The Underworlds: Angel's Kiss ON HOLD

Chapter One

 Chapter One

 

      Mara was standing by her wall with a paint covered brush, underlining the green swirls with bright orange. This side of her room was white and separated by oak trim from the rest of her pale blue room so that she could paint the walls to her heart’s content.

 Mara wasn’t an artist, far from it actually, but when she wanted to be, she could be pretty creative. When she finished underlining the vibrant swirls, she rinsed off the brush in a small glass of water beside her brushes and paint. Mara hopped off her little, wooden stool and picked up the paper mat she had laid down. She folded the paper up and put it under the wooden stool in a light corner of her room. She closed her eyes took in a deep breath, her entire room smelled like paint. Mara decided to open her window, after all it wasn’t too late and her dad nearly home, so no one would try to break in. Well, aside from Giovanna, but she didn’t count. Giovanna and Mara had been friends since kindergarten.

 Sure it was her last year of public school, so staying in touch was hard, but Giovanna had gotten pretty good at avoiding her parole officer and breaking out of her house, so they hung out often. Mara pulled her fizzy hair into a ponytail and went to her bathroom. Well, the family’s bathroom, bur she just considered it hers since Mr. Ridley was almost never home.

 Mara looked in the mirror, her round, baby cheeks had paint splattered on them. She decided to wash her face, she would have to redo her makeup, but it didn’t matter. Not like her makeup looked that great to begin with. She reached for her face wash and quickly scrubbed her face down. From the other room she heard the door creak open.

 “Hey, Mars, I’m home,” Mr. Ridley called into the house, “I’m thinking of ordering Chinese takeout.”

 “Where,” Mara slurred while water ran down her face. She reached for a small, soft, purple hand- towel and dried her face off, “Where do you think we’ll order from?”

 “I was thinking about Lee’s,” Mara heard her dad say as he probably sat down in his favorite chair. “You like Lee’s right?”

 No, but I like his son, she smiled. “Yeah,” Mara said, “I like Lee’s.”

 “Good,” He said sleepily.

 Mara walked out of the bathroom, the creaky, tile squeaked under her feet. Their living room was a soft cream color, but the old, oak floorboards could defiantly be redone. Her dad looked tired in his chair. His dark, red hair fell loosely over his worn face. His laugh lines were pulled into a thoughtful frown as he fell into a deep sleep. Mara’s father usually looked like a happy, funny guy. He had curly, red hair that always did its own thing, happy looking blue eyes that always shimmered with a joke he always had planned.

 But he didn’t look that anymore. He looked… old. Lately, his eyes looked a little lifeless, and his hair actually obeyed orders. Mara tilted her head, and frowned a little. She sometimes worried about her dad. Okay, she always worried about her dad. Mara could be hard to deal with. In fact, she always fought for what she thought right, especially when it wasn’t. Mara cringed. She wished she was a better daughter. She walked over to him. He was now sleeping in his dark, green, recliner. She brushed a piece of his dark hair out of his face, and lifted a warm, wool blanket with a purple heart on it. He had bought it for when they moved into this little, old apartment when she was five. A year before the accident.

 “I’ll just make dinner for us, Dad,” Mara sighed.

 She walked into the kitchen, which was only separated by a thin, copper strip of metal, separating the dark oak, from the light. The kitchen was small. A cheap white fridge that was starting to rust stood beside an already rusty, grey oven that never cooked evenly. Surrounding a chef’s worst nightmare were extremely old counter tops that were made with brown and grey speckles. Mara had to wipe it down before she poured her cereal every morning just because it matched mouse turds. She wrinkled her nose. She really did like her room, but the rest of the apartment was another story.