Right Now

1.

I stood in the darkened bedroom staring at the old family portrait that hung on the wall. The only light coming from the slots of the blinds covering the windows.

I've always loved pictures. They hold so much that I could never know. Memories I can never quite grasp. Yet sometimes they could be painful. Really, extraordinarily, unbelievably painful. Especially these pictures. Pictures of a family I don't belong to and know little about other than they all broke apart. I knew these were all that was left of the life these people all lived. A happy life that didn't exist anymore. The memories David has in his house were painful for him. He, his ex-wife, and his kids looked so happy, now they're just empty. He seems so distracted in life, never knowing anything. He reminds me of my grandma, who I have to take care of with my mom. He seems sad like she does, empty-headed and lost, so I didn't mind coming over and cleaning everything up for him. He usually gave a quick thank you and disappeared back into his office space where I knew he spent most of his time.

I leave the room, making sure all the work I've done is complete, taking the cleaning supplies and making sure that every scattered work paper stays in it's place but the places around it are clean. As I step out into the hall, I hear voices. I stop and I wait, listening to them and trying to find out who they are. Who could be here? What do I do? David never said anything about having anyone over.

I peek around the corner and see three guys around my age standing there, I frown because I know two of them, Luke and Michael look up and freeze, so do I.

"Emily?" Michael says and I step out. The third guy peeks around the fridge and frowns, which immediately turns into a glare.

"Who the hell?'' He says lowly and then his glare turns into a look of pure fury.

"Um, who are you?" I say and he shuts the fridge door, turning completely toward me. We both just stare at each other and I feel my face starts to burn. He is just staring, what do I do?

"Who are you?" He asks, crossing his arms and I feel heart race as he takes small steps toward me and I move back slightly.

"I-I-I am the housekeeper." I say and he doesn't move, his look doesn't change and I feel like hiding. "Does Mr. Hood know you're here?" I ask him and I squint. "Oh... I know you." I whisper and I look up to the pictures on the wall of the kitchen.

This is his son. The one who lives in the room I'm not allowed in. He was rarely ever here so I've never seen him before.

"Okay, um, yeah, you can leave now." He says and his eyes narrow. "Like, right now."

"Okay." I say and frown. "C-can I... uh... Let me put-"

"No. Get the hell out." He says harshly and his eyes blaze. I take a deep breath and I close my eyes for a second.

"Calum, man, don't be mean to her." Luke says and I don't look at them when I do open my eyes. The guy takes the cleaning supplies out of my hands roughly and I flinch, clenching my fists to myself and crossing my arms.

"Who cares if I'm mean to her? I don't. I don't know her. Go. I can't go a damn place without someone being around." He says. I turn around and walk toward the door.

"Do you need a ride, Em?" I hear Luke asks in a calm, comforting voice and I shake my head, shutting the door behind me, trying to blink back the anxious tears threatening to spill.

I walk down the street and I pull my hood up over my head and I stick my hands in my pockets. The wind blows against my hood and I keep my head down.

I walk to the store my best friend works at and I sit in a small corner booth and I sigh, leaning my head back against the seat. He sees me and waves me over. I sigh heavily and stand back up and walk to him, leaning against the black counter. "What are you doing here, aren't you supposed to be working?" He asks me and I nod.

"Yeah, uh, but his very aggressive kid showed up and made me leave. He was mean and I don't like him. He was so different from his dad" I say softly. I've never had my feelings hurt by a complete stranger like that before.

"You? Not liking someone? Wow, he must have been an ass." He says sarcastically and I now that I think about it, it could have been worse. I'm lucky.

I work for Mr. Hood every other day, but he wanted me to come in on Saturdays instead of Fridays, so I did. I do some shopping for him, random errands and I clean whatever mess he makes. I did everything from changing lightbulbs, walking his dog with him, and running to pick up medication. There are some things the eccentric man couldn't do himself, he was unable to do himself. David didn't tell me his kid was staying with him, but now that I think about it, does he even realize it?

"I guess he just upset me a little. It's fine," I say, waving it off. "Got any of those giant bags of skittles?" I ask and turn. I hear the bell of the door but I don't pay attention to it.

"Yeah, but they were moved to the very top, good luck, don't step on the shelves and break them please. that was hard to explain last time." He says and I roll my eyes at him. I walk back to the tall candy aisle. I look up and frown. They are at the very top, like he said. I groan dramatically as I step on the second row and I go to reach for the bag, but a large hand takes it before I can. I turn and look and I am eye level with the guy who ruined my day.  He steps back slightly and I jump down.

"Uh... " I say and he goes to hand me the bag, but pulls back just as quick.

"You know, I like skittles." He says and looks down at the bag in his hand with a small smirk. I look back up and see there are no more bags and then back at him. He was going to take them.

"Yeah, but-." I say and I try not to sound as disappointed as I really am so I shut my mouth. He hands them to me and shrugs.

"I'll find a smaller bag. One my size," He says and looks me up and down. "Not one twenty sizes bigger than myself and meant for fat people, but you know." He says and I huff silently. No one has ever went out of their way to be a jerk to me before, unless you count Whitney. After grabbing a smaller bag, he walks out of the aisle. I just drop the bag on a lower shelf and walk to the front of the store.

"I'm gonna walk home." I say and Ashton frowns.

"Not find the candy?" He asks and I shrug.

''Changed my mind." I mumble and walk out.

"Emily, hey! We had things to do this afternoon!" He shouts after me but I keep my head down and keep on