Secondhand Life

Chapter 1

Ash's P.O.V.
As I wake up to the roaring sound of something collapsing downstairs I jump out of bed immediately, put on my fluffy white slippers and sprint towards the sound of destruction.

As I walk into the garage I see the crumbled ceiling pieces scattered all over the cement floor. My oldest sister Bree was already there, she had gotten there before anyone else. Since her and I were the lightest sleepers I bet no one else even heard the collapsing ceiling. After 5 more minutes of waiting for more help Bree and I gave up on our parents and other siblings to help us. We cleaned up the fallen pieces of the white ceiling from the floor when Christopher raced through the door carrying 4 suitcases and pulling Lilly with him.

"S-sorry we're late!" Christopher panted. "We brought clothes, water, food, cookies, shoes, we even packed your suitcases... W-wait... Where are Mom and Dad?" He asked.

"Christopher..." Bree sighed swishing her brown side bangs away from her eyes. "Why on earth would you pack suitcases when all that happened was our ceiling just cracked again?!"

"Well it's been more than 10 times this has happened!" He retorted. "I figured dad and mom would've gotten a clue by now that we need to get out of here before the ceiling falls on us next!"

Lilly started crying. "I-I don't want the ceiling to fall on m-me!" She whined.

"Oh come on" Bree said. "This house isn't that bad, we've lived ever since we were babies and nothing has killed us!"

Christopher laughed until he started coughing. "Bree, what exactly happened last week?" He asked.

"Last week... Umm.. Hmm... Well the dishwasher fell through the floor... T-then the wood floor in the living room gave everybody splinters..." She trailed off counting on her fingers everything that had gone wrong.

"And what happened 4 days after that stuff?" Asked Christopher.

"The cabinets fell off the wall and made an indent when it crashed on the floor..."

"What about that one t-"

"What is all this fuss about?" My Mom, Alice bursted into the garage interrupting Christopher. "It's 6:37 in the morning! You sho-" she paused mid sentence when she looked around and saw a hole in the ceiling along with Christopher's and Lilly's suitcases by the doorway. "Oliver!" She called upstairs to my Dad. "I think it's time to make a decision!"

I heard a thud from above me. Seconds later my Dad came running down the stairs.

"Oh come on you've got to be kidding me!" He roared while yawning loudly.

"This is getting out of our hands" my mom said to him. "We need to tell the kids now."

"Alright, alright" he grumbled.

"As you know our house is falling apart." Said my mom "We want to know if you guys would be okay with moving. Me and your father talked about it and we think this house needs to be demolished." She finished with a sharp pain in her voice. I knew how much my Mom loved this house, but seriously we were all going to end up dead on the news if we kept living here much longer.

"Finally! It took you guys long enough to wake up and smell the drywall crumbling!" Bree exclaimed.

We all laughed at that.

Our house was built in 1897 considering that it was 2014 I was surprised the house was still standing with the 6 loud members of my family who caused more destruction than a tornado.
We are the Marlins, though we aren't normal, what family is?

Bree is 16, she's the oldest of my siblings. Though she can be a pain in the ass when she goes through those teenage girl phases (I don't think I will ever truly understand what is so special about Justin Bieber) her sarcasm levels were off the charts. With brown hair that hit her shoulders and blue eyes she was definitely the popular one in her high school. Most of the time she was usually hanging around these 2 bitches which according to her are her closest friends. But whenever I hear a conversation of theirs it sounds so fake you could cut through the awkwardness in the air. She often snuck out of the house late at night, I caught her trying to jump out of her bedroom window once. She was wearing the shortest shorts I have ever seen, a red lace shirt that totally showed cleavage to impress people. If she ever got into a fight, she could take off her heels and stab someone clear through the throat with them, they were sharp enough to kill someone.

Lilly and Christopher were Twins but they could not be more different.

Lilly is 7 she is the shy type of girl that won't talk to anyone but her family members. Even at school she's completely mute, her teachers get worried and constantly send her to guidance but they can never get her to talk. But I guess over all it's a good thing she doesn't have to many friends or she couldn't help Bree with her math homework. That's right. A 7 year old in 2nd grade is helping a 16 year old in 11th grade. I find hilarious. Her waist long blondish red hair makes no sense with her midnight blue eyes. Yet in some way she looked completely flawless by the way her eyes and hair complemented her thin body and round face.

Christopher is 7, and while he is a computer wiz, he is very inappropriate on the Internet, but he can always fix his mistakes by hacking systems. I swear to god that boy has made an account on every social media website known to exist. From what I know he has Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, tumblr, skype, vine, oovoo, Pinterest. You name it, he probably has it. Whenever something big happens, such as a fight, or a new trend, Christopher is the first to know about it. He'd post the news on every media site he had. He has blonde hair and green eyes that sparkled whenever he had done something wrong. He was a little heavier than Lilly (probably cause he eats as much as he weighs everyday) but he was still strong enough to carry her and four suit cases down the stairs.

My mom Alice Marlin married my Dad when she was 25. They had a great marriage over all, she had a tiny figure, green and grey eyes that opened with a spark, her brown hair was now turning white since she was now 42 and had raised 4 kids who could blow up the house without even trying. She worked at Payless the shoe store. Although she didn't make much money she loved her job. My mom never really stopped talking, that's what made her and my brother Christopher so much alike. They are the loud mouths in the family. Nothing could change that.

My Dad Oliver was the type of parent that would buy us whatever we wanted. If you wanted an phone, you got it! If you want a tattoo, he would let you! Except for when we asked for fast food he would always say no. Dad makes the best food, lobster, hamburgers, amazing seasoned shrimp, fresh white rice, smoothies. Whatever you name he can cook.

And lastly there is me, Ash. I'm 12 and according to everyone in my family, I am very blunt with everything, for example if one of my siblings said "My head hurts!" I'd respond with "Good for you man." School wise I usually get the highest scores on all of my tests. I have gotten on the honor roll more than 3 times since I entered junior high. I wasn't exactly popular... Not even close. I am probably the biggest outcast in our entire school. Whenever I walk down the halls of our school I feel like someone is missing...I can never figure out what it is. I had red and black hair, with green, blue and yellow eyes. Nothing about me was truly special. I wasn't a talented future stripper like Bree, I can't cook even close to my dads level, I sucked with computers unlike my brother Christopher, I couldn't be quiet and unsociable at school like Lilly, I'd never love something the way my mom loved her job.

But beneath my personality was something I couldn't explain, as if I was living a dream, I never truly felt alive. Other kids my age would scream when cold water hits their skin unexpectedly. During sad movies people will cry or yield on the verge of tears. When Christopher got food poisoning during a graduation party my family members were freaking out, I sat on by a table clutching my can of Pepsi and whispering to myself "it's okay, it's okay."

I remember once a long time ago that my cousin Emily was hanging from a tree by her neck at her graduation party... At the time, even if I was a little 5 year old girl I had understood what brought kids to do things like this. We are all so pressured by the American education system to put everything we have and have ever had into our learning. As if giving your soul to the devil from the time you're 5 years old to 25 years old. And even after all that time in school, dealing with bullies, fake friends, fights, disagreements, doing all nighters just so you might pass a pointless class that will teach you nothing for your future, you finally make it to graduation. You go through all of this for a piece of paper that says "congratulations" and a handshake.

But at the same time, as you walk out of school you get a sense of pride, joy, you might just even get your soul back, have a family, kids, a husband/wife, a job that you really love.

Whenever I told my parents what I thought about Emily I'd ask them why I think this way? They'd say I'm optimistic.
I have believed in that for a very long time. But as I got older i really wondered... Is this world just a distraction from everything that's happening around us?