The Princess of the Streets

Six - Hostility

When I woke up to the loud chiming of my old fashioned alarm clock, I pulled my blanket over my head. It was too early! I couldn't understand how anybody could be a morning person.

I groaned in annoyance and stuck my arm out of my blanket fortress to turn off my alarm. After I pushed the button, I pushed it off of my nightstand so that it landed with a satisfying crash. I took the blanket off of my head and peeked down. I was disappointed to see it that it wasn't broken.

The sun shone into my small bedroom, making my lilac colored walls look brighter than they really were. I looked around my room. It was so small and simple, yet it was where I spent most of my time when I was home. My small wooden dresser covered with makeup and a bunch of random things I had no space for sat under the window. I had thin, white carpet and a white comforter set that was decorated with pink, purple, and light blue flowers. 

I had a skinny door beside my dresser that went into my tiny closet packed full of clothes. My bedroom was probably the girliest place in history, but I surprisingly didn't care. My dad picked everything in my room when I was little and I didn't have the heart to change anything. 

I got up out of bed and trudged to my closet. I grabbed the first shirt I saw which happened to be a hot pink tank top. I put that and some jeans on before grabbing my brush and ripping it through my hair. 

"Chase, we're going to be late!" Ryder shouted outside my door. I was still putting on my mascara when I opened the door. 

"You aren't ready yet?" she asked.

"Do I look ready to you?" I said.

She sighed and picked up my alarm clock. She pushed a button and her eyes widened. "You set your alarm for 8 AM? Are you serious? School starts at 8:30!" She glared at me.

"What? I only need a few minutes to get ready," I said defensively. I grabbed my jacket off my dresser and slid it on while I slipped past her into the hall.  She followed, storming past me and down the stairs. 

"Hurry up, let's go. And try not to get expelled today, okay? Everybody's predictions about you are starting to come true. Next thing you know you'll be pregnant," she said with her back to the door. I stuck my tongue out at her and walked past, opening the front door. 

"Bye, Dad! Bye, Cara!" I shouted even though they were just in the kitchen.

Dad stuck his head through the doorway. "Bye, guys."

"See ya, Adrien," Ryder said. I started to go through the door.

"Oh, Ryder, could you tell your mom I sent the child support yesterday?"

"Sure. She says to tell you she said 'hi.'" 

Dad nodded and waved before going back to the kitchen. Dad was Ryder's dad, too, but she doesn't see him that way. She sees him as her best friend's dad, and he respects that. I had three other sisters who were raised by Dad, but they all moved out. He obviously had terrible taste in women (until Cara). None of them were fit for raising a child, and Dad wasn't going to let his children be neglected or put up for adoption. 

Ryder was the exception because her mom actually wanted her. 

Ryder and I hopped into her silver kia and headed off. "Oh, I almost forgot!" Ryder shouted suddenly, filling the comfortable silence

I jumped in surprise and put my hand on my racing heart. Any source of tiredness was gone in an instant.

"Chace Collins is back! I just figured I'd warn you just in case you see him." Of course Ryder would know that. She and Chace were cousins on her mom's side. My family had a bunch of strange family connections around the city. That sort of thing tended to happen when your player father had five kids with different mothers.