Counting On You.

chapter one -

"Babe, there's something tragic about you. Something so magic about you." Hozier.

- -

Coraline T.
Honk, honk.

"Coraline! Your father is here!" I could hear aunt Leilah shout.

"I'm going, just give me five more minutes." I answered. I can't seem to find my camera, and I'm not planning to leave without it. Think, when was the last time I used it? Tuesday! I run out of my room and got to Maggie's room. "Maggie, remember when we were taking the pictures for your party?" I ask opening the door, feeling rushed. "Oh, I'm so sorry Maggs!" I close the door. What is Jake doing here, with Maggie, in her bed?

Maggie opens the door and hands me my camera. "Don't tell anyone about this." She gives me a death glare with her hazelnut colored eyes.

"Uh, yeah, and by anyone, I know you mean your mom." I say, she looks flustered for a moment, but then she's back to her 'I'll kill you' face. "Don't worry 'bout it, have fun." I walk down the hallway to the kitchen. "Bye Leilah, I love you." I kiss her cheek.

"Have fun sweetheart." She gives me a warm smile, how could Maggie be so evil with a mother like her? We will never know.

- -

"Cor, seriously? Would you stop taking pictures of me while I'm trying to eat?" Says Kristen, waving my camera away.

"C'mon, give me a smile." I chuckle. "Maybe turn to your left a little, that's your good side." I try to contain my laugh but do not succeed.

"Excuse me?," she laughs. "All sides are my "good side" as you call it." She rolls her eyes.

"So I was thinking maybe we could go to the park after school, Maggie is having Jake over and she's been a little too "close" with him, if you know what I mean." I put a hand over my mouth, as if I were about to throw up, and she scrunches her nose up. "They take making out to a whole other level, it's like they're eating each other." I sigh. "Plus, I think the dancers will be there at the park again, so you know what that means." I wiggle my eyebrows at her.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh, you don't? So, you don't remember a certain very handsome young man called...I don't know, Theo?" I grin mischievously at her.

"Agh, oh my gosh, I can't face him after last time." She covers her face with her hands. "I cannot believe I blurted out that I liked him."

"Don't fret it Kris, guys like girls who know what they want." I smile at her.

"Do you think he might be interested in me?" She peeks at me through her slim fingers.

Quickly nodding, I tell her, "How could he not?," I grab her face, "you're the most amazing person I know. If he can't see what a great catch you are then he's not worth it!" I squeeze her cheeks.

"Okay, fine. I guess we can go to the park for a while." She sighs exasperated.

- -

After Kristen talked to Theo for a while, and I got about 50 shots of the dancers, me and Kris are walking around in the park, eating ice cream cones we got from an ice cream truck. I slow down my steps and take out my camera, focusing on a child who is on a swing, looking down at her feet. She looks so sad. I take a picture of her, but then, a guy steps behind her, giving her a little push so that she starts swinging. Quickly, a grin spreads across her face and she starts giggling. Now she looks so beautiful. I take another picture. As I'm trying to take a still picture of her swinging her legs and throwing her back a little, something covers my lens. I look up and see Jackson Ashford.

"Uh, hello. Do you need something?" I give him a small smile. I know he goes to my school because I like going to the baseball games sometimes, and he's on the team. We've never spoken before though, so I wonder what he needs.

"Do you always take pictures of strangers in the park, or are you just a weird person who's into little girls." He gives me a weird look.

"Excuse me?" I squint my eyes.

"That little girl over here," he turns and point at the girl on the swing, "she's my little sister."

"Oh, no, I wasn't trying to be weird. I just- I just thought she was a good subject to photograph." I try smile but it doesn't work. I feel so embarrassed.

"Yeah, well, I just wanted to make sure no one was trying to kidnap my sister." He chuckled.

"Well I guess you're clear of that type situation, I'm just a normal girl, taking pictures." I look down and kick a tiny pebble. I hear him laugh a little. Glad I'm here for your amusement. "Okay, do you need anything else?" I put one hand on my hip.

He tilts his head, eyeing me. "No, nothing at all." He turns around and walks away.

- -

I told Kris that she could go home, that I wanted to walk. So as I was walking back home, the thought of my parents popped into my head. "I'll be back honey, your father and I are just having some issues, so I'm going away for a couple of days. But I'll be back, okay?" She had hugged me tightly, kissed my forehead, and left. That day I had thought nothing of it. Mom left for a couple of days all the time. But, when months started passing, and Dad started flirting with ladies in the supermarket, I felt sad, depressed even. I didn't want to eat, I avoided sleep, and when I finally did sleep, I avoided waking up. I stopped going out, I stopped talking to my friends. It was like my mother had taken every one of my emotions with her, leaving only sorrow and hatred. She left and didn't even have the guts to tell me she was leaving.

Sometimes I understood why she did it, her and my father hated each other. If it wasn't because of me, they would've probably murdered each other. They would start arguing for the smallest thing, then they'd start bringing up things from the past. Once in a while, their fights got physical, mostly from my mother's side, of course. My father wouldn't actually hurt her, he could never hurt her physically. She, on the other hand, would kick, punch, slap, pinch and throw stuff at him. I never knew the real reason they'd fight. I just figured they had issues like every other couple.

That was the first strike for me. That was when I started doubting what love really was.

By when I get home, my aunt is sound asleep on the couch, with Law and Order: SVU on the tv. I pull up the blanket that's at her toes over her body and turn off the tv. I walk to my room, or drag myself, to be more precise. I leave my stuff by the door and put my camera on the dresser. Let me check my phone to see if any of my many friends have texted me or something. Yeah, no. I decide to just watch Mulan on my laptop. I'm a big disney fan, there's nothing more perfect than an evening in bed, with some cookies and disney movies. After a while into the movie, I start feeling really sleepy, so I rest my eyes for a little, or so I tell myself, until it's too late and I've fallen dead asleep.

- -

Okayyy, well that was the first chapter, sorry that it was pretty short. No one has read this yet but if anyone does than I hope you enjoyed it. :)

Btw I think Coraline should resemble Zoë Kravitz, but, if you want, you can imagine her a whole different way.

Love ya, Melinda.