VOID

Penelope

My day was going smoothly. Was. The minute he walked in with a stack of somewhat official-looking papers I knew what he had done. I sighed in disbelief and pushed past him, the papers landing in a heap before him. I scampered up the stairs, making sure to bolt my door locked. I leaped onto my bed, my locks falling either side of my head like I was in some kind of old coming-of-age movie. I could hear his fiery roar creeping up the stairs, the atrium walls echoing downstairs. The marble pillars reminded me of my mother somehow. I never knew her but I always had some kind of idea of what she looked like. My first picture was with her in front of the biggest one, towering over her head. It was a day before she collapsed. My dad seemed to think he could fix everything with grand halls and expensive gifts. I just wanted to be left alone.                                                                                                                                                                                                                        I was just cheering myself up with some music when my door suffered a sharp knock. It was the kind of knock that told me I was in deep trouble. I didn't care. I stuffed my headphones into the draw and crossing my arms, opening the door like I didn't give a shit. "Here. I'm doing this for you." He slammed the door shut, leaving me with a scrawny redhead who seemed to have never seen a bed before. She was skinny but tall, tall enough to remind me of my mother when she was young. At least when she smiled for a photo. Other than that I had no recollection of her. The orphan looked around in awe at my room, reminding me of how little these kind of kids had. Looking back, it was kinda cruel to refer to her as that. She wouldn't care now. "You live here?" She stuck her head around the door of my en suite, and I sighed. "Well I don't live in a shed. Who are you anyways?" She smiled weakly and sat cross-legged on the floor. "I'm um, your Dad said i could stay here for a bit, he sees hope in my case." I scrunched up my nose.                                               "Your case?"                                                                                                                                                                            "My um, my brother went missing five years ago. My parents don't have a place for me to stay." The reason I had all this was because my dad was the highest police officer in the state. All the kids hated me for it. As they should.                                                                                                                             "Holy shit I thought he adopted you. Are your parents that shitty?" She clearly wasn't impressed with me making assumptions on her parents. "Its...complicated." She stood up and dusted off her skirt."Where do I, where do I go to school?" I assumed he would giving me the pleasure of taking the bus with her every day, so I nodded. "My school. Hampton High. The shittiest shithole there is." She nodded and just as I was reaching for her bag to take to her room, she yanked it back and stuck her middle finger up at me. "Hands off rich kid." I raised an eyebrow at her and lead her down the corridor to her suite. I left her to it.