Part one
I was only seventeen when my whole life turned upside down. I was driving home from the store after the last day of school, thinking of what to make for dinner. I had missed lunch today because I was studying for an upcoming test with my best friend Jenny. Right now I was living off a granola bar that she had given me. This test wasn't super important to me, but it was to my mother, Ella Colson. She treated every test like it was life or death even though she didn't even care about my schooling. If I got anything below an A or A plus she would yell at me. Today we had gotten our final report card for the year and I had gotten straight B's. to tell the truth, she would take any excuse to yell.
She wasn't always so bad. She was the most loving person I knew but when I was five everything changed. My Dad was a Firefighter and always worked a lot of shifts. That's how he died. After he died Ella lost it, she started going out and drinking. Then she started doing drugs. She left me right after I got home from school, leaving me with my two baby siblings. I had basically grown up with her on drugs. By the time I was six I was taking care of Zoe and Leo full time while mom was gone. When I was ten I got a job cleaning to pay for basic needs. When I turned thirteen I got a job babysitting. I soon realized this wasn't going to be enough, our money was draining so fast from Ella using it, and the twins needed to go to school. So at fifteen I had two more jobs, working at a restaurant as a waitress, and at a coffee shop as a barista. Now at sixteen I was paying for both my tuition and the twins, while paying the bills on our house and other needs.
I pulled into the driveway and unloaded the car. I set the groceries on the counter and watched as Ella looked up from her glass of wine.
"You're back." she said, her blond hair was messed up and her blue eyes looked around wildly.
"Yep, here's my report card, go ahead and yell now." I said, sliding it over. She glanced over it briefly then looked up.
"You're slacking! You should be doing better!" she yelled. She tried to stand up but fell back.
"And you're drunk." I said, putting away the vegetables.
"Don't talk back to me young lady." Ella said, her eyes crossed.
"Are the twins back yet?" I asked.
"No! Why should I know?"
"Because they're your kids and you're home all the time." I said flatly.
"Go to your room!" Ella yelled. I looked at her blankly.
"I need to make dinner." I said.
"Go to your room and when those two get home you can make dinner." she said, hiccuping.
"Fine, whatever." I said. I hung up my keys and walked up the stairs.
"Don't talk like that to me young lady! I'm your mother!" Ella yelled after me.
Yeah right, I thought, you're about as much of a mother as a rock.
I went into my room and sat down at my desk. A small picture of my father and me standing by a lake sat there. His brown hair was blowing in the wind and his brown eyes were smiling almost as much as his mouth, which was in a huge grin. I looked a lot like him. We both had brown hair and brown eyes and the same smile.
I leaned back in my chair and looked down at my arm. Thirty one white scars covered my arm. A fresh one still bled. Last year i had gotten so angry that i started to cut myself. I was trying to stop because I needed to take care of Zoe and Leo. but it was hard. It was really hard. I opened the desk drawer and pulled out a small silver blade. I put it to my skin and closed my eyes. Before i could cut myself i heard the door slam. Ella started yelling and I quickly put away the blade. I ran down the stairs to see Ella yelling at Zoe and Leo. Zeo had beautiful blond hair like Ella and soft brown eyes. She looked on the verge of tears. Leo was glaring at Ella as she yelled at them. He had brown hair and blue eyes.
Ella stopped yelling when she saw me coming down the stairs.
I walked past her, picked up Zoe, grabbed Leo's hand and took them up stairs and into my room. I set Zoe on my bed
"How was school?" i asked. Leo shrugged. Zoe's eyes lit up. She loved school. Probably because it meant she wasn't here.
"We learned about the different languages today." Zoe said.
"That's great, what about you Leo?" i asked.
"It was school, I got an A on the math test." Leo said he was so smart and i wished i could help him more.
"Nice job."
From downstairs I heard Ella yell and throw something glass against the wall. It shattered and Zoe flinched. Leo glared at the wall.
"Was she drinking again?" Zoe asked. I nodded. All the light from her eyes dissipated. She was so small and fragile I was always afraid she would break when Ella yelled at her.
"Hey, what's for dinner!" Ella screamed. Zoe looked at me with fear.
"Hey, why don't you guys go and get changed and i'll take you with me to work." I said. Zoe nodded and Leo smiled. Tonight was my shift at the Rusty Burger. Most of the time when Zoe and Leo came with me the employees gave them free food. They knew about our situation and wanted to help as much as possible.
"Ok." Zoe said. When she turned to leave i glanced a small white scar on her cheek. Last year Ella came home early, before i was home, super drunk and threw a temper tantrum. She had thrown a broken glass wine bottle at the twins. Zoe had only gotten a small cut but Leo had used himself to shield her. Now he had a long scar down his back. When I called the cops they said they couldn't do anything to help us and the only thing we could do was stay out of the way.
After they left i got changed into my uniform. Ella was yelling and kicking the wall down in the kitchen.
After I was done, I collected Leo and Zoe and walked out of the house. When Ella saw us leaving her started screaming her lungs out. We just kept on walking. We loaded up in the car and i drove off.