Angel dropped his book bag by the door and closed it behind himself
as he slipped off his jacket and sneakers. The last two weeks had been
spent avoiding Riley as best he could. The football player was obsessed
with making his life hell. 'Like it isn't already hell' he thought bitterly
walking through the small house toward the kitchen. His house was really
only big enough for two people but they did the best they could with what
they had. He shared a bedroom with his brother and sister.
"Grandma I'm home" he yelled leaning inside the kitchen door but saw no sign of the elderly woman who had raised him. He looked all around the yellow colored kitchen. It had been the same nasty yellow color forever and would probably stay that way.
"Where's grandma?" he asked his fourteen year old brother who sat at the kitchen table completely engrossed in the comics section of the newspaper.
"I don't know.... oh yea she had to go pick up Shelly from school. She got in trouble again" Trey and Shelly were twins. Angel sighed. Shelly was always getting trouble. Ever since they were little she had always been the bad twin and Trey was the good twin. He loved his sister a lot but Shelly loved pushing people's buttons. Making them as angry as they could get. Detention was no foreign word to Angel but compared to Shelly he was a saint. He was surprised they hadn't kicked her out of school yet.
"What did she do?" he asked opening the refrigerator and grabbing a soda
"You don't want to know" Angel turned and looked at his brother. Trey had shaggy dirt blonde hair and green eyes. He looked just like their mom. Shelly looked more like Angel with dark eyes and hair. They looked like their father. But they never told people that.
"Yes I do tell me," he asked popping open his can and sitting across from his brother. The ancient table creaked and the chair wobbled under his weight but he paid no attention to it.
"They caught her having sex with some guy in the bathroom" Trey said quietly waiting for he outburst that he knew was about to come from Angel's mouth. Angel was very overprotective, ever since they were little. He tried to be everything for the twins. Their mother, father and brother. He wanted to be everything their grand mom could not be even though she tried very hard. Growing up in their home had been hard. The twins had been five when their mom had died and Angel had been eight. Their grandmother at the time had been retired working part time at a local church and did not have the money to support three children. She had expected their father to come back but he never did and she was forced to come out of retirement and take up her former job as a bank teller. But this did not always pay the bills and they had been on and off welfare for years. Angel went through many small minimum wage jobs but his grand mom always made him quit fearing it would hurt his grades anymore then they already were. Surprisingly Angel did not burst at all but Trey could see his knuckles turning extremely white from the death grip he had on his soda can.
"What? She.... who?"
"Um some guy named Chris Stevenson" Trey said gulping. Angel looked as if he was about to pounce on someone. Hopefully it was Chris Stevenson and not him.
"Are they dating?"
"Not that I know"
"What good are you?" Angel snapped and at that moment they heard a car pull up and Angel jumped to his feet. Trey gulped.
Buffy's hand felt along the wall feeling for light switch inside her bedroom. She still wasn't used to anything in her new house. Once she found it she walked inside and let her bag fall to the ground before lying on her bed and surveying her surroundings. Her new room was painted such a bright pink that it made her eyes hurt. In reality it wasn't that bright but she was still looking for something wrong with this town. She wanted to go back home. She missed her friends and her sister. Almost all the kids at school thought she had moved because she had been responsible for burning the gm down at her old school. They were wrong. Her parents had divorced a month ago and her mother had decided to come to Sunnydale. Buffy's sister's name was Crystal and she had to live with her dad because they were only half siblings. Joyce, Buffy's mom, had met him a year after his first wife's death and Crystal was two. Before she knew it she felt the tears running down her cheeks and leaned into her pillow to try to hide them. Truth was she wanted to go home but she was glad her parents were divorced. Her father was a bastard. He was an alcoholic and when he got drunk he tended to be abusive. He always apologized once he was sober and tried buying their forgiveness. And for a while it had worked. He had promised to get help and everyone had believed him but soon it became clear that he was not getting the help he promised he would. She knew he had been un-faithful to her mother. Several times her or Crystal had walked in on him and other woman in the house. She wondered if her mother knew about all the mistresses. She probably did her father had been very clumsy about hiding them. Buffy had always wanted to tell her mom but she was too afraid of breaking her heart and betraying her father even if he was a bastard. She could only imagine how hard it must be for Crystal who was stuck all alone with him and probably his new girlfriend.
"Buffy honey?" a voice called out. She sat up and wiped her tears away as she listened to her mother, Joyce Summers, make her way up the stairs and watched her bedroom door open and the woman walk in.
"Hey mom" she stood and gave her mom a quick hug. Joyce was fairly young looking for her 45. Her brunette perm had yet to start to gray and wrinkles were just starting to show. Buffy thought it was astonishing due to all the stress her mom had been through through the years.
"How was school?"
"Okay"
"Honey you know you really should start unpacking these boxes they aren't going to do it themselves"
"I know mom I guess I was just.... you know secretly hoping this wasn't final but now I know it is" she lay down on her bed and lay her hands on her stomach
"Honey I know this is hard. I miss Crystal and everyone back in L.A too but this our new start. It'll get better I promise" she kissed her daughters forehead and left the room. Buffy closed her eyes and was surprised at the first thing she thought of. It wasn't Crystal or her friends of even her dad. It was Angel.
"You're wearing a whole in the rug... it's not like there isn't already enough wholes in it"
"Shelly shut up! I don't know what to say to you. I have no idea how to react when someone tells me my fourteen-year-old sister was caught having sex in the bathroom at school!" he yelled angrily. Shelly winced but kept her hard face on. She was good at reading Angel's expressions and she knew he was disappointed. Hell she was disappointed in her self but she wouldn't tell him that.
"You don't have to react! This is my business not yours"
"No it is my business because I'm your brother. It's my responsibility because you don't have a mom or dad for it to be their responsibility so it's mine"
"Gee Angel thanks for reminding me that I'm an orphan"
"No! You aren't turning this into a Shelly pity party"
"I didn't ask for pity"
"Yes you did. You aren't an orphan. You have grand mom and Trey and me. Don't act like you were the only one to get the short straw in life. We've all been through this together. You cannot use your life as an excuse to be a screw up"
"So I'm a screw up now huh?"
"Not yet but you're getting pretty dam close Shelly. How well do you know this Chris kid?"
"He's new I just met him and we used protection so what does it matter?"
"Listen to me. You are fourteen! You are not old enough to have sex with anyone I don't care who they are. No one. Now go up stairs and don't come out of your room" Shelly uncrossed her arms and gave him the finger before marching up the stairs. Angel turned toward the door and stormed out heading anywhere he could be alone.
Buffy found a sweater and walked outside and sat on her porch. There was a playground across from her house and she watched the wind blow the swings back and forth. Cordelia had wanted her to go to the bronze again but she had tuned her down. She wouldn't be able to deal with that loud music and all those horny teenage boys again. A figure came into view on the playground. He wore baggy red plaid pants with zippers in all different places all over them and a black t-shirt. She watched him sit on the swings and start to swing softly. Before she knew it she was crossing the street and her hand was on his back.
Next Chapter soon! The romance will come eventually (soon) give me feedback and thanks to the people who did already
"Grandma I'm home" he yelled leaning inside the kitchen door but saw no sign of the elderly woman who had raised him. He looked all around the yellow colored kitchen. It had been the same nasty yellow color forever and would probably stay that way.
"Where's grandma?" he asked his fourteen year old brother who sat at the kitchen table completely engrossed in the comics section of the newspaper.
"I don't know.... oh yea she had to go pick up Shelly from school. She got in trouble again" Trey and Shelly were twins. Angel sighed. Shelly was always getting trouble. Ever since they were little she had always been the bad twin and Trey was the good twin. He loved his sister a lot but Shelly loved pushing people's buttons. Making them as angry as they could get. Detention was no foreign word to Angel but compared to Shelly he was a saint. He was surprised they hadn't kicked her out of school yet.
"What did she do?" he asked opening the refrigerator and grabbing a soda
"You don't want to know" Angel turned and looked at his brother. Trey had shaggy dirt blonde hair and green eyes. He looked just like their mom. Shelly looked more like Angel with dark eyes and hair. They looked like their father. But they never told people that.
"Yes I do tell me," he asked popping open his can and sitting across from his brother. The ancient table creaked and the chair wobbled under his weight but he paid no attention to it.
"They caught her having sex with some guy in the bathroom" Trey said quietly waiting for he outburst that he knew was about to come from Angel's mouth. Angel was very overprotective, ever since they were little. He tried to be everything for the twins. Their mother, father and brother. He wanted to be everything their grand mom could not be even though she tried very hard. Growing up in their home had been hard. The twins had been five when their mom had died and Angel had been eight. Their grandmother at the time had been retired working part time at a local church and did not have the money to support three children. She had expected their father to come back but he never did and she was forced to come out of retirement and take up her former job as a bank teller. But this did not always pay the bills and they had been on and off welfare for years. Angel went through many small minimum wage jobs but his grand mom always made him quit fearing it would hurt his grades anymore then they already were. Surprisingly Angel did not burst at all but Trey could see his knuckles turning extremely white from the death grip he had on his soda can.
"What? She.... who?"
"Um some guy named Chris Stevenson" Trey said gulping. Angel looked as if he was about to pounce on someone. Hopefully it was Chris Stevenson and not him.
"Are they dating?"
"Not that I know"
"What good are you?" Angel snapped and at that moment they heard a car pull up and Angel jumped to his feet. Trey gulped.
Buffy's hand felt along the wall feeling for light switch inside her bedroom. She still wasn't used to anything in her new house. Once she found it she walked inside and let her bag fall to the ground before lying on her bed and surveying her surroundings. Her new room was painted such a bright pink that it made her eyes hurt. In reality it wasn't that bright but she was still looking for something wrong with this town. She wanted to go back home. She missed her friends and her sister. Almost all the kids at school thought she had moved because she had been responsible for burning the gm down at her old school. They were wrong. Her parents had divorced a month ago and her mother had decided to come to Sunnydale. Buffy's sister's name was Crystal and she had to live with her dad because they were only half siblings. Joyce, Buffy's mom, had met him a year after his first wife's death and Crystal was two. Before she knew it she felt the tears running down her cheeks and leaned into her pillow to try to hide them. Truth was she wanted to go home but she was glad her parents were divorced. Her father was a bastard. He was an alcoholic and when he got drunk he tended to be abusive. He always apologized once he was sober and tried buying their forgiveness. And for a while it had worked. He had promised to get help and everyone had believed him but soon it became clear that he was not getting the help he promised he would. She knew he had been un-faithful to her mother. Several times her or Crystal had walked in on him and other woman in the house. She wondered if her mother knew about all the mistresses. She probably did her father had been very clumsy about hiding them. Buffy had always wanted to tell her mom but she was too afraid of breaking her heart and betraying her father even if he was a bastard. She could only imagine how hard it must be for Crystal who was stuck all alone with him and probably his new girlfriend.
"Buffy honey?" a voice called out. She sat up and wiped her tears away as she listened to her mother, Joyce Summers, make her way up the stairs and watched her bedroom door open and the woman walk in.
"Hey mom" she stood and gave her mom a quick hug. Joyce was fairly young looking for her 45. Her brunette perm had yet to start to gray and wrinkles were just starting to show. Buffy thought it was astonishing due to all the stress her mom had been through through the years.
"How was school?"
"Okay"
"Honey you know you really should start unpacking these boxes they aren't going to do it themselves"
"I know mom I guess I was just.... you know secretly hoping this wasn't final but now I know it is" she lay down on her bed and lay her hands on her stomach
"Honey I know this is hard. I miss Crystal and everyone back in L.A too but this our new start. It'll get better I promise" she kissed her daughters forehead and left the room. Buffy closed her eyes and was surprised at the first thing she thought of. It wasn't Crystal or her friends of even her dad. It was Angel.
"You're wearing a whole in the rug... it's not like there isn't already enough wholes in it"
"Shelly shut up! I don't know what to say to you. I have no idea how to react when someone tells me my fourteen-year-old sister was caught having sex in the bathroom at school!" he yelled angrily. Shelly winced but kept her hard face on. She was good at reading Angel's expressions and she knew he was disappointed. Hell she was disappointed in her self but she wouldn't tell him that.
"You don't have to react! This is my business not yours"
"No it is my business because I'm your brother. It's my responsibility because you don't have a mom or dad for it to be their responsibility so it's mine"
"Gee Angel thanks for reminding me that I'm an orphan"
"No! You aren't turning this into a Shelly pity party"
"I didn't ask for pity"
"Yes you did. You aren't an orphan. You have grand mom and Trey and me. Don't act like you were the only one to get the short straw in life. We've all been through this together. You cannot use your life as an excuse to be a screw up"
"So I'm a screw up now huh?"
"Not yet but you're getting pretty dam close Shelly. How well do you know this Chris kid?"
"He's new I just met him and we used protection so what does it matter?"
"Listen to me. You are fourteen! You are not old enough to have sex with anyone I don't care who they are. No one. Now go up stairs and don't come out of your room" Shelly uncrossed her arms and gave him the finger before marching up the stairs. Angel turned toward the door and stormed out heading anywhere he could be alone.
Buffy found a sweater and walked outside and sat on her porch. There was a playground across from her house and she watched the wind blow the swings back and forth. Cordelia had wanted her to go to the bronze again but she had tuned her down. She wouldn't be able to deal with that loud music and all those horny teenage boys again. A figure came into view on the playground. He wore baggy red plaid pants with zippers in all different places all over them and a black t-shirt. She watched him sit on the swings and start to swing softly. Before she knew it she was crossing the street and her hand was on his back.
Next Chapter soon! The romance will come eventually (soon) give me feedback and thanks to the people who did already
