to be determined

Chapter 1 -Raleigh

Chapter One

Raleigh-

"Good morning, Leigh!" My mother took a sip of her coffee and set it down.

"Morning, mom." I said as I poured myself a bowl of granola and a glass of orange juice.

"Anything happening at school today?" asked my mom.

"Algebra test. Assembly about how we should never drive under the influence of 11th grade English essays- I mean alcohol." My mom tried to stifle a laugh. I was born when my mom was 23. She's 40 now, which makes me 17. My biological father is some ass who thought that a 23 year-old could take care of a baby and pay her student loans back all by herself. What a great person. Ha. But now my mom has Pete, who is a college graduate, a father (to me & my brothers, Dean and Ben who are actually my step-brothers because my mom and Pete got married last summer, but we definitely treat each other like siblings), and he is the owner of Shakespeare & Earl Grey (a bookstore and cafe which is my utter favorite place to be). I love my family.

Ben and Dean came into the kitchen and raided the cabinets for the sugary cereals. Ben is my age and Dean is fifteen. They both have girlfriends who go to our high school, neither of whom are my friends. Apparently I'm too short, smart, and loud to be seen with them, or something. Anyway, I have Bridget and Keiko who share my love of tumblr and cake pops and tumblr posts about cake pops. They're, like, the only people in my school who get me and my antics.

"Take it easy, guys! Gee!" my mom yelled, "You don't want to have to say that you got a black eye from your brother over a box of Frosted Mini Wheats. That's pretty much the lamest battle scar ever."

"No, the lamest battle scar ever is getting a paper cut from doing little origami hearts," joked Pete, as he came into the kitchen with a stack of New York Times Book Reviews to put on the free newspaper racks at Shakespeare & Earl Grey. I giggled and put my dishes in the sink. I slung my backpack over my shoulder, which is covered in Indie band buttons, grabbed my water bottle, and headed out the door to Keiko's house around the corner. I knocked on the Himura's front door and Keiko's mother welcomed me inside and reminded me, even though I've visited before, to take off my shoes before entering. I made sure to remove my Doc Martens.

Keiko yelled "I'll be one second!" from her room and then came running down the stairs. "Bye mom!" she kissed her mom on the cheek and we put our shoes on before getting into her grey Grand Prix and taking off for Schaumburg High.