Wet Paint

No one actually cares about walls.

Lia Everett lay under her bed, peeking through the sheets towards the door. She could hear the thumps of her father climbing the stairs, grumbling to himself. She held her breath as he opened the door. She saw his bare feet stumbling around the toys that she had left as a sort of trap to get him to leave. "You better be here: I swear when I find you I will beat you as hell!" Her father bellowed. She shut her eyes tight and prayed that he wouldn't find her. She kept her eyes closed until she heard the door open and her father's footsteps get quieter. She let out a sigh of relief and carelessly tried to crawl out of her hiding space. But she bumped the train that tooted when you hit it. She braced herself, slipping back into the shadows and dust bunnies and old stuffed animals that hopefully would conceal her.Her father's feet appeared at the door again, clomping over to the edge of the bed. He bent over and she could see the empty bottle in his hands. He was about to pull back the sheets that covered the gap under the bed, when he slipped on her favourite stuffed moose and fell to the ground, hitting his head with a clunk. Lia shuddered and pressed her side to the wall on the other side of the bed, and watched through a crack in the sheets as he grabbed the moose and ripped the head off. Lia screamed and scrabbled out from under her bed, grabbing the moose's head and standing over her father, who was on his knees. He grinned, showing crooked yellow teeth. And Lia, filled with rage and hurt, slapped her father across the face. It wasn't very hard, saying as she was only six and he forty-nine, but she still took him off guard. He stood up, towering over Lia, and she cowered away from him as he raised the empty bottle in his hand.Lia screamed as he brought it down on her head. She crumpled to the ground, leaving her father standing over his unconscious daughter.   

"Jake!! Lia come here! Jake and Sophie are here come, honey!" Mom calls from down the stairs. I don't want to see Sophie. Or Jake. I stomp down the stairs, to see Jake and Mom hugging, and Sophie beaming. 

Mom met Jake last summer at an art show, where he was selling his paintings. She says she looked at him an immediately fell in love. I'm sure that's not true because that's kind of impossible, but she sounds so happy about him, so I let it go. After that, they started going to movies and stuff. I knew something was happening.
But Jake didn't actually live in Paris like we did (I know, It was amazing how I actually lived in Paris) and he was just staying for the summer with his daughter, Sophie. Mom was kind of devastated and made one of the most irrational decisions possible. I remember coming home from day camp, with mom on the front lawn. She hugged me and was all emotional and was kinda worrying me, and then she said "We're moving!" and I passed out.
And no I'm not one of those people who just get upset over nothing, I just may have suffered a teensy bit of brain damage in my past years that ended in many migraines and passing out a lot. But I'm fine.
Anyway, so we ended up moving to Merritown, this tiny little town in California. And I hate it.   

"Hi! Lia! Oh, I'm sososo excited! We are gonna be SISTERS!!!" I purse my lips and try to curl them into a smile. This just seems to make Sophie's smile wider, "I've never lived in such a big house!" She does some sort of dumb little spin, and hugs her dad.
"Soph, come on we need to go all of us and pick out some paint! Unless you are ok with white..." Jake smiles. They all look like idiots, smiling so wide that their faces look strained. I know what they're doing. They're worried. About me. Just like everyone else. To them, I am fragile. It's like they think I was some sort of bomb that can go off at any minute. So I smile.
"What colour do you want?" Mom asks us.
"White," I say.
"That's a bit boring though..." Sophie's smile falters. I shrug, "well, I like white. Plain. Plain can't hurt anyone. Plain is simple. What do you want?" I try to sound casual, but they are digging into every one of my words, trying to find what I'm hiding.
"Well, online I saw something... I really want to do ombré walls. Y'know?" I shake my head. Not because I don't know what ombré is, but because it's dumb. This is my house.
"Well... Maybe your half of the room can be... Ombre... And then Lia's half can be white?"
I nod. Jake nods. Mom nods. Sophie nods. They all put back on their smiles. They all think that I'm happy again. But really, is there an again for me? We all get into Jake's dumb little minivan and drive off to the hardware store. I have to sit in between Jordan and Sophie. Usually, when we go off to the beach, mom will let me sit in the passenger seat and Jordan has to sit in the back. Usually, older brothers like Jordan would want to sit in the passenger seat but Jordan is different. He understands. But nope. This car is too small. And Sophie and jake are here. I groan.
"What is it, Lia?" Mom leans over from the passenger seat. My seat.
"I'm squished," I say.
"Then move over, honey." She smiles.
"That seems a bit complicated," I say thinking of trying to crawl over Jordan.
She sighs and turns back to the front, chatting and giggling with Jake.
"So. How about for the walls your side is white and then at my half it turns to bright Pink." Sophie says excitedly.
"I don't really care." I say. She shrugs and turns back to the window. 
Maybe I can move in with mom and... no. Never. There are three more rooms in the house...
"Mom?" I lean over the shoulder of her chair, staring at the bright sun and happy people. She looks at me through the mirror, "Hm?"
"Aren't there like, three other rooms in our new house?" I ask.
"Lia... What do you mean?" Her eyebrows come together to form a small crease.
"I was just thinking maybe it would be better if..."
"No!" She glares at me through the mirror, "Lia, we aren't talking about this. Don't be rude."
"How's she being rude?" Sophie asks cheerfully. I turn and glare at her. The car stops and I fall back on Jordan.
"Sorry." Jake calls, "we're here!"
I groan and follow Sophie out of the house. The bright rays of the sun beat down on us. Everyone who passes us seems to have a feeling of joy following them. It's sickening. What's wrong with these people?