Teen girl, Chanel struggling after losing the two most important people In her life, her brother and Father. Stuck with an abusive mother driving her insane. Using drugs heavily. Stripping with her cousin to make any amount of money possible to skip...
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Landon's POV
"I'm actually feeling okay. Like good enough to not bitch about it all night." Chanel said through a laugh as I knocked on Valentina's cabin door. "If you ever want to bitch about it, come to me." I told her as I shrugged my shoulders. Moments later the wood door flung open in our direction, causing me to slightly push Chanel back before she got hit. Travis was there and greeted us with a smile and a bottle of vodka. "It's only ten o'clock." I told him as we walked in. I dumped our bags by the front door and followed them into the kitchen where Valentina was plating food.
"You guys are early." She said as we sat down behind the island while Travis went up behind her, being unusually affectionate. But my attention was grabbed when Chanel leaned in to talk to me. "I had my best Christmas here. Lucas was 16 at the time. I thought he'd miss Christmas because he was having a sleepover with his friend. However, he came in dressed as Santa and gave me a gift I had been begging for. In return my dad let me give him the keys to his first car." Her smile was so wide and genuine as she told me her short story. Her eyes moved from mine to the living room where the story happened. I didn't say anything and only admired her.
"Supper's ready kids." Valentina set two plates of steak and mashed potatoes in front of us as Travis wandered off. She made a plate for herself and stood there waiting for our approval. We took slow bites before Cahnel and I looked at each other. "You could've done better." I said as she nodded in agreement. We watched as Valentina's eyes lit in horror, on the verge of tears. "Really? I tried so hard." She told us before we laughed. "No, Vee the food is amazing thank you." She told her, as music started playing in the back and Travis entered the room. He was stumbling and had to use the counters to keep from following. "How much have you had to drink?" Chanel asked him.
"Why is your boyfriend going to punch me because of it?" He asked before taking a bite of Valentina's food. "I don't know, can you watch your mouth while you hold your liquor?" He scoffed. "No punching and no fighting here. This was like my childhood home and I wanted to share it with you guys. Don't ruin it please." I don't know the story behind Valentina, besides the fact her parents are clearly absent. Another fact I see now is that she's very sentimental about here and so is Chanel, so I'll put my hands away for the night.
After some small talk and after we finished our food we all decided to go into the hot tub. Chanel showed me to a room which used to be her's. I could tell immediately because her name was painted in bold letters on the wall. We set our bags down and I sat on the edge of the bed as she looked around the room. After a minute or two she sat on my lap, my hands quickly closing in around her. She was holding a picture frame and she shared it with me as she laid her head on my shoulder. It was a picture of her around the age six with what looked like her father and brother. Her smile was not a half smile but a pure one. She was genuinely happy. This picture made me smile because this shows me when she smiles at me or with me, her younger self is smiling as well.
