TW: This story contains mature content. Themes of explicit sexual content, abuse, substance use/abuse, psychological abuse are within. Please read with that in mind and with caution to your own well-being.
Thank you and happy reading.
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"Yeah, Mom, I get it. 'Take the girls to school, buy groceries, and don't stay over at my girlfriend's house.' Happy?"
"Alright, Bryson. Don't make me call you again," my mom says. Of course—her snarky attitude never fails to piss me off.
"Alright." After hanging up the phone, I take a look around at our messy kitchen; there's no doubt in my mind that tells me Mom wants me to clean all this shit up, too. Stuffed garbage bags had been placed haphazardly in one corner of the room, near the cabinets; a large, dirty pile of dishes sits in a stack in the grimy sink; and the stained counters are cluttered with random items, such as a toy princess wand that happens to be broken. Sighing, I kick a bag out of my way. My nose scrunches and I scowl in disgust the second a horrifying odor attacks my sense of smell.
Glancing down at my watch—which belonged to my grandpa, who I never met—the tiny hands inform me that it's six-forty on the dot; I still haven't made breakfast nor lunch. Dammit.
The kitchen, ugh, looks like a shithole. I trudge out of the room, rounding the corner where the stairs are against the nearby wall. As old and squeaky, and creaky as these steps are, they're still able to hold all one-hundred-twenty-seven pounds of me. Once upstairs, scanning both left and right down the small hallway, I gather a deep breath and yell, "Marissa, Ashley, Chastity, Verona, wake up!"
Faint groans sound through two doors out of the five. The agonizing sounds of waking up early pulls a smirk on my features.
Marissa and Chastity, who are sixteen and fourteen, share a room on the right side of the staircase. Ashley and Rona share the room on the left. The room across from theirs belongs to our mom, next to it is mine, and the bathroom sits in between.
Mom is going to be pissed that I let them sleep in. School for them starts in an hour and I'm way behind schedule.
On my way down the stairs, someone bumps into my back. Scrawny, tanned arms wrap around my torso.
"Bryce, I don't wanna go," Chastity whines into my shirt. I chuckle.
"Chas, you have to," I tell her. Slowly, I descend the stairs while carefully dragging my little sister along with me.
"Are you coming, then?" Chastity asks hopefully. I suck in a short breath, feeling hesitant to reply.
"Nah, sorry, kiddo," I mutter quietly. "I gotta do a lot today."
Chas whines again, but eventually lets me go to get herself ready for school.
"You're not coming to school again?" Marissa asks, walking past me to look for her sneakers by the door. I shake my head at her.
"Gotta do stuff," I repeat. I head towards the kitchen to start making food, while, of course, ignoring the mess around me. I'll clean it when I get back from grocery shopping.
From my peripheral vision, I sense Ashley standing near the kitchen's entrance. The blonde eleven-year-old quietly approaches me and watches me make four sandwiches in four minutes.
It's fortunate for me that all of my sisters like mayonnaise.
"Hey, Ash," I greet the second youngest in our household.
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Suffocate
Mystery / ThrillerEstranged teenage boy, Bryson Hayden, is close to losing his very last nerve. Being a senior in high school and trying to keep a job is stressful in every sense of the word, but for the sake of his younger sisters, this teenager will give up everyth...
