My Complicated Life

Chapter 7

 "You can't tell anyone if I do tell you," Skylar said. 

 I finally convinced Skylar that if I told her my story and about my life, that if it came near to what she'd been through, she'd have to tell me what she'd been hiding. I knew it wouldn't be easy, but at this point I didn't care. Skylar was finally talking to me again. We headed over to the bench I had been sitting in and sat down. My homework could wait. 

 "I won't," I promised.

 I collected my thoughts before starting.

"So about a year ago I was finally told the sort of truth about my family. Turned out my whole life I had been living with my step father, thinking he was my birth dad. My real dad wanted me to come live with him here so my mom finally had to break the news to me. I flew here a few days after my fourteenth birthday. I was so angry and confused, but that was just the beginning. See Jason isn't my real brother, he's my step brother. My dad got in a relationship with his mom and he got her pregnant. While he was still in a relationship with Jason's mom, he started hooking up with my mom. He also got my mom pregnant with me. Eventually our mom's found out about my dad's lies and they both, obviously, broke up with him. So like I said, I came to live here about a year ago. After barely being here a week, my dad went missing. Turned out he was still into to his old ways of drinking and partying. Weeks later he came home, but not with the front door. He actually broke into his own house and destryoed the kitchen he was so drunk. He was taken to jail and Jason and I were sent to live with his mom. All of this and other things from school really got to Jason. He started overdosing on pain medication and ended up passing out in the bathroom. He was unconcious for day and almost died, but luckily he didn't. My dad is now in jail and won't get out until December 26th," I finished.

 We sat in silence for a moment. I think neither of us really knew what to say next. I could tell Skylar was taking it all in. Her eyes stared off into the distance, deep in thought. I just hoped that what I said was enough to get her to tell me what was keeping her from being my friend. Finally a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

She sat in silence, her eyes glazed over. Her lips quivered but no other part of her moved. Another tear followed the first and I started to get the sense that this wasn't her thinking about what I had said. This was her gaining the courage to tell me what she was hiding. I didn't say or do anything because I knew she didn't need it. She needed silence so that she could pulled thoughts together.

"I wasn't supposed to happen, Callie," she said. I could already tell she was going to take longer than me.

 "I'm what my dad calls the accident. I have three siblings. A younger sister, an older brother, and an older sister. My oldest sister is twenty-five. She is literally the prettiest lady I've ever seen. She's got theses bright teal eyes that are unreal and thin lips that fit her face perfectly. She's the sweetest and kindest person you'll ever meet. When she turned eighteen, instead of coming downstairs to nice presents she came down to my dads belt and he no joke beat her. I was eight years old and didn't understand what was going on. My older brother was eleven and knew he had to get me out of the room. That's when my brother actually cared about me. Anyways, that afternoon my sister, Jane, moved out. She moved in with her boyfriend, who she married six months later. He was a year older, so he was already out of high school and had an appartment. He went to college, while my sister finished up high school. She didn't have the money for college, but she now owns a clothing boutique that's very successful. Seriously, I don't think there is a happier couple out there. They are literally the definition of a perfect couple. I'm only telling you this because she's like my role model and I hoped to be like her one day," she said smiling at the thought of Jane.