Becoming Broken

Chapter One

Right as I jumped on my bed to air guitar the solo in my favorite song, there was a knock on my bedroom door. I groaned as I got off my bed, turned down the music and opened the door. Mom and Dad were holding hands in my doorway. Mom and Dad spend every moment together unless one of them are at work and I hope that one day, I’ll find a guy that loves me as much as they love each other. I’m only a freshman in high school, so there’s still time.

“Yes?” I asked.

“Emily dear, do you mind watching your siblings while we go pick up the pizza? Delivery time would have been a two hour wait.” Mom asked sweetly.

“Sure, that’s fine.” I replied.

“Thank you, kid.” Dad smiled while pulling me in and nuzzling my head.

“Hey! You’re messing up my hair!” I yelled.

Dad chuckled and let go of me. My hands went to my hair to straighten it back out.

“We shouldn’t be gone long.” Dad informed me.

“I can handle it.”

They both smiled and walked away from my door. Dad is like an overgrown kid who loves picking on us. I have a twelve-year-old sister Ashley and a seven-year-old brother David. I turned fifteen last month in February, making me the oldest out of the three of us.
I would say I have a pretty good life. My parents love each other, and they love us. We’ve lived in the same four-bedroom house my whole life in Upstate New York and have had the same core friends pretty much since kindergarten. We go on out-of-state vacations twice a year and stay active. Mom loves nature and Dad loves running, so we spend a lot of time outdoors. I really can’t complain! I even have my first boyfriend; his name is Ricky and we’ve been together four months now.

When I heard Mom’s car start up and pull out of the yard, I decided to leave my room so I could keep an eye on my siblings. We’re all pretty self-sufficient, but I guess it’s not a bad idea to be in the living room to make sure David doesn’t burn the house down or do anything reckless. He can be wild sometimes, but Dad said that’s just the boy in him. Ashley was sitting on the couch flipping channels, looking for something to watch.

“Hey.” She greeted.

“Hey. Nothing good on TV?”

She groaned. “There never is.”

I laughed. “That’s why I hate watching TV. Where’s David?”

“In his room playing Legos like usual.”

“Better than him running the house.”

“Totally. Why are you asking where that little nuisance is though?”

I laughed. “Mom and Dad left me in charge while they go get the pizza.”

Ashley sighed in relief. “Oh good. I’m starving. When they said two hour wait for delivery, I about died.”

I giggled. “You didn’t eat lunch?”

She scrunched up her nose. “Got caught up talking to friends about how weird the new kid is. By the time I got up there, they were serving two-day old tacos. Hard pass.”

“Big facts. I didn’t eat lunch either so I’m hungry too.”

“What’s your excuse for not eating?”

I shrugged. “Was spending time with Ricky. Didn’t really think about getting in line until it was too late. He offered me his packed lunch, but he had leftover meatloaf that he drowned in ketchup.”

Ashley gagged herself. “Total yuck. Guys can eat anything I’ve noticed.”

“They really can. Dad and David eat weird stuff sometimes too.”