Thank you to the reviews on the first chapter! This one, I'll admit...is kind of boring and lousy, but I needed a setup for the next chapter.
BPOV
"Bella!" I turned around at the sound of Caitlyn's voice. "Emma just threw up on Sophie."
"Ugh," I groaned, half sighed. I wanted to cry because of the frustration of this day. Just as I'd suspected Emma had gotten sick when I'd been sure she wasn't.
As I followed her out to the living room I finally started to hear the crying. Emma and Sophie sat on the floor crying and covered in a sick white substance. Well, at least I hadn't bathed them yet. "Mama!" Emma whined, coughing through her plea. Emma and Sophie weren't old enough to understand, so I didn't bother correcting them on it because it would only be useless. So I took the little ones upstairs while Caitlyn got on her little homework. Melly tagged along because she also needed a bath. To save time – and water – I bathed them all at once, earning more splashes of water. I smiled at them all, giggling upon their splashes.
They were such happy little girls and I didn't understand it. They deserved better, so much better, and they didn't even know it.
The girls were all in bed by nine o'clock, but Emma was pretty fussy going down. She was always so stubborn when she was sick. Loud and stubborn.
I didn't have long before my father would be getting home so I quickly warmed up his plate, hoping ten seconds as enough, when I heard the door open and slam. I cringed, praying it didn't wake any of the girls.
"Isabella," Charlie commanded distantly as he sat down at the kitchen table. I nodded, though he didn't ask a question and set the food in front of him. Turning around I headed to the sink to finish the dishes and wipe down the highchairs Emma and Sophie had dirtied. As I was finally relaxing into my nighttimes chores, I heard that familiar clear of Charlie's throat. "Isabella, its too cold," he snapped.
A loud breath pushed form my lips as I dried my hands and turned around to grab the plate and put it in the microwave. I stayed away from my dad, keeping distance between me and his hands, but I knew it couldn't continue. As I set the plate down on in front of him, he said, "Don't move, Isabella."
I mentally braced myself, thinking happy thoughts as the sting came across the left side of my face. It wouldn't have hurt so much if I didn't already have a mark from two nights ago. Tears ran down face as a reflex and I cleared my throat to speak.
"Charlie, I need money for the twins," I said quietly. "They need more clothes." He grunted, shaking his head as he dug out his wallet and slapped three fifty-dollar bills on the table, pausing before setting another two down. He pushed them toward me. "Thank you," I mumbled, scooping it up and putting it in my back pocket.
It took two hours to finish my homework before I could go to bed. I laid with a cold washcloth on the side of my face as I finally fell asleep.
But my sleep deprivation took its toll on me the next morning. Emma was sick, I think Sophie was getting it, Caitlyn was grumpy, and Melly was tired. I was almost all of those things put together. I didn't have it in me to cover up the bruise on my face much, so I just tried to quickly dab it on. Getting to school was hard too.
I couldn't seem to get everything right. I was almost late because no one could get around. All I wanted to do was sleep, but I hadn't been able to do that for years now. I couldn't deny that I needed a break, that I needed to get away. Obviously I didn't have to take care of the girls, because I chose it for myself, but if I didn't no one would. They wouldn't have an education, they wouldn't be fed or cleaned or put to bed. They wouldn't know what love meant if no one cared for them.
Maybe I brought it on myself, I thought as I sat in Trig class, tapping my paper with my end of my pencil. Maybe if I just hadn't started caring for them at first...No, I would have gotten stuck with it in the first place. Its obvious that I would have ended up in this spot whichever way you rolled the dice.
Sometimes I wished that my life was different, matched weird fantasies I had, but then I realized what would my life be without them? Emma, Sophie, Caitlyn and Melly made up my life. If I didn't have them I would probably not be like I am today. I probably wouldn't be responsible. I also probably wouldn't be abused by my father. But its better me then them.
At lunch I had the worse appetite so I sat outside on the curb, listening to my iPod. What else was there to do when you didn't want to be around people? I gently shook my black iPod, waiting for the opening beats of a song that would blast my mind and let me forget the world around me. Let me live a different life for a few minutes. "Addicted" by Enrique Inglesias came on and I immediately changed it. Too sappy. Shaking it again "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon came on. This I could settle for.
My thoughts finally softened as I listened to the melting lyrics, focusing on them so I could forget the thoughts that seemed to darken my mood. But even music didn't distract my feelings or thoughts.
So many things happened in such a short time. I think things started spiralling downhill when Caitlyn was two and she became my "adopted" child, as I thought of it. And from then, my mother just started popping out children. At this point in my life I should have been worried about getting zits or my grades, but I was actually worried about Renee having another child. I mean, that would totally ruin my entire life. Right now I went on such little sleep that I could hardly function on a daily basis.
My grades were fairly good and my attendance was okay, but it could have been better. It could have been so much better if my parents hadn't abandoned us...
The bell interrupted my thoughts, slicing through my mental words. I sighed as I stood, bending down to grab my bag. As I was standing up I hit into something hard.
His hands caught me before I could possibly fall on my ass.
"Oh, um...thanks, Edward," I stuttered, pulling out my earphones and disconnecting them from my iPod to stop the music. I shoved them both in my bag.
"You okay?" he asked dubiously.
I shrugged, because I really wasn't. "Yeah," I lied. "Thanks."
As I started walking he followed, though we didn't have the next class together. I didn't know where the two of us stood exactly, but I think we're bordering the line of friends.
"So are we on for Friday night?" Edward asked. I almost asked what he was talking about until I remembered our project we had to work on.
"Uh, yeah," I agreed quickly. "Um, I doubt we'll get it down in one night, though. I mean, it is cell biology." It was probably one of the most difficult concepts in biology and I didn't have a single idea. Of course I knew it would take forever to do the actual project and sense we only had till Monday...I think we'll be spending a lot of the weekend together. "So, do you have any ideas?" I asked hopefully, laughing once at how unprepared I was.
Edward smiled like he knew exactly what I was thinking. "Don't worry, I've done my research. I've got an idea of what we can do."
"Perfect." Because I didn't have a single clue what I was going to do.
And I didn't just mean about our project together.
By the way...Looking for a good story to read? Try my story An Intense Dark Side. Warning, it is very dark and includes talk of rape and use of drugs and slitting of wrists.
So what'd you think? Uneventful? Like I said, this is merely a setup for the next. Edward's coming over next chapter!-Mickey.