Chapter One
Pheonix
I danced around my room, listening to Trey Songz and bobbing my head to the bass drum, which was pounding against the walls of my room. Evan and Cassidy, my younger brother and sister, were probably downstairs, playing hide and seek or whatever whiles my mom was out "working".
I don't even know what she does, but all I do know is that she is a very irresponsible mother. She's barely home, and when she is home, all she does is yell at me, Cassidy, and Evan. I can't stand it anymore. I just feel like running away. The only things that are keeping me here are Evan and Cassidy, and the fact that we don't have a dad to look after them.
My dad abandoned us when we were younger. He was in major legal troubles, so he took off. My mother just broke after that. She just goes out to party, smoke, get high, and hooks up with guys. She's not the perfect role model, which is why I'm glad that Cassidy looks up to me, even though I'm pretty sure that I may not always be the best person in the world, but at least I have my head in the right place. But Evan still thinks that our father is going to come back and take care of us, but that's not going to happen any time soon.
"Pheonix, Evan got hurt!" Cassidy pounded on my door, almost knocking it out of its hinges.
Slamming the stop button on my radio, I opened the door quickly, my eyes wide with terror. But instead of staring into the eyes of a terrorized Cassidy, I was looking at a laughing Cassidy.
"Cassidy, why are you laughing?!" I yelped.
She wiped the tears that were pouring out of her eyes from how hard she was laughing. "Because I was just joking! He's on the couch reading some lame book. I just want to see you get scared," She stuck out her tongue. "And it worked because I almost peed my pants laughing."
"Let me guess, I should have seen my face?" I mimicked something that she would have most likely said.
Cassidy pulled out a camera from behind her. "I actually got a picture of it, wanna see it?" She held out the camera in front of me but I gently pushed it away. "Aw, don't be mad, Phen, I was just kidding."
Ah, Phen. That was the name that Cassidy used to call me by whenever she was younger and couldn't exactly say my full name. It rubbed off on Edam, who calls me that at times as well.
"I'm not mad," I said as I pulled her into my arms and kissed her on the top of her head. "Now, would you like for me to make some dinner?"
She nodded and squeezed me around the waist tightly. "Thank you, sis."
I smoothed out her hair and let go of her, running down the stairs and right into the living room to check up on Evan.
"Hey, kiddo. How's it going?" I asked as I ran a hand through his soft hair.
He looked up at me from his book and shot me a small smile. "Good, just trying to finish up this book. Are you going to make dinner?"
I nodded and smiled. "You read my mind. Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches it is," I ruffled his hair, squeezed his cheeks, and headed to our spacious kitchen, pulling out a pot and putting it on the stove as it heated up. Then, I grabbed loaves of bread and slices of cheddar cheese. Cassidy rummaged around the kitchen.
"Whatcha looking for?" I asked her as I worked on the sandwiches.
"Something to do," She mumbled as she closed a cabinet and sighed. "Can I help you cook?"
"Of course you can," I smiled as I made some room for her to join me at the stove area.
She grabbed pieces of bread and stuffed cheese in the middle of the two loaves, then putting them together and putting them on the pan on the stove, which was next to the pot.
"Pheonix?" She looked up at me slowly.
"Yes, hun?" I asked as I poured the tomato soup into the pot.
Cassidy hesitated with her words, but she cleared her throat and began talking. "How come Mom is never home?" She whispered.
My hands froze in mid-air, the tomato soup already out of the can and bubbling in the pot. "That's a good question, Cass..." I trailed off and took a deep breath. "She's just busy. Don't worry about it."
Fortunately, she dropped the subject and we began talking about normal, teenage stuff. I was trying to distract her from what was going on in her head. I knew that it wasn't easy for her. And Evan is beginning to question that as well. The phone rang and I rushed to answer it.
"Hello?" I spoke into the phone.
"Hey, boo!" Deseray's musical voice rang through the phone. "Mind if I come over?"
Cassidy scrunched her nose, silently asking who it was. I mouthed "Deseray" and she motioned for me to say hello to her. "Hey, girlie! Cassidy says hi, and bring your ass over here!" I chuckled into the phone. She laughed and hung up on me.
Deseray is my bestest friend in the whole freaking world. We met in freshmen year, and it was actually a bit of a \coincidence. But we hit it off and now we're basically sisters. I treat her like she's my twin sister, which wouldn't be surprising considering how much we have in common. Plus, she lives two houses down, so she spends more time here than at her house, which is fine with me. The doorbell rang and Evan rushed to get it.
"Evan!" Deseray exclaimed as Evan jumped into her arms. They have this really cute relationship, considering the fact that Evan has a major crush on her. It was cute and yet weird to look at.
Deseray tackled me with a hug. "Oh my goodness, it smells good." She sniffed the air, causing me to giggle. "You obviously knew I was coming considering the fact that you're making one of my favorite meals in the whole entire world."
We ate and talked and just had a good time. Half the time, Evan was drooling over her, literally. Cassidy would indulge in a conversation about makeup tips that Seventeen magazine gave her while Deseray and I shot each other looks of confusion. But then it was time to go (unfortunately.). She bade me goodbye and I promised to go over her house tomorrow. This girl is just flat-out crazy.
Two hours later, the front door opened and there stood my mom, her makeup smeared and her clothes a complete mess. Cassidy didn't turn around to look at her, and from the silence, I'm pretty sure that Evan wasn't giving her much importance either.
"I'm home," Darcy groaned as she took off her shoes.
"Hello, Darcy," I greeted blankly without turning around from doing the dishes. I call her by her first name because I wouldn't consider her to be a mom, so why call her one?
"Evan, why are you reading? Damn, don't you have anything better do?!" Darcy snarled at him while he glanced up at her. I hate the way she treats him. It makes me want to slap her.
She set her purse down on the kitchen, stretched her arms upwards, and began walking to the stairs. "Darcy, I reserved you some food," I managed to say before she disappeared.
Groaning, she spun to look at me. "I don't feel like having any of your damn food, okay? Just throw it away or feed it to a hobo?" She waved her hand, dismissing herself from this conversation.
How about I shove it up your ass? I thought to myself as I gritted my teeth together. Cassidy placed a hand on my shoulder, trying to comfort me. I just gave her a small smile and ordered everyone to their rooms. The kitchen was beginning to grow kinda cold. Evan was already two steps ahead of us, and Cassidy did as she was told without another word. I walked behind them, counting my breaths and trying to calm myself down.
Luckily, hot showers are what always get my head back on my shoulders. I just stood there for about an hour, letting my skin soak in the warm water as I looked at the ceiling, my long brown hair dripping down behind my back. Evan was already asleep and I'm pretty sure that Cassidy was in the process of doing just that. I shut the water off and wrapped a towel around my body.
My room was freezing, so I tried to warm myself up before dropping the towel from my moist body. Once I found it safe enough, I unraveled the warm towel from myself and got dressed quickly, making it snappy. My hair was wetting the back of my shirt but I didn't care. I fell asleep just like that.
But not for long.
Two hours later, I heard a gunshot.
And it came from my mother's room.
