bittersweet life

Chapter sixteen

Chapter sixteen:
Zach's POV:

"Hi mom, nice to see you. Aren't you supposed to be at work?" I ask sarcastically, my back turned to her.

"At least look me in the eyes when we talk. I don't like your attitude."

I take a deep breath and face her. She looks messy. As usual. But what did I expect?

"So?"

"No, they kind of fired me."

I laugh.

"What's so funny? Tell me."

I think about it for a second.
No Zach, don't explode.

"Nothing is-"

"No, no, no. Tell me," she presses further.

I clench my teeth.
Fuck it. I'm gonna tell her the truth, just once.

"Of course they would! Mom, you drink. You even do it in front of Arden! Like what did you expect would happen if you show up drunk at work, eh?" I say.

"Zach! Don't you dare-"

"What? To say the truth? Mom, get your shit together. Because I won't do it for you any longer!"

Okay, this came out a little louder than intended. Maybe I should apologi- And she slaps me. I glare at her, wanting to punch something. Maybe a wall, or the door, anything but her, that would be low.

"Zach? What's going on?" a sleepy voice asks. I turn around to see my little sister standing in her doorway. My look softens when she rubs her eyes with her tiny hands.

"Nothing. Let's go to bed again, yeah?"

My mom starts walking towards her and I stop her.

"Let me go, she needs me," my mother complains with a furious look.

"She did. The last four years, when you were too drunk to care," I tell her, my voice tired.

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Anna's POV:

The last night I didn't get any sleep. Like I didn't sleep at all. I envied my dog the whole time, seeing how peacefully he slept with his head next to mine. At least one of us got some rest. I look at the clock and it's 5:15 now. Apparently I'm awake before my alarm even thinks about ringing.

*sigh*
Who needs sleep anyway?  I think yawning. It's early in the morning and I already got thousands of things swirling in my head- time to go for a walk. Take my mind off of things.

*

"Where were you?" Dad shouts from the kitchen.

I close the door behind me and take of my shoes.

"I went for a walk."

"You could have taken Ben with you, look how upset he is."

And as if on request comes Ben with his puppy eyes giving me a sad look.

"Ooh, you planned this, didn't you?"

"I have to admit we trained it a few times," my dad answers with a laugher.

I ruffle Ben's fur and then make me some breakfast.

"Hurry up! School doesn't wait!"

*

"Just kill me now," I beg Evan.

"You're being dramatic, it's just Maths."

"Just maths? This is my personal hell," I whine.

"Ms. Jones, you want to tell us something?" our teacher chimes in.

"No?"

"Is this a question, Ms. Jones?"

"I guess?" I say uneasy. But you can't blame me: It's monday and I have a lack of sleep.

"Just be quiet. There are only five minutes left."

"Five minutes!" I whisper-shout to Evan, who gives me thumbs up. I earn one last disproving look from our teacher befor maths finally ends...

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