Fourteen Days

Chapter 1.

The day started just like any other. My mother was out on the porch tending to her beloved flowers, while singing along to a song she had heard on the radio only minutes earlier. My father was sitting by the kitchen table, drinking coffee and reading through the newspaper just like any other morning. My little sister was in her room, her door closed and most likely locked so no one could disturb her during her morning routine. Her cheerleading uniform was probably lying on her bed, while she was styling her long blond hair and preparing for another eventful day with her popular cheerleading friends.

My youngest sister were sitting in front of the TV, while old reruns of Hannah Montana were playing. She had a bowl of cereal in her lap, and her hair was a mess since she never cared about doing anything with it.

It was a normal morning as I stepped down the stairs, in my old pair of pajamas shorts that had once been a bright pink color, but were now washed out and light pink. If I hadn't known any better, I wouldn't have realized the day was any different. If I hadn't counted the days for the last week, I wouldn't have known today was a bad day. But I did, and it left a sour taste in my mouth.

"Good morning, dad," I said as I picked up my regular white cup from the counter, and poured myself a cup of coffee. I dumped a small tablespoon of sugar into it, and swirled it around for a few seconds before I placed the spoon in the sink and took a careful sip of the hot beverage. It burned slightly down my throat, and warmed my fingers as I held the cup.

"Morning kiddo," he answered as he met my eyes, with a small smile that barely reached his eyes. He looked older than his forty-five years, and wrinkles were beginning to form along his forehead. We hadn't pointed it out yet, but we all saw it, and so did he. He was aging, and most people thought he was at least ten years older than his real age.

As families goes, we were a pretty basic family on the outside. My mother worked part time at a flower store, thanks to a car-accident a few months earlier. It wasn't bad, but it left her too shaken to work full-time. My father stood up at the brink of dawn every morning to read the newspaper, while enjoying a cup of scolding hot coffee. He sold cars for a living, and it was the only reason I knew anything about cars. I was the son he never got, even though I had long hair and a body that said otherwise. 

My parents had three children, all girls - with me as the oldest and supposedly wisest. After me came Amanda, with her long blond hair, her tanned legs, and her beloved cheerleader uniform. She was a snob, and a know-it-all; she was taken right out of a teen movie about mean cheerleaders. She was starting her junior year. but she was already best friends with all the new seniors in the squad, and it meant the world to her. 

While my summer wasn't planned yet, Amanda had it all planned out. She stood up with our father, she ate half a salad with a big bottle of water, she went for an hour-long run, and then she went to cheerleading meets to practice their cheers. Her afternoons were spent tanning by the pool with her squad, and I knew they were all planing a few big parties during the weekends.

Carmen, on the other hand, was more like me. At the age of twelve, she was still highly obsessed with Hannah Montana. And while both me and Amanda cared about clothes and the way we looked, Carmen couldn't have cared less. She liked spending time by herself, reading books or watching different tv-shows. She rarely went out with friends, and she loved sitting around in her PJ all day.

We were a pretty normal family with sibling fights, dinner at precisely five o'clock, and a lot of hidden family drama. But as soon as we stepped outside the house, we all knew how to behave. Our mom cared too much about the family reputation, and we did our part in keeping it a good reputation. 

We weren't a rich family, but we weren't poor either. Before moms accident, we went on vacations every summer, and we spent the weekends doing fun family stuff like bowling or seeing a movie. When the accident happened and Amanda started school, thing changed though. Amanda did whatever she could to stay away from home, and mom spent her evenings hidden in her room. While Amanda got obsessed with popularity and joining the cheerleading squad, Carmen pulled away from everyone.