The sun rose at 6:00a.m. the next morning and Alyssa watched as the sun filled the dark bedroom. She blinked as the bright light hit her eyes. She hadn't slept a wink. After she had said goodnight to her parents the night before, she snuck into Zac's bedroom and watched him sleep for a while. She loved that little boy so much, but often wished she could be that age again where there was nothing to worry about. She loved to watch her little brother sleep. He was so peaceful, lying there with his thumb in his mouth without a care in the world.
After she watched Zac for a little while, she tiptoed to the banister where she heard her mom and dad giggling from the kitchen. So she couldn't go downstairs and watch tv like she had wanted to. Instead, she went to her bedroom where she read her favorite novel under her bed sheets with the aid of her flashlight. That didn't last very long. Only a couple of hours. She then played solitaire, wrote in her journal, read her Bible, made card castles, anything that would occupy her boredom until morning. As the sun began to rise, she only lay on her bed, staring out the window, remembering what her peers had done to her the day before at school...
While she was walking into the cafeteria by herself, like always, the usual whispers filled the room, but Alyssa could still hear them.
"Oh my gosh, look. It's the ugly kid."
"She's failing every subject."
"Nobody likes her."
"She never talks."
"Her parents must be real screw-ups to have a kid like that!" Alyssa took deep breaths and focused on the back corner table that she sat at every lunch hour. She sat down and ate as quickly as she could, trying to get out of the cafeteria; away from the people who made her life miserable.
But yesterday was different than the usual snickers and whispers. Joline Thomas, the head cheerleader who always had some cruel comment for Alyssa grabbed her pom poms and jumped up onto a table. The whole student body quieted down, waiting to see what the popular Joline would do.
She stared coldly over at Alyssa and smiled cruelly. She started her little dance.
"2-4-6-8, who does everybody hate? Alyssa! Alyssa! Alyssa!..." She yelled out and soon everybody was chanting with her. Alyssa stared up at her arch enemy who kept on cheering. Alyssa could feel her eyes stinging and, not wanting to show her tears, ran out of the cafeteria where laughter and teasing were left behind. She spent the rest of her lunch hour in the bathroom crying...
Alyssa had stopped herself from thinking about it. It only made things worse. She hopped out of bed, made it and got dressed.
"Why even go to school?" She wondered out loud. She sighed and went downstairs where nobody had come down yet. Alyssa spread out on the couch and turned on the tv.
An hour later, Shawn flew down the stairs in a hurry. Alyssa jumped up and Shawn whipped around to face her.
"Hi Shawn, how are-"
"Alyssa! Have you seen my chem text?" He asked in a panic.
"Yes, you left it down here last night before you went to bed." Alyssa reached down and pulled up a heavy blue book. Shawn sighed heavily and grabbed the book from his sister.
"So, how was Belle last night?" Alyssa asked, trying to make conversation. Not having any friends of her own, her best friend became her brother and his friends became Alyssa's friends.
"She was fine." Shawn replied simply and he went into the kitchen. Alyssa followed.
"So what did you guys do?" She asked as Shawn tried to find himself some food for breakfast.
"Just a bunch of stuff." Shawn replied, obviously distracted.
"Like what?" Alyssa asked. Shawn turned quickly, causing Alyssa to jump.
"Alyssa! Stop asking so many questions! Leave me alone alright! I have a huge test today and I'm stressed out so just-" before he could finish yelling at his sister, Bo and Hope walked into the kitchen, staring at Shawn.
"Shawn! Don't yell at your sister." Bo said firmly. Hope looked down at her daughter, who was looking at Shawn with tears in her eyes.
"Honey, are you okay?" Hope asked, bending down to brush Alyssa's hair out of her face. Alyssa pulled away and stood up.
"I'm fine! I'm going to school. Bye mom and dad." With that, Alyssa stared coldly at her brother and stormed out of the room. Bo, Hope and Shawn heard the front door slam.
"Shawn, you know better than to treat your sister like that." Bo started to raise his voice. Shawn lowered his head.
"You know she's been depressed lately and her feelings are on a roller coaster so try to be careful, honey." Hope said.
"Okay, I'm sorry. I know she's been depressed. I didn't mean to snap at her like that." Shawn apologized, feeling ashamed of himself.
"Your sister doesn't have any friends her own age, so she needs you. You've been great to her. I don't know what we'd do without you." Bo smiled at his oldest son.
"You and Zac and Alyssa have made us very proud." Hope embraced her son and Shawn could feel his stress level reducing with every moment spent with his loving parents.