me, yet again.
"don't you know how to say anything else? That's like, the third time you've asked me." I said to him, smiling.
"well you don't normally see people lying on the curb around here."
"well, im fine. Ive just been running for a while. Just a little tired."
He asked me what I was doing. I ignored his interrogation for a minute and focused on his features. He was actually kind of cute. He had short, light brown hair with green eyes set into a tan-ish face. His smile was remarkable.
"well," I said, refocusing back on our conversation. " if you really wanna know…"
"yes, I really wanna know."
"I was running away." I told him, kind of ashamed as I said it, ashamed of myself. I sounded ridiculous.
"running away from…?" he asked me, curious as he sat on the curb next to me.
"my parents." I said, starting to feel angry again, I hadn't even heard any sirens.
"well, don't you think they're worried?"
"listen." I said, and paused for him to listen to our surroundings. "there are no sirens, and I hear nobody calling out my name. they don't even care. Theyre not even my real parents."
"youre adopted?" the stranger asked me, surprised at the thought.
"no. my mom died and my dad remarried. She doesn't like me and she can convince my dad into anything. That's how we moved here anyway."
"oh, well, whats your name?" he asked me.
"ameira." I told him "and yours?"
"Michael." He said. "so…im guessing you live close by?"
"three blocks away." I said in response.
He asked me how old I was and I told him 16. apparently, he was 16 too. He told me he goes to James F. High School, the school I was to start at.
"supposed to start?" he asked me "are you intending on skipping?"
"as long as I can." I told him.
"you think youd want some company?"
"oh? So youre going to play hookey with a run away?" I asked, a bit of taunting in my voice.
"as long as I can." He repeated to me with a smile.
I smiled back.
"do you want to go for a walk?" he said, gesturing toward the way I came from.
"can we go this way?" I asked, motioning toward the opposite direction from him. "away from where I live. I would much rather go away from there."
We started walking down the sidewalk together.
after a bit of walking and conversation, i asked him "so....shouldn't you be with your girlfriend? it is a friday night."
"aren't i already with her?"
Michael persuaded me back home after a while. he walked me to the front door and said goodbye. he took a rose from the rose bush next to the porch and handed it to me with a smile. then he walked away. i stood out front of the door and daydreamed of the future, Michael kissing me goodnight after a date.
i finally walked into the house, Peter was sitting in the living room, his face white. Stacey was no where in sight, good.
"dad?" i managed to squeak out quietly.
he looked over at me, a smile forming on his face.
"Ameira? oh my god, Ameira!" he raced over to me and gave me a giant bear hug. i could hear a crack in his voice as a waterfall poured down his cheeks.
i wanted to say something-anything-to stop the crying. i searched my brain for words, but drew a blank.
"ameira..." he just kept repeating my name "Oh, Ameira."
finally, the salty tears dried up, and he was able to speak.
"ameira, i was so worried. what happened? where'd you go? are you okay?" the questions just came out all at once. it was like he was talking as fast as possible, but not fast enough.
we sat down and i told him the story, minus anything about Michael. he didn't need to be worrying about boys right now. i had already put enough on his mind.
after we finished discussing the past event, i asked him "where's Stacey?" as if i even cared.
"she went to bed shortly after you left, she told me not to call the police, that you would come back."
so...Little Miss Priss was the one who practically ordered not to call the police. not exactly what a worried mother would do. well...at least Peter still loved me, even if he hadn't said it in six years.
i got up from the couch and sauntered over to the kitchen. i searched and searched for something simple to eat. instead, i found caviar, lobster tail, dragonfruit, and other various foods that should have belonged to a queen.
at last, i was able to find cereal and a banana. i chopped the banana and put the slices into the cereal. i went up to my room and watched TV for a while.
i came downstairs to put my bowl in the sink. as i passed the sitting room, i saw my father on the black, leather chair, reading a book. i put my bowl in the sink and i started back up the stairs. then, i heard a voice talking to me.
"ameira?" my dad called to me.
"ya, dad?" i said to him.
"I love you."