START ○ Liam Dunbar {1}

Restless Consideration

I sighed deeply, the sound traveling loudly though the unfamiliar room, where I lay on an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar house, in an unfamiliar town.

Well, maybe not that last one- the town wasn't exactly unfamiliar-to me, at least.

My father was born here- Beacon Hills, California. In this cute little quaint town, he grew up with his twin sister,Melissa- both following the family dream and attending medical school after high school- until he met my mother, the aspiring actress from Kentucky. From there, they eloped and escaped a few scant miles to the big and boisterous Hollywood.

People say he must of really loved my mother to abandon his dreams and family for hers, and I suppose he once did. Once meaning before she left us.

Growing up in a place like Hollywood, where your mother is a star on her own television show, life is easy. Too easy. Too perfect. And when things were bad, you bottled it up- keep the perfect image for your mother and her career. And I suppose my father did too, so much he began to resent her.

One time, I walked in on him alone in the parlor, staring out the windows, encased in the velvety curtains, almost... wistful. Mourning. Maybe he was thinking about what would've happened if he had stayed in Beacon Hills, finishing medical school, made his parents proud.

Maybe that was what convinced him to return- that, or his parents' deaths.

I think back sometimes, considering what could've happened to us if he didn't finish his schooling and get a job at a nearby town's hospital. Because if he hadn't, how would we have survived when my mother's show was canceled?

I think that's where everything crumbled around my mother. I think that's what drove her over the edge.

"I understand, Alyssa, I really do-"

"You don't- Mark, you really don't! You gave up your dream, you don't understand how it feels to have ripped from you-"

"I gave it up for you!"

My mother always told me a.. quote of the day. Everyday, she'd "enlighten" me with a new meaningless quote I'd file away deep in the back of my mind, and forget about. She always advised me to polish up my acting skills- "You never know when you're going to need them." she'd say. And she was right- I never knew when another tragedy would strike.

When you're playing the part, it's all fake smiles, perfect hair,straight white teeth, and lots and lots of clothes. Matching clothes,elegant clothes. Anything to set the illusion.

When you're playing the part, it's also lots of hugs and family"togetherness". It's a lot of "love" and"respect" and "tight bonds." "I couldn't do any of this without my family," she'd announce, fake tears in her beautiful brown eyes, and the audience would erupt in cheers and applause.

That's the part. The part only shows up in public, though. At home, it's empty rooms, and avoidance. The part is family- the reality is strangers.

It was two days after the show ended. Two days. And it took one to sell the house and buy the old manor in the old town.

"This will be good." he practically pleaded. "You can finally meet your aunt and cousin."

Because family has been so reliable before.

And here we are now. Unfamiliar room, unfamiliar house, unfamiliar town, unfamiliar life. Unfamiliar school tomorrow. Unfamiliar people,and teachers, and God, people.

Well, my life can't get any worse from here.

A/N: So I chose a face claim- India Eisley. She's so pretty, I wish I looked half as pretty as her..

(Note- gifs are not mine. Unfortunately.)