Nightlight: A Chloe Lukasiak Fanfiction

Chapter 5: Welcome Home

A/N: Slight trigger warning near the end of this chapter

I made it through the rest of the school day with very attractive Tyler by my side. He's a pretty great person to have around, if I'm being honest.

Though I've found out that he's a giant dork. But who doesn't want to have a dork as a close friend?

When the final bell rang, I gathered up my stuff and headed out of my English class. I quickly exited the building and headed to my car. I pulled out of the school parking lot before traffic got really bad, because high school students leaving the building after a long day of learning is always a terrible experience.

Once I left the high school behind, I headed off in the direction of the elementary school to go pick up Clara. Since our mother never bothered to care for us, it was now my duty to get her and bring her home after school so we could both get ready for dance.

I pulled up to the building that said "Murraysville Elementary" and waited in the car pick up line that led out into the street. While I waited for the line to move up, I grabbed my phone and scrolled through Twitter. Suddenly, a text notification came up, interrupting my scrolling.

Tyler🙇🏻: hey what are you doing this afternoon? :)

Me: i'm picking up my little sister from school and then heading off to go to dance. Why?

Tyler🙇🏻: you dance? Learn something new everyday lol. And I was wondering if you wanted to hang out but if you're busy, that's cool. I can wait. ;)

Me: sorry that it can't be tonight! But maybe tomorrow because I only have dance from 3-6.

Tyler🙇🏻: sounds like a plan! See you then!

I smiled at my phone and felt my cheeks burn up. I was gonna hang out with Tyler tomorrow. Boy, won't that be fun.

Before I realized it, I was in front of the school and I could see Clara walking up to open the front door of my car. Before she climbed in, she turned around and waved goodbye to her friend, Kaitlyn, and to another little girl that I didn't recognize.

"Hey Boo, how was school?" I asked once she was in the passenger seat with her seatbelt buckled.

"Pretty good! I made a new friend today!" Clara said excitedly.

"Was that the little girl that you waved to? Standing beside Kaitlyn?" I inquired.

She nodded in excitement. "Her name is Ellie! She's ten, like me! And she has an older brother! Ellie said that he goes to the high school! Do you know him?"

"Well, what's his name?"

"She said his name is Tyler!"

I practically almost threw us forward from hitting the brakes so hard at the stop sign we were at. I parked the car and looked at Clara. "Yeah... I do know him. I didn't know he had a little sister. I take a class with him at school."

Clara looked utterly terrified from when I stopped the car so abruptly."You could've just answered the question and kept driving! You didn't have to basically kill us!"

I laughed and put the car in drive. "Sorry, my bad. Just surprised me."

"We're gonna be late for dance with the way things are going." Clara said sassily.

"Dance isn't until 4:45, we've got time." I answered nonchalantly.

Clara smirked. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the clock says that it's 4:30."

I looked down at my radio where my clock was located, and sure enough, the clock read back the numbers 4:31.

"Shoot! You're right!" I said hurriedly. "We've gotta go!"
.-.-.-..--.

5 minutes later, I skidded into the driveway of our house and parked and turned off the car. We both quickly climbed out and headed to the front door.

"Now as soon as I unlock the door, you head upstairs and change into your dance wear and get your dance bag ready as quickly as you can. I'll have a snack for you to put in your bag on the counter in the kitchen when you're done." I said to Clara while fumbling with my keys to unlock the front door.

Once I finally unlocked it, Clara headed straight for upstairs while I headed to the kitchen. But what I saw made me stop in my tracks.

My mother sat at the kitchen counter with beer bottles littered all around her, some empty and broken, others full and unopened. She sat with a cigarette in one hand and her other hand clasped in her lap. She stared straight ahead, like I hadn't just walked in on her.

I sighed and cleared my throat. "Welcome home, Mother."

She whipped her head around at the sound of my voice and when she saw it was me, stood up and walked over. Her body smelt of beer, smoke, and liquor. The smell made me want to vomit for weeks.

She looked me up and down and then smiled a wicked smile. Her teeth were yellowed from tobacco and drugs and her breath reeked. Her hair looked like it hadn't been washed in days. It probably hadn't been.

She looked down at the cigarette in her hand and then back at me. Before I knew what she was doing, she quickly swiped the cigarette over to my cheek and held it there for a few seconds. I yelled out in pain, the burning sensation going through my entire left side of my face. My mother lifted it up slowly from my face and then swiftly walked back to her seat like she hadn't done anything wrong.

A typical greeting from my mother.

I didn't even bother grabbed Clara's snack. I headed straight upstairs and to my room, where I grabbed my dance bag from my closet. I quickly filled it up with dance clothes, shoes, and other necessities, all while tears streamed down my face. The saltiness of the tears burned the wound in my cheek, making me cry even more. Once I was finished, I hiked my bag over my shoulder and left my room.

I managed to meet Clara outside of her room right as I walked out of my own room. She was dressed in a black leotard and tutu, pink tights, and her ballet slippers. Her hair was in a sleek ponytail on the top of her head.

When she saw the burn on my face and the tears streaming from my eyes, she opened her mouth to speak, but I quickly put one hand over mouth. I didn't want our mother coming up here and hurting Clara.

I put one finger to my lips using my free hand and Clara nodded, understanding the message. I removed my hand from her mouth and waved for Clara to follow me. We both tiptoed down the stairs as quietly as we could. I grabbed my keys from the key ring and quietly opened the front door, letting Clara go first. Once she was safely outside, I followed and shut the door behind me.

We silently climbed into my car and I started it up. I pulled out of the driveway and headed off in the direction of the studio, tears still flowing down my face.

Thank God it wasn't Clara.
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Sorry this took so long to update! I've been busy and just haven't had time to update at all!

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