Redder than Blood

Chapter 1: New Beginnings

Hello dearest children. Thank you for choosing to read my story! Warning: full of grammar errors and possibly not edited. I'm writing this at 3am running on 5 hour energy but I'll try to make this as beautiful as possible <3. 
Please don't kill me.

Chapter 1:

Driving in a new town was always hard. Ever since my mom died my father has always moved around dragging me with him. He always says it's a "fresh start" but starting over a million times can truly run you ragged. No house ever felt like a home. 

A sharp elbow jabbed me hard in the ribs making me turn my head away form the window. Matthew, as usual was sneering at me, disgust clear in his eyes. 

"Your face is bringing down my mood. Stop it."

I sighed ignoring his stupid remark. I knew if I said anything back, he'd complain to his mother who in turn would complain to my father only to complicate the matter further. He would always takes their side even though I'm his biological daughter. He blamed me for my mother's death and couldn't look me in the eye, saying I look too much like her. But like all animals I adapted to my situation and learned to accept any punishments given to me knowing that rebellion will be treated with a heavier hand. 

He jabbed me again, this time harder and bruising my side under my clothing where no one could see it. Turning to me, his smile made me want to throttle him but I simply looked away. He scoffed. At first I thought he retreated but his whining voice cried out, "Mom! She keeps elbowing me!" 

Her head whipped around, shooting me a venomous look. "Damn it Alex! We are moving to a new town and that means new attitude. Everyone in this family has a positive outlook except for you. Why can't you be more like your brother?" 

Father grunted in agreement.

I knew exactly what my brother would be doing when he arrived to school. He would attempt to "conquer" all the attractive girls. If we had two more weeks at our old high school, I'm sure he would have completed his long time goal. Rumors even claim he's messed around with some of the teachers but you can't trust rumors and he would never tell me considering I'm his archenemy.  

"I'm sorry Teresa. I guess I'm just stressed out." 

Her jaw ticked when I said her name but luckily she didn't bother to continue our conversation. 

My shithole of a stepbrother grimaced when I got off with no punishment. I wouldn't be spared so easily next time.

Before I knew it, our car stopped. I looked up expecting to see our new house up but instead was blinded by the bright neon signs at the convenience store. 

"Go inside and get something to eat. We will not time to make dinner when we get home," my father sighed. He sounded exhausted from all the driving. As per usual, he handed me his black card and everyone in the car shouted out their orders. Wasting no time, I whipped out my phone and wrote everything down.

I stepped past the automatic door and was greeting by the rush of cool air separating me from the hot summer night. I mindlessly wandered though the isles grabbing items from the shelf into the basket hanging from my arm. As I stupidly walked forward, I smacked straight into someone.

I was about to apologize until I looked up to see a mesmorizing sight. The most gorgeous person I had ever seen was standing centimeters away from me. His hair was such a deep black that it took my breath away. As I looked into his soulful grey eyes, my basket started to slip, dropping all the contents onto the tiled floor. 

"Dang it! I-I'm sorry," I stuttered, crouching down and throwing everything back into the basket. He looked at me stunned for a moment before helping me pick up the items.

 "Are you alright?" His husky deep voice sent chills down my spine. 

I looked at him confused.

"I'm pretty the only sure that only my groceries aren't alright."

He chuckled, amusement lit up in his eyes.

"How do you know I wasn't asking the groceries?"

Awkward silence filled the air.

I looked at him nervously and laughter slipped through my lips. Before I knew it, I was laughing hysterically, clutching my stomach as tears rolled down my face. I felt less stressed than I did in years. His confused expression made me continue to laugh even harder. Apparently no one ever thought his jokes were funny.

As we finished picking up my groceries, he began to walk with me to the cashier. We exchanged small talk which was interrupted someone gripped my arm harshly making me yelp.

"There you are!" My step brother's smile was extremely fake.

His grey eyes harden as he glared at Matthew.

"This girl is always so slow. Mom and dad are waiting in the car while you take your sweet time."

"I-I dropped my groceries. I'm sorry." I tried to pull my arm out of his iron grip to no avail. 

At this moment I forgot the stranger was there.

"Give me the credit card, I'll finish this since you're so slow. Go back to the car." He snatched the basket from me and I sighed not bothering to argue. Quickly, I waved a feeble goodbye at the stranger who I would most likely never see again.

After a few minutes of sitting in the car, Matthew came out holding a few bags. As my dad started the car, I noticed that I had never received my food unlike the rest of my family. I turned to Matthew to ask but he just smiled at me. I knew right away that I would be hungry for the rest of the night.   

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When we finally got to the house, everyone hopped out, grabbing their suitcase and went to their separate rooms. I was the last one out of the car and resigned myself to the smallest room in the house...again. As I walked into the empty white room, I was surprised to see a plastic stuffed with a bunch of canned food resting on the floor. Raviolis, chicken soup, Campbell soup, and....tomato sauce? Matthew must be taunting me because there was no can opener. I dug further and at the bottom relieved as I saw a can of soda and a few bags of chips. Maybe he was being nice after all?