Chapter one: Half goddess, half hell

I ran my fingers through my little brother's hair while he slept. Brady was younger than me by six years, he was only twelve. Seventh grade was getting rough on him, and our parents were too busy being surgeons and fixing other peoples' families to even notice their own. I'd been taking care of Brady for as long as I could remember. Our father was a trauma surgeon and our mother was a cardio God in the ER. We had one of the nicest houses on the reservation and I'm sure from an outsider's point of view we were the perfect family. I wish that were true.

I nudged Brady awake by shaking him gently; he'd always been a light sleeper like his big sister. "C'mon Brady, time for school." It took ten minutes for him to get ready and twenty for me. Thirty minutes later we were on our way to the LittleSea household in my black mustang. It had it customized with hot pink strips for my sixteenth birthday. A consolation prize for the fact that both my parents got pulled into emergency surgeries that day. I waved goodbye to Brady and started the car to go to Molly's Café and Bakery. I yawned and checked the clock: 3:20. I had ten minutes to get to the café for my shift. As I was constantly reminded by my lovely parents: they were rich, I was not. Dr. Bradley Fuller and Dr. Charlotte Fuller were the kind of people who should not have had children. They were naturally selfish people and having kids didn't change that. Our parents made me work for everything I had. The only gifts I got were on my birthday and special occasions for when my parents put their jobs ahead of me. They got Brady the bare minimum for clothes but they made sure he looked presentable. He got great birthday presents and several Christmas gifts always laid beneath the tree for each of us. It was a sad substitution for actually having our parents around. So we got the basics from our parents: clothes, my car, his laptop and mine, our bedroom furniture, and bathroom decorations. The rest was up to me. Our parents ate most of their meals at the hospital so it was up to me to pay for groceries and keep the cabinets stocked with snacks for Brady. I knew we were luckier than most, but I would take being broke for having my parents around any day. I couldn't decide if that was selfish or not.

I pulled into the parking lot and checked my makeup in the mirror before I went inside. I knew I looked tired; having bags under my eyes was a stable. Molly's was a 24-hour diner and I worked 3:30 until I had to be in homeroom at 7:30. Then after I got off at 2:30 I worked until 11. I took Brady to school early where his homeroom teacher took care of him until class started. Mrs. Littlesea was a lifesaver. Brady and her son, Collin, were attached at the hip so she was happy to take him in, feed him breakfast, led him catch a few more hours of sleep, and then take both of them to school where she taught at the middle school. I tried to cover my tired eyes with thick black eyeliner and grey eyeshadow. I always wore burgundy lipstick that was a contrast to my pale skin. I was wearing black skinny jeans with small rips in the knees, a cream colored V-neck that read 'consent is sexy mandatory' on the front in red, with my black boot heels. I turned off the car and shrugged into my black leather jacket and grabbed my black studded oversized purse that doubled as my school bag. As I walked into the diner I made quick work of pulling my rainbow hair into a sloppy bun, letting my fringe bangs frame my face with a few loose pieces.

I smiled at Molly, who was the only mother figure I had in my life, and tied on my apron that had the diner name stitched across in white. I shoved my bag under the counter and kissed Molly on the cheek, "Morning Molly, how are you?" She gave me a quick hug and handed me my pad to take orders, "I'm fine dearie, and Ava should be in any minute. Why don't you go ahead and get started?" Ava Cameron was my best friend; she worked the same shifts I did since we had the same school schedule as well. Her older brother, Jared, dropped her off on his way to work at Sam's QR Garage. Then she rode with me to school and then to work after. We'd been inseparable since kindergarten. Her and Jared both worked to help out their mom since their dad ran off six years ago. Their mom, Kathy, worked double shifts at the local daycare but it didn't pay much. Ava was my rock n roll counterpart. She had stable Quileute features: wavy black hair, russet skin, and brown eyes. She dyed bright red highlights through her hair, and had as many tattoos as I did, with a tongue ring and a septum piercing. I loved her to pieces.

I walked over and smiled at Old Quil, I went to school with his grandson Quil who was one year behind me. Old Quil was a tribal elder and a local truck driver. He was only in here at odd hours. I walked over and plastered on a bright smiled despite my constant state of exhaustion, "Morning Old Quil how are you Sir?" He gave me a kind smile, everyone on the reservation was like a big close knit family. Everyone knew everyone. "Morning Meg, I just came back from Seattle. How's Quil?" I rolled my eyes, "The same goofy grandson you know, always with Embry Call and Jacob Black."

"Good Good, I'll have a coffee and the early bird special." I nodded and walked over to give the ticket to Molly's husband Nick. He tugged my ponytail through the kitchen window and winked at me, "How are you holding up kiddo." I shrugged and yawned. He nodded sympathetically. Molly and Nick hated that Ava and I worked the hours we did. Especially considering that I didn't have to if my parents would pay for everything. Needless to say, Molly and Nick didn't agree with the way my parents raised me and Brady. "Your kids, they should be taking care of you. You are not Brady's mother; you deserve to have a childhood too." Molly had ranted one day as she constantly did about my home life. I was already eighteen, I figured my childhood was long gone; I didn't have time for a childhood when I was taking care of my kid brother. Hell, he called me 'mama' until he was five. How do you explain to a little boy that the person who has always taken care of you isn't your mom? That his biological mom was too busy for him? I shook my thoughts and held up the peace sign to my best friend as she walked through the door. I laughed at her outfit, black yoga pants and a black crop top. "Rough morning?" She huffed, "I was running late okay?" Usually Ava was dressed to perfection; she wanted to be a fashion major in college. Neither one of us was going to be able to go off to college next year though. Jared and Ava had to take care of their younger siblings: twins Alex and Carter. They were a year behind Brady in sixth grade. There was no way Kathy could afford to care for them without Ava and Jared's extra income. It was a sore spot for both of us. We wouldn't be able to leave for college until they were older. Life was a bitch sometimes. I was terrified to leave Brady; if I didn't buy groceries would he starve? Who would go to his parent-teacher conferences? Who would clean the house and wake him up in the morning? Who would take him to doctor's appointments and to the dentist? God knows my parents wouldn't. Life was really fucking me over here.

"Why were you running late?" I inquired as I handed her apron to her and started making a fresh pot of coffee. "Jared had the day off today and forgot that I had to work so he didn't wake up on time and you know he refuses to let me drive his truck." She rolled her eyes and I laughed. Jared's truck was his baby. He'd throw a fit if Ava ever drove it. Our breakfast rush didn't hit until five so Ava and I were free to sit up on the counter and finish our homework. Molly shook her head at us after waving goodbye to Old Quil, "Why do you girls insist on doing your homework at the last minute?"

"The twins have the stomach flu so I was up all night with them, I didn't have time to do it last night." Molly sighed, "It's getting to be that time of year. What's your excuse little lady?" She turned her accusation over to me. I shrugged sheepishly, "I forgot, I was helping Brady with Algebra before he had a nervous breakdown."

"You should really get that boy a tutor Meg; you can't keep neglecting your school work." Molly shook her head. "Tutor's cost money Molls and I'm already saving money so he can go to summer camp." She pursed her lips; I knew what she was thinking. Our parents should pay for that, not me. But summer camp wasn't a necessity so they wouldn't pay for it. Anything extra we wanted, he had to pay for ourselves. Which translated into: If Megan and Brady want anything extra Megan has to pay for it. I wanted to argue that food was necessity so why the hell was I paying for it, but the argument that would ensure just wasn't worth it.

Conversation was stalled after that as the breakfast rush hit with fervor. Ava and I were running around taking orders and balancing multiple plates to hand out to hungry costumers. I'm sure I burned at least 300 calories with how much I was running around. I really should have worn flats or sneakers like Ava. I checked the clock and swore, it was 7:10. There were still several people waiting to order and even more waiting on their food. There was no way Molly could handle this on her own. I nudged Ava on my way back to the kitchen and nodded towards the clock, Ava sighed. Looks like we were going to be missing homeroom…again. The diner didn't start clearing out until 8:40. First period was going to start soon. I quickly untied my apron and yanked my bag out from under the counter. Molly gave us ten bucks each for lunch and shooed us out the door. Ava and I rushed into La Push High School just as the bell rang ending homeroom. I leaned my head against my locker and breathed out a sigh of relief. At least I wouldn't be missing Honors Chemistry. I took all Honors classes and if I missed any I would be playing catch up for weeks. School passed in much the fashion it always did and I was glad to hear the bell signaling lunch break. Our high school was so small that everyone had lunch at the same time. It gave the teacher's a planning period. I trudged my way into the cafeteria and headed straight to the coffee/tea cart. I filled a large Styrofoam cup with dark roast coffee and poured enough sugar in to make a diabetic go into shock. I walked over to table in the corner and waited for Ava, I didn't even have enough energy to eat. I leaned my head against the window and closed my eyes. Fuck, I was so tired and it was only Monday. The weekends always drained me because that's when Ava and I usually pulled double shifts for the extra money. Brady's summer camps were expensive, it was some kind of brain camp. He was crazy smart. Then school supplies, groceries, extra clothes (our parents tended to forget that Brady was stilling growing), and tutoring. Plus lab fees for school, car insurance, gas, and my phone bill. It was too much pressure, I knew it could be worse but it was draining me. I felt someone tap me on the shoulder and I opened my eyes to see my tired face reflected in Ava. "Hey…" she yawned as she slid in to a seat beside me. She handed me a sandwich and took a bite of her own. Ugh, this too much effort, but I bit into it regardless.

I sank into the driver's seat of my car and cranked the radio to blare 'Orianthi' as we drove back to the diner. The bell dinged when he opened the door and Molly clucked at us when she saw the state we were in. "Nope you girls cannot work like this. Go take a nap in the back." I was too tired to argue and walked into the back longue to fling myself on the couch. I felt Ava curl up on top of me since there was only one couch and I fell asleep instantly.

After we woke up, I felt a million times better and we went back to work. I saw Jared walk in with his friend Paul. Jared had went through a major physical change a few months ago, he was seriously muscular compared to the more lithe body type that was common in the Cameron household. He had chopped off his shoulder length hair and gotten a tattoo on his bicep. I always thought he was cute but now he was hot. I walked up to him with an extra sway in my hips and smiled up at me, he had grown several inches taller than my 5'5 height. "Hey sexy…" I placed my hand on his chest and he bent down to place a chaste kiss to my chapped lips. He was burning up. "Woah, you're burning up. Are you okay?"

He smiled, "I'm fine Meg, where's Ava?" I pointed to the back where I could see her disgusted face from our display of affection. We weren't dating but it was fun to mess around with him to bug Ava. Plus he was an amazing kisser. There was nothing wrong with kissing your friends. Did that make me slutty? I scrunched up my nose and ushered them into a booth in Ava's section. I'd never really paid much attention to Paul LaHote before; he had graduated my junior year with Jared. I appraised him as he went to slide into the booth opposite Jared. He was taller than Jared, probably around 6'5, opposed to Jared more spiked hair Paul's was a little longer and was cut into a slight mohawk that hung in his face. He had sharp angled facial features and I could the outlines of his six-pack and deep V under his tight white T-shirt. He had the same tattoo on his bicep that Jared did. He had great pectorals. Huh, what do you know, Paul Lahote was fucking sex on legs. I shook my head and went back to the kitchen. Ava shoved me lightly, "Stop flirting with my brother you bitch." She smirked and went out to see him. I laughed.

By the time my shift was over, my feet were screaming. I bit down on the barbell in my tongue and rolled my shoulders out. Jared had gotten off work early so he was going to take Ava home. They had stuck around until her shift was over. I walked over and leaned against the booth where my best friend sat with her brother, "Are you all good? I'm heading out. Do you need a ride in the morning A?" She looked to her brother for an answer, "Yeah we got a slight…situation down at the garage so Paul and I are going in early again."

I grabbed my bag and swung my keys around my finger, "Okay that's fine. Bye A." I kissed her cheek and waved half-heartedly at Jared and Paul on my way out the door to pick up Brady from the LittleSea's.

I fixed vegetarian lasagna and helped Brady with his homework. After he went to bed I started a load of laundry, did the dishes, and started on my Calculus homework. I looked at the kitchen clock where I was sitting doing my homework and blinked at the time: 3am. I packed everything in my bag and went upstairs to my bedroom. I kept my room simple, white walls and black accents. My down comforter was solid black as were the sheets and pillow cases. I had a black cushion on my window seat and black rose stickers lined the top of my walls. I had a white vanity table and black swivel chair. My nightstand and bedframe were white and I had a black rug by the foot of the bed. One of my walls was a whiteboard and I was constantly writing different things on it. I changed into grey sweatpants with a tight white T-shirt and let my hair out of its pony tail. I turned off my overhead light and turned on the fairy lights that were strung up around the room; they had black lights in them. I sighed as I snuggled under the covers. Sleep was my only reprieve.