The Unfair Life of Mady Barker (A One Direction fanfic)

Chapter 1:

I ran faster down the street, feeling free that now my high heels were off my feet. I couldn't stand a moment in them, and now I had an excuse to take them off. Only, I didn't know where my excuse ran off to. "Reggie?" my voice continuously rang, ignoring the freaked-out looks people where giving me on the street. Wasn't my fault I looked like a hot mess, after that battle I just came from? I didn't have time to just run into J.C Penny or something just to change out of my cake-covered blue dress, like most girls my age would do.

As I continued running, I couldn't help but wonder. Where had this all gone wrong? Everything was OK before, but now it was a disaster. I couldn't run back because my parents would kill me. I was running to Reggie, but God only knew what she'd do to me if she saw me. I'd probably be running to a hospital next.

What had I done?

 ****

"Mady, did you hear me?" my mother's voice piped up, forcing me to look up from the television. My mother, forty-five year old Hannah Barker, was looking down at me with a very frustrated look. Dark red strands of hair fell in front of her face, revealing a bit of gray. It was moments like this where I knew she meant business.

Wait, I'm forgetting something. My name's Mady Barker, I'm seventeen years old, and no, you can't call me by my full name Maddeline Joell Barker, or I'll beat the living daylights out of you. Well, unless you're my mom, because then I'm unable to do much.

I sighed and looked at her, eyeing the score board being shown on ESPN. The Yankees were down 13-11, and I was already caught up too much in the game to have any desire to look away. My mother knew this, but she looked as if she could care less someone was stealing her car. "Yeah, mom, I'm listening."

"Then what did I say?" she scolded, crossing her arms and leaning to one side. She then, with quickness I forgot she had, grabbed the remote and turned off the TV.

This now caught my attention, making me stand up. "Hey! Jeter was up, Mom! What the Hell?"

"Don't cuss in my house, Maddeline Joell Barker." See? My mom says it and I can't do much about that. "Second, I was telling you about Reggie."

I groaned, collapsing back onto the couch. "What does she want? Did she call last night to brag again?" I couldn't stand that girl. She's a wannabe, a nerd, a dork, a jerk, a liar, a jerk, a jerk, and (guess what) a jerk.

The worst part: Reggie is my big sister, but you wouldn't be able to tell. Reggie, twenty-one recent-graduate-from-a-rich-college-in-Britain Reggie, was everything I wasn't. Where she gained in looks, I lacked. She had the perfect shade of strawberry blonde from our dad, where I was stuck with a lighter red, reminding people of a flame in a campfire. Reggie had the brains of Einstein, where as I'm pretty sure a rock gets better grades than I do. Unless you count P.E or Music as a class. Reggie was the girl who lived a life of adventure, I was stuck in a boring suburb of Chicago, IL.

She was confident and lovely. I was arrogant and unsophisticated. It wasn't that hard to believe people didn't think we were sisters. I have a hard time believing it myself, really.

My mother sighed, leaning on the edge of the couch. "Mady, you're sister doesn't brag. You know she just gets excited about everything."

"Well tell her to tone it down a little, because if I run away it'll be all her fault."

I saw my mom wince at my harsh words, but she pressed on. "Anyway, Reggie did in fact call last night to check in. And something else, too." My mother's red lips were curved into a very big grin, and it made me shift uncomfortably. "She's coming home!" my mother cried, trying her best to squeal like those annoying girls in my class do when obsessing over something.

I knew this was the part where I threw in a squeal or even start dancing around chanting, "Reggie's coming hooome! Reggie's coming hooooome", but I didn't. Instead, I flashed my mom a smile, chuckling at her teenage-like behavior. "Wow! After four years, Reg's coming back!"

She laughed, finally going back to her normal stance. "I know! It's been far too long! I can't wait to tell your father when he comes home tonight from the shop!"

Crud, I forgot to mention. My parent's own a little thrift shop (don't you dare start singing that damn song) a couple streets from our house called "Thrifty Nifty". Feel free to laugh at the cheesiness of that name, because I do all the time. My dad normally stays there working all day, because we're surprisingly popular, so he normally doesn't come home till eight. And just like my mom, he's on the "Reggie is a Goddess" bandwagon, so I knew he'd probably dance around like a teenager too.

I then realized I still had that smile on my face, and my mom was waiting for something else out of me. "Uh, yeah! He'll be happy. When's Reggie coming home?" I asked, praying my voice didn't sound like I wasn't thrilled.

My mom didn't, luckily, because her grin was still plastered on her face. "She said in the next two weeks, so you'll be on summer vacation at that time. Reggie also teased me by saying she had a 'surprise' for all of us." She giggled. "You're sister is truly a teaser."

"OK, you want a teaser? You're hair makes you look like you did twenty years ago."

My mom rolled her brown eyes, playfully smacking my shoulder. "I don't have to feed you, you know."

"I can cook."

"We were going to Beef and Brandy tonight."

"Mom, your hair! I think everyone should style like you. I suggest calling Kelly Osborn right now to tell her about it."

She laughed, kissing my forehead. "You girls. It's a wonder my hairs not fully gray yet because of you and Reggie." Mom walked off, humming a tune as she walked towards the kitchen, and I quickly turned back on the TV. Just to my luck, Derek Jeter had hit a home-run while I was talking to Mom and they came back and won, the players scrambling out of the dugout so they could just tackle him.

I quickly shut off the tv and once again groaned, feeling my body slowly slide of the couch till I landed on the carpeted ground, letting out a deep sigh once I did. On the ground, I began to ponder why stuff like this happened in my life. Why my sister left me for some richy-rich school in Britain, why I am the only one in my Algebra class who openly questions the point of a, x, y, or whatever the hell we use.

Why I'm the only girl who doesn't see how cute One Direction is. I mean, they're teenage boys. Average teenage boys. Why someone would just go to a concert to scream at them is beyond me. They probably forget all the fans they point to in the crowd, anyway. And if they do, well that's great for them. All I know is I could get five hot guys from my school onstage and say they're a band, and I could get girls screaming too.

I know if Reggie or my mom heard me talking like that, they'd say I was being too negative. That I really needed to know those boys to state my opinion of them, but my mom was in the next room over and Reggie certainly wasn't around to prevent me from talking like that, so I vowed to keep that opinion to myself, just like every other opinion I had.

Besides, it's not like anyone's asking for my opinion.

So that was Chapter 1! This was just like an introduction to my story where I thought we could meet Mady first and get a preview of how her life looks. Of course, it's always at the beginning where everything seems normal, right? ;)

-Irish