Blue Hill, Maine

Chapter 3

"Growth is painful. Change is painful. But nothing is as painful as staying stuck somewhere you don't belong-Unknown"
~~~
I woke to warm light streaming in through the window. I sat up, rubbing my eyes, not entirely remembering where I was. But as I looked around the barren room and heard voices downstairs, I immediately remembered. This was Hannah's house, Dad's house, and, unfortunately, my new house.

With a groan, I climbed out of bed and stood slowly on the cold hardwood floor. I grabbed a pair of fuzzy socks from my suitcase and hurriedly pulled them on before walking out of my room. The hallway was quiet as I walked down; either everyone else was awake and downstairs, or some were still sleeping. I'd never been an early riser, only when I absolutely had to, so it would be strange if people were still sleeping.

As I walked downstairs, I heard voices coming from what I assumed was the kitchen. I nearly turned around to go back upstairs, but my rumbling stomach told me not to. Although I didn't want to sit through a meal with these people, I couldn't starve myself.

I walked through the entrance to the kitchen, pausing awkwardly while my eyes surveyed the room. Hannah was rushing around the kitchen, wearing scrubs similar to the ones from yesterday, while she stuffed papers into her purse and tried to fill a travel-cup with coffee. Dad was taking bowls out of a cupboard while Seth and Sophie tried to get Olivia to sit down. Poor Evan was standing in the middle of the chaos, trying to figure out what to do.

"Oh! Emma! You're awake." Hannah looked up suddenly, making everyone quiet.

"Um, yeah." I nodded, suddenly feeling out of place. I was still dressed in my ratty pajamas and everyone else was dressed.

"Well, help yourself. We've got pretty much every cereal known to mankind." Hannah chuckled as she stuffed more things into her purse.

Dad had sat down at the head of the table, Seth and Olivia to his right, and Sophie to his left. Hannah sat down at the other end of the table and Evan was on Seth's other side, leaving only the seat beside Sophie. I sat down slowly, careful not to make eye contact with anyone.

Dad cleared his throat, glancing at Evan and I before speaking. "Alright then. Go ahead and eat."

Everyone started to dig in, except Evan. I couldn't help but glare at Dad; of course he would forget that Evan didn't eat cereal.

"Come on, go ahead and eat." Seth nudged Evan and pointed to a box of sugary cereal.

"I-I can't." Evan shook his head nervously.

I felt guilty as I realized that I'd left Evan to fend for himself last night. Sure, he liked spaghetti and meatballs, but there were loads of things he either couldn't or wouldn't eat; cereal was just one of many. On top of that, I was the older sister. I couldn't just leave him because I didn't feel like talking to anyone.

"Come on, Evan. Just eat some." Dad frowned sternly at Evan as he grabbed a box and started to pour it into Evan's bowl.

"But I-" Evan started to say before looking down at his lap. I felt a surge of anger rise in my chest as I looked at him. Evan was only five years old when our parents divorced; he barely knew our father, barely even remembered him, so how was he supposed to talk to him?

"Evan doesn't eat cereal, remember?" I turned to glare at Dad. "He puked when he was two because of it."

The room was silent as everyone looked from Evan, to me, to Dad, and back to Evan.