Tiffany wasn't happy. In fact, she was furious, as her current tear stained face might NOT have indicated. When Tiffany had traveled back home for the holidays, she was determined to have a good time with her family and not let anything, or one, get her down. But as fate would have it, someone did get her down. Her parents. With their holier than thou personalities, Tiffany wasn't sure she would ever get along with her parents.

Even as a child, Tiffany was never one to cause trouble, whether that was her nature or the product of her parent's overbearing rules, she'd never know. All she did know was that her parents wanted Tiffany to be perfect. Tiffany was the crown jewel of the family, as her mother used to say. Surrounded by cousins that were successful but not really successful in the way that would make her own parents happy, Tiffany never really liked being depended upon. Her own brothers were her parents biggest displeasures. Of course, Tiffany loved her brothers more than the world. They had their bad moments. Her oldest brother, and favorite, almost never saw Tiffany because he was so busy. He always called to tell her that he was proud of her and missed her a lot. Tiffany was saddest to leave him. Her middle brother hadn't been seen in years, Tiffany tried not to think too much about him. It was his fault he was in jail. And then her youngest brother.

Currently the youngest of her brothers wasn't talking to Tiffany, not that Tiffany was talking to him any way at this point, because his ex-girlfriend, now current girlfriend, was a bitch and Tiffany wanted nothing to do with her. Despite being her youngest brother, he was not her younger brother, still having years on her so no one took her side publically, rather tried to stay neutral in this sibling war.

Her mother had admonished her. "Tiffany, we're all family, we need to support your brother," she'd said. Tiffany had snorted, dismissing her mother with a wave, "I don't need to support anybody in their stupidity." Then Tiffany went off to college, somewhere her brothers and cousins had never been. And Tiffany had worked her ass off to get to a college far away on a full ride. That way, her parents couldn't say that she was wasting their money. They'd had that argument already. And, in fact, this was the object of their fight tonight too.

Tiffany was home for the holidays, planning on spending the holidays with her parents. She flew home, despite her fear of flying, and drove herself from the airport in a rental car she'd pre-called about. As soon as she got home, before she even grabbed her bags from the car, she went to the door and knocked. Smile on her face, Tiffany doubted there was anything that could spoil her good mood. She had coffee in the car, she'd eaten dinner, and she was home. Okay, the last thing could spoil her mood but she really just wanted her own bed and a hug from her parents. The night was humid, a strange occurrence for the mid-March weather in south Texas. Tiffany tapped her foot impatiently as she waited at the door. Then it opened, revealing her mother, stern faced and seemingly filled with rage. Tiffany instantly took a step back.

"Why didn't you tell us!" she seethed. Tiffany blinked confused.

"Tell you what?" Tiffany asked, very confused. Her father appeared behind her mother with a sympathetic look on his face as he gently pulled his wife away from the door so Tiffany could enter. Tiffany took a hesitant step across the threshold.

"Tell us you were wasting your education on foreign languages and stupid literature! You were supposed to study science! Or did you forget?" she asked mockingly as she paced. Tiffany had her face to the ground, frowning as she heard her mother yell at her. She took a deep breath.

"Mom, I want to study those things. And I am studying science, I'm just not sure if-"

"Not sure if what? You want to spend your life working two jobs? You want to spend your life alone? You want to spend your life as a failure? Tiffany we talked about this before you left, you're studying those stupid subjects is a waste of-"

"Don't you dare say they're a waste of money!" Tiffany screamed. She felt her heart breaking. "You're not paying for college! I'm the one that worked my ass of in that shit high-school to get a full ride. I'm the one that made it through that school with no friends, hating my life every step of the way! I'm the one who had to put up with your constant screaming and whining and complaining that I wasn't good enough!" Tears started to fall from Tiffany's eyes as she got angrier. "I've never been good enough for you mother! Never! And I never will be!" Tiffany turned away from her mother, walking right back out the still open door and into the humid night.

"Tiffany where are you going!" her mother screeched.
Tiffany turned and looked at her mother over her shoulder.

"I'm done."

And with that Tiffany was in her car and down the road, headlights streaking through the darkness as she drove away to a different house. She drove about fifteen miles when she stopped and pulled to the side of the rode, turning off the engine. Tiffany leaned her head against the steering wheel, letting the tears fall as she sobbed.

"I hate her! I hate her! I hate her! I hate her! I hate her!" she sobbed as she clutched the steering wheel. She turned her head and looked at where she had stopped, barking out a laugh as she recognized the familiar metal building of her school. "God, never thought I'd come back here,"she mused as she opened the car door and shut it, walking towards the building. Tiffany sat herself down on a red picnic table by the outside wall and sighed, reaching out from her seat to touch the cold wall. Tiffany remembered all the days when she'd sit here for lunch surrounded by people she didn't want to talk to as she ate and read a book or listened to the conversations around her. She leaned back, looking up at the stars that twinkled in the sky above her. She sighed again.

"Maybe," she paused. "Maybe I should go back." Tiffany seemed to think before laughing dryly again. "Nah, screw that. I just want someone to love me," she whispered as she walked back to the car. Her car she wanted to say but as she inhaled the rental car smell of cigarettes, food, and car freshner, she shook her head again. Rubbing her eyes, Tiffany started the engine, drove back onto the road and kept driving until she reached a seemingly abandoned house. The gate was closed, but a press of a button changed that and Tiffany drove down the driveway knowing the gate would close after she went through. Parking in the abandoned carport and killing the engine once more, she grabbed one bag from the backseat, and walked up to the dark house, pulling a key from her lanyard, unlocked the front door and stepped inside. She walked through the dark house before she went upstairs, dropping the bag on the bed there. Tiffany stood still, looking at the book shelves and trinkets that could be seen in the moonlight that filtered through the window.

Shaking her head once more, Tiffany entered the bathroom, flicking the light switch, turned on the shower and rid herself of her clothing. She didn't even bother taking her contacts out as she got in the shower, she just let the warm water pound into her tired muscles and wash away the tear tracks as she washed her hair and body. Sighing in relaxation this time, Tiffany let her head drop to her chest as the water smoothed over her body, and she just felt all her sorrows drain away in the water. Smiling slightly, she shut the water off and toweled her hair until it didn't drip continuously when she stepped out, towel wrapped around her body. But the smile disappeared when she looked in the ginormous mirror that spanned the wall with a counter. This mirror had been here for years, ever since she was little. Tonight the mirror held a face that made Tiffany scream. In the mirror was a face, dark with golden eyes that made Tiffany freeze, her face forming horrified expression. The face seemed to pause before nodding. Then something really strange happened. She felt the world tilt and suddenly Tiffany's world went black as she felt her body hit the floor and room began spinning terribly.

Tiffany closed her eyes, despite not being able to see anything and curled in on herself, hugging her knees to her body as everything started to spin faster. She grimaced and then everything stopped. Tiffany slowly opened her eyes and felt her mouth open in a gasp.