Nine Lives

Happy Birthday to Me

             I was the youngest out of nine children. Our mother named us: Katherine (19), Tyler and Skylar (twins, 18), Dane, John, and Joe (triplets, 17), Eddie (16), and Noah (15). Then there's me, Piper, I'm 14. Well, 15 today is my birthday.

        My family is a close bunch, they always stuck together; everyone except me. I was the odd ball out so I tended to keep my distance from everyone. However, today was different, since it was my birthday.

      I was almost done getting ready when I so happened to catch a glimpse of myself in  the mirror. Pausing I took in the figure staring back at me. Long, dark brown hair, stopping toward the middle of her back, small, beady, hazel eyes, tan skin, high cheek bones covered over with matching fat cheeks and complimented by a short, fat body. Pariah. I turned away from the mirror, ashamed by my appearance.  Why was I different from the others?  Why couldn't I be a snow queen like mother and Katherine?  A blond haired, green eyed, rosy skinned, snow queen. Sighing I headed down stairs and toward the van ten pairs of green  and blue eyes looking back at me, waiting on me, to hurry up.

    The ride to the restaurant was silent other than a few  happy birthdays. We finally pulled into the parking lot of Baby's , the same place we've been coming to for every birthday of mine for as long as I could remember.  Baby's is a tacky, red brick building, resembling a barn on the inside. Bundles of hay were stacked in random places around the room, some ever used as chairs. Red and white  checkered table clothes covered the worn out wooden tables and stuffed elf heads covered the walls; other stuffed animals  covering the floors.

   The hostess greeted us at the doors, "  Welcome to Baby's  I'll show y'all to y'all's table, just follow me."

    We sat down in the back everyone talking and laughing as I sat quietly picking at my salad. 

 "What's wrong, Pariah, not hungry for once?," Katherine slyly said, our parents pretending not to notice; again.  

"What's a pariah," Noah asked before I could answer her.

The twins leaned forward speaking at the same time, "Pariah: exile, outsider, someone hated."

Eddie interjected, pushing his glasses higher up his nose with his index finger, "I guess it makes sense since Kat hated Piper because she's so freakish. "

"That's not true Ed. She's also ugly. The ugly duckling of the family, " Kat narrowed her icy blue eyes at me, " she doesn't belong here." 

My cheeks coloured with shame as I stared down at my plate, fighting off the harsh stinging of tears. I didn't look back up until I was sure I wasn't going to cry. Noah was watching me. Our eyes connected just long enough for me to see the apologize flashing in his emerald eyes. I looked away first, toward the doors noticing a dark watching our table as the ever chipper hostess talked to him. I guess I was the only one that noticed him, because everyone continued on as normal.

While the hostess was talking, flirting,  to the figure they held up a hand and pointed to me. It was as if time stopped completely and it did, literally. No one, no, nothing moved but the figure. He was walking toward me.

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Hello! Welcome to my new book Nine Lives, I hope you've enjoyed the first two chapters and I hope you continue to enjoy the whole book ^-^

                                                                                                                   ~Dia