Happy birthday paddyofurniture :D This whole story is dedicated to you. The chapters will be short, but I can promise them weekly. I love you.
I also love all of my readers. There is a twist to this story. See if you can guess what it is and maybe send me a PM or a review or a tweet.
I woke up, stretched, saw the sun streaming in the window. A steaming mug of coffee sat on my bedside table which I accepted gratefully, letting the warm, energising liquid filter down my throat. This was how my best days began.
Others would start with the overpowering smell of alcohol, seeing my brother slumped, half naked, in his bed. This was rare though. Cooper rarely came home to visit us any more. He told me it was because work was keeping him busy. I knew it was because he couldn't cope with me. After all, that was why dad left, before he grew the balls to return.
Coffee drunk, I returned it to my bedside table and sat up, throwing the covers off me. I stretched, feeling my bones click, and stood from the bed. I went into the bathroom quickly before heading downstairs.
"Hi mum." She was eating her breakfast in the kitchen and waved when she saw me.
"Is that porridge for me?" I asked, pointing to the bowl and spoon sat opposite her.
She nodded and I sat down, tucking into my first meal of the day. There was strawberry jam swirled into it, just how I liked it. As I ate, mum studied the paper, occasionally showing me an article I might find interesting.
By the time I'd finished eating, my dad had made his way downstairs. He had a quick conversation with mum and, by the way he made a point of turning his back to me, I could tell I was their topic of choice. I was used to that.
I decided to leave them in peace and put my bowl in the sink, giving mum a quick hug from behind before heading back upstairs.
I made short work of getting changed into something I deemed suitable for that hellhole they called school and hastily brushed my teeth. I still had half an hour left until we had to leave so I sat down at my computer and did some work, interspersed by short games of Pinball and Minesweeper.