We pulled up to the rickety old house, and I felt a twinge of excitement that echoed within the sea of melancholy I had been feeling lately.
The house was by no means new or luxurious, but it was much more than I had anticipated.We moved from California, where we had a two bedroom apartment in the worst part of town. Walking to work each day had become a constant nightmare. While I was thankful to move, I couldn't help but expect the worst.I've lived with my mother and her husband for three years now, and to say I hate it is an understatement. I was raised by my amazing grandmother for most of my life, but unfortunately she died a few years back. The only other relative able to take me in was my mother.'Melissa', she insists I call her. As though I'm just some child she found on the street.Melissa and I have a non-existent relationship, which means she pretends I don't exist and I stay out of the way. The issue lies in her husband. Frank likes to drink far too much, and when he does he becomes a complete asshole. I keep my distance from Frank when he's been hitting the bottle too much.We just moved all the way to Georgia due to a job offer Melissa had gotten. Frank could hardly hold a job, so Melissa paid most of the bills. Typically, I worked part time. I used my money to buy the necessities that Melissa refused to provide.The new house was much bigger than I had expected. It looked pretty old, sporting chipped white paint and a crooked porch jutting out from the front of the house.The only thing I was looking forward to regarding out cross country move, was finally having my own bedroom. My bedroom in California consisted of me hanging a curtain to block off the unused dining room. Frank insisted he needed the second bedroom as an office.I climbed out of the car and stretched, slinging my backpack over my shoulder as I walked to the front porch. I could hear Melissa and Frank already begin to argue, but I had learned to successfully tune them out.The front porch creaked and groaned under my feet, but I didn't mind it. Frank only ever stepped outside to run to the liquor store, so I would have plenty of time to myself on the porch.Melissa opened the front door and stepped inside behind Frank. I wasted no time heading upstairs to my bedroom."The smallest room, Aurora. Don't forget it." Melissa reminded me, not that I could forget.I went upstairs and looked around, instantly grateful I had a bathroom close to my bedroom. I felt a smile form on my face when I peeked in Melissa and Frank's room. They had their own bathroom connected to their bedroom, which meant Frank would leave me alone for a change.Frank always pushed his boundaries with me when he was drunk. He was smart, and never did it while Melissa was around. I had a constant air of caution when I was around Frank. He had gotten handsy a few times, but when he was drunk he was easy to escape.I walked into my bedroom and looked at the paint peeling from the walls. Once I managed to find myself a job, I could make this room a little more presentable.I had a small fund saved up since I was old enough to get a job. While I was a straight A student, I needed a backup plan in case I didn't get a scholarship. Escaping this place the moment I turned eighteen was constantly on my mind.I dropped my backpack on the floor and looked around. It was a small room, but it had a working door and four walls. A rickety queen sized bed sat against the far wall along with a dusty oak dresser.I ran downstairs and grabbed my large suitcase from the trunk of Melissa's car, struggling under its weight. Melissa and Frank were still arguing, but that gave me plenty of time to wrestle my suitcase to the top of the stairs.Everything I needed fit comfortably in my suitcase. I didn't have many clothes, but I had grown used to that sad fact.I stuffed what clothes I owned in the dusty dresser, pulling out an outfit for school tomorrow.Melissa had wasted no time enrolling me at the local public school. Anything to get me out of the house and out of Frank's thinning hair.I stuffed my debit card in my back pocket and ran downstairs.Melissa had her back turned to me, bickering at Frank as he set up the small TV in the living room."Where do you think you're going?" Melissa snapped, turning around to face me as I opened the front door.I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at her. She never cared where I went before."I'm gonna go find something for dinner." I shrugged.I had stopped eating dinners with Melissa and Frank a long time ago. The court had made Melissa my legal guardian until I turned eighteen, so I refused to give her any of the money I worked for. Instead, I supported myself to the best of my ability."Get me a six pack while you're out." Frank snapped, his beady eyes narrowed at the hazy image on the TV.I gritted my teeth together, this man was an idiot. "I'm seventeen."I turned on my heel and walked out the front door, ignoring Frank's mumbling.I walked out onto the main road and sighed. I had no idea where I was going. My eyes flickered left and right a few times before finally deciding to go right.All I needed was a gas station. I could get myself a bag of chips and a bottle of water and call it a night.I walked down the main road for maybe fifteen minutes and sighed with relief when a small corner store came into view.That was one thing I'd miss about California. In Cali, you could walk in just about any direction and find a gas station or grocery store.I walked into the poorly lit corner store and said hello to the cashier, a girl not much older than myself. I grabbed a bag of chips, a couple bottles of water and a granola bar and walked over to the register."Hi, um do you know where Westlake Highschool is?" I asked the girl as I swiped my debit card. She had to be in her early twenties. Her hair was jet black but she had a stripe of green running through it.The girl nodded as she pressed some buttons on the register, "Sure do. Just follow this road until you reach the traffic light and turn left. You won't be able to miss it." She nodded."Thanks." I gave her a small smile as I took my receipt from her hand.The girl looked up from the register, "You new around here?""That obvious?" I chuckled. I haven't seen much of the town, but it was clear that it wasn't the largest.The girl nodded, a small smirk playing on her face. "Towns pretty small. Most of the people in town have houses further out in the woods." She shrugged, as if it were nothing new.I furrowed my eyebrows, it just sounded strange. "Why not just live in town?""I dunno. People around here seem to like their privacy." She shrugged.I left the corner store feeling confused and a little wary. The girl didn't give me much hope for school tomorrow. If this town really was small, there was no way I'd go unnoticed.This was the middle of my junior year. Once I finished the rest of this year, I only had one more to go. One more year and I could finally escape Melissa and Frank.I woke up to the sound of my old alarm clock. It was six in the morning, leaving me with plenty of time to get ready and walk to schoolMelissa would already be at work, and Frank typically slept in until 11 a.m or later.I crept out of my bedroom and into the bathroom, making as little noise as possible. Frank was an absolute nightmare if you woke him up.I went into the bathroom and combed my long chocolate brown hair. Everyone on Melissa's side of the family had extremely light blonde hair, making me stand out even more. I also have this rare condition called Heterochromia Iridum, making my eyes two different colors. While my left eye was an incredibly light blue, my right eye was a deep chocolate brown.My grandma would rarely ever speak of my father, but when she did she would mention he also had the same condition.l had a feeling that was why Melissa didn't like me, my own mother. Something bad happened between her and my father, resulting i
"And you're sure you don't mind?" I sighed, looking at Tori with shameful eyes.Tori scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Of course not. We work the same days anyway, I'd just have to come in thirty minutes early." Tori shrugged.When Tori found out I planned to walk thirty minutes to and from work, she insisted to giving me a ride everyday. I wasn't used to people wanting to help me, so the gesture made me feel like crap."Let me at least give you gas money every week." I frowned, fidgeting with the tight uniform we were forced to wear.While my Saturday was spent completing the project Alec and Kade refused to do, today was Sunday and my first day of work.The first half of the day was rather slow, but the people in this town seemed to tip well. I seemed to fare well, only spilling things on myself rather than everyone else.I was thankful the uniforms consisted of a black t-shirt with the restaurants logo and a pair of tight black slacks. All of
I clocked out of work after making quite a bit of money from tips alone. It would definitely help replenish some of the money I had spent on clothes and necessities.While I was happy to be free from work, going home was another situation entirely.When Tori dropped me off, Melissa was still at work for another hour. That left me alone with Frank.I knew he was completely shit-faced the second I walked through the front door.He sat in the recliner watching some fuzzy football match on the TV. His face contorted in anger and I sighed."Where the fuck have you been?" He spat, struggling to lift himself off the recliner.I tried not to roll my eyes, knowing it only pissed him off more."Working, Frank." I repeated myself for the hundredth time.I turned to walk up the stairs and escape his drunken tirade when something he said had me turning back around."Working?" He scoffed, wobbling as he stood from the recliner. "You w
My next class featured Alec, Tori, and Grace.I was beginning to have a love hate relationship with this particular class.It wasn't all bad because I got to sit next to Tori, which kept Alec from tormenting me. The downside was Grace and her friends would constantly throw insults my way. For someone who acts like their bulletproof, her insults sure hurt a lot.I had been dreading Gym class all day. We were split between Volleyball and Basketball for the next month or so.Sports have always been challenging for me. And as funny as it sounds, the ball always seemed attracted to my face.I chose the option that didn't include Alec or Kade, which was Volleyball. Much to my dismay Grace happened to choose Volleyball as well.My options weren't looking too great. Pick Basketball and suffer the intruding touches of the twins, or Volleyball and suffer mean comments from Grace.I'd choose mean comments any day.While the medium sized g
The car ride was awkward and silent as Tori flashed me suspicious glances."You were awful red when I found you in the hall." Tori raised her eyebrow at me.I wanted to tell her the truth, but I knew nothing would come of it. If these twins were really as 'untouchable' as everyone claimed, what good would it come?I was still completely torn about what actually happened. They had touched me against my will, kissed me against my will. If it was all against my will then why did I enjoy it so much? Why did some part of me want this to happen again?I chalked it up to reasonable insanity and due to the fact the twins were irresistibly hot.After claiming innocence a million and one times, Tori reluctantly stopped interrogating me.I navigated the house carefully, nearly jumping for joy when I saw Frank snoring on the recliner.I flopped down on my bed after finishing some homework and touched my head angrily.It wasn't even sore an
"What the fuck is this?" Kade snarled, his rough hand wrapped around my wrist.I leaned over the table uncomfortably while Kade and Alec glowered at the fading yellow bruise that stained my pale skin."It's a bruise." I snapped, trying to yank my arm away from the two of them.Kade's eyes hardened at my defiance and a yelp escaped my lips as Kade roughly pulled me onto his lap."What are you doing?" I hissed, feeling my face flush under the glances of the other customers. "I'm at work!"I'm at work? Was that really the best I could come up with. I pushed my embarrassing comment to the side, knowing it would keep me up at night."Our family owns this place, no one cares doll." Alec's full lips turned up in a smirk but his eyes remained hard."Get off of me, Kade." I hissed, trying to squirm out of his ironclad grip."You might want to stop doing that, sweetheart." Kade chuckled lowly in my heart.A deep rumble emerged fro
After my pointless conversation with Melissa, I hopped in the shower.My body refused to put me out of my misery and allow me some restful sleep.Instead, I laid awake staring at the chipped ceiling mulling over what Alec and Kade had said to me.How could they possibly think I belonged to them? I had just started school here, and I hardly even knew them. Yet they claimed I belonged to them, as if they had known me forever.It would've been easier to ignore the twins if I wasn't feeling this annoyingly strange connection to the two of them. Sure, they were drop dead gorgeous but some innate part of me wanted to be around them. It was as if my instincts were pushing me closer to them while the logical side of me pulled away. Nonetheless, my body seemed to react on it's own under the twins touches as if it wanted to be claimed by them.I had no choice but to go to school the next day. Melissa had a day off and the last thing I wanted was to be stuck
Gym class was last, and I was completely dreading it. The Volleyball and Basketball lesson was still going at full force.Luckily, I was placed on Autumn's team."Just stay close to me, and when the ball comes run the other way." Autumn chuckled, slamming her locker shut as we walked out into the gym."I appreciate that." I nodded gratefully."And keep away from Grace, not that I think she'll be a problem anymore." Autumn shrugged.My brows furrowed in response, "What do you mean?""You didn't hear?" Autumn smirked, her eyes flickering over to Alec and Kade.The two of them were in the middle of playing basketball, outrunning the other guys on the team with ease."Um, no." I stared at Autumn impatiently."Apparently Alec flipped out on Grace." Autumn shrugged, "And she went to Kade all upset."I ignored the strange pang that went through me. It felt oddly similar to jealousy. What was there to be jealous of? I did