No Turning Back

The First Day

Beep Beep Beep

The alarm on my nightstand rang loudly although I already had another wake-up call going on. "Danny! Wake up, Danny! It's a special day! Momma says it's a special day!" My baby brother, Zac, yelled as he jumped happily on my bed. He had been doing this for the past half hour but I managed to ignore him. Silently, I was restraining from knocking him off my bed. I couldn't do that though. He was only four years old and too small to really know what he was doing. Plus, he followed me around like a little puppy anyway. I could understand that since I was his big brother and all but I will probably never understand why he chooses to be up so early in the morning. "Wake up," Zac yelled again as he jumped onto my back. I groaned as he started to shake me with his little hands.

"Give me five more minutes," I murmured as I pulled a pillow over my head.

"No! You said that last time! Time to get up!" I sighed into my mattress.

"Alright, alright. I'm up."

"All the way up." I rolled my eyes but turned onto my back and sat up. I rubbed at my eyes while Zac stared at me expectantly. He was a small child despite his age since he was just plain tiny when he was born. Then again, he also had a heart problem which the doctors suggested was the cause of his structure. They predicted that he wouldn't make it past two years old but so far, my brother has been keeping up with myself. He was a fighter, I'd give him that. He was cute though with his round face, hazel eyes, smooth skin, and his blonde hair that fell into a spiky bang in his face. I used to tease my parents about him being adopted since he looked nothing like either of my parents. He was just a mixture of the two though, something we all knew but I still liked to kid about it. "Why is today a special day, Danny," he asked as he tilted his head.

"It's my last first day of school. I'm a senior now," I told him before yawning. Honestly, I didn't even want to think about being a senior. Sure, I was done all of my college applications and my SAT scores were great and my mom requested early transcript release but I just wasn't ready to choose a college. Or at least not out of the ones my parents had me apply to. "Come on, little bro. Let's go get some breakfast," I said as I gathered Zac up into my arms. I carried him downstairs to our kitchen where my mom was cooking at the stove. My father was at the table with my younger sister but he was reading the newspaper while she was pouting with her arms crossed. Her emerald green eyes flicked to me as I sat down Zac in the chair next to hers. My sister was a mere 15 and the rebel child of the family. She's done practically everything you could think of that has gotten her into trouble but her brain prevented my parents from kicking her out the house permanently. She was smart, like me, but she just didn't make the best decisions. She was a slim girl with noticeable curves, elegantly structured face, and long voluminous brown hair that she wore in this weird one side style. I'm not sure how to explain it but she rocks it. "Good morning, Ashley," I told her.

"Morning," she said as she shot me a small smile. Both of my siblings looked up to me but Ashley and I were close. I mean, Zac and I were close too but he's only four so it's different. Ashley always came to me for advice or just if she needed to talk. I was like her best friend and her brother mixed into one person. I looked after her and didn't judge her. I only tried to help whatever she was going through because I knew my parents sure weren't going to help her.

"Have you heard from any schools yet," my dad asked me as I sat down at the table. He wasn't very burly but he was muscular enough for a man of his middle age. I took my looks from him with our dirty blonde hair, light blue eyes, and handsome facial features. I couldn't exactly complain since they did get me a lot of attention from the girls in school. My father was very demanding though. Since was the CEO of a huge business corporation, I guess his work traits just slowly translated themselves into his domestic life. He was also held very high expectations of people – especially his children. Ever since I was born, he had been riding on me to be the best I could be. He put me in all types of sports and placed me in a special private school. Sure, they sound like good things and they were beneficial to me but it only made my dad harder on me. I always had to be the best player on the team and the smartest kid in the class. Whenever there was an academic contest or a sports tournament, my dad threw me right into it. Most of the time I would succeed but when I didn't, I thought he might kill me. Even now as I'm the star of most of the sports team and number one in my class, I'm still afraid to slip up.