Newsies' Daughter [Rewrite]

1 - Messy Beginnings

Lights flashed.

Sirens wailed.

Firefighters rushed around me.

The overwhelming stench of smoke permeated the lawn.

I couldn't bear to turn around--to see what was left of the place I once called home.

A familiar car pulled into the driveway. The driver's door opened, and a man stepped out. A man I hadn't seen in nearly a year, yet there was a familiarity about him. A warmth.

That man was my godfather, Jeremy Jordan.

He rushed over to me. "Elisabeth!"

I must've looked like a mess at that moment. Singed, soot-coated pajamas, ratted hair, tearstains down my cheeks. And there wasn't really any other word that described my life as well as 'messy'.

Three little brothers, two dogs, and one fed-up mom. Until today. Nick and Dylan got out unscathed. Harley? Alive, but barely. Which isn't as much as I could say about mom.

Nana and Poppa had already come to pick up the twins. They planned on taking in Harley, too, once he got better. But not me. They claimed they were 'too old' to care for so many children. Always the 3, never the 4.

See, my mother was married twice. First to my father. They divorced soon after I was born. We never heard from him again. Years later, mom married Kai. They had 3 kids together. Nana and Poppa were Kai's parents. When he passed not too long ago, they were here all the time to help mom and take care of the boys. But not once did they so much as ask me how I was doing. To them, I was a curse. A reminder of what my mom was like before she met Kai.

It didn't bother me that I wasn't going home with them. The boys would be happy, I knew that much, but I'm better off staying with Jeremy anyway.

He wrapped an arm around me. "Are you okay?"

I didn't answer right away.

"Liss, are you okay?"

"How can I be?" A surge of anger coursed through my veins. "Two hours. Two hours ago, everything was normal. And now - and now everything's all wrong."

He sighed. "I wish I could tell you that things are going to turn out and that everything is going to get better--that you'll heal with time, but I think you're old enough to know that sometimes, life throws you curveballs. And sometimes, it's hard to move on from them. But I know you, Elisabeth. I know that you're strong. And I know that you're brave. And I know that you can get through this."

I took a deep breath.

We were silent for a moment. Until I broke it. "Can - can we go, please?"

"Yeah. Yeah, we can."

I stood up, him quickly following suit. Together, we walked to his car, the silence quickly returning. Neither of us spoke, even as he started driving.

Soon, the quiet became unbearable, like an anvil resting on my shoulders. Wordlessly, I reached over and turned on the radio. I flipped through the stations until I found K-love.

I sat back in my seat, letting the music consume me.

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders