Unexpected - Shawn Mendes

Canada.

A place where I never, ever expected myself to be living. Especially since ever since Ryan had graduated, he pretty much ran away from the family. I agreed that it was time for him to do his own thing, and with a family like mine, I would have fled too if I had the opportunity. 

Nonetheless, all of these years have gone by since he left, and I never really knew where he was. Home situations began to worsen, and I became fully convinced that he fell off the face of the Earth. 

My assumptions were proven wrong when I was taken from my home-by force-and forced to stay in foster care. They reached out to my relatives, looking for someone to care for me. Things were not looking good, until someone stepped in and offered to care for me. 

Ryan.

Linda, the woman from child services who was accompanying me on my journey to meet my new family, grabbed one of my suitcases and handed me the other. Together, we wheeled them up to the front door, where I stood with my jaw dropped. I had no idea that my brother was so financially stable. The house was beautiful, a lot tidier and modern than my old one.

Linda rings the doorbell, smiling at me, "Are you excited?" Her voice was peppy, and she held her fists up, cheering.

I have always hated how jubilant she always was. I simply nodded in response, not really in the mood to talk as much as she wanted to. I shivered, tugging on the ends of my sleeves and hoping they cover my shaky hands.

Although the weather was generally always cold, I'd heard great things about Canadians. You know, the stereotype about all of them being nice?

I walked into my brother, Ryan's house believing that this was true. Unfortunately, my hopes were let down when I met the she-devil of the house with piercing green eyes. She stared at me blankly, her resting bitch face practically making me melt to the floor.

I hadn't seen my brother since he moved, making me nervous to meet him again in this way. And the evil eye his girlfriend was giving me made my insides bubble.

After being engulfed in a hug with Ryan, I got to formally meet who the green-eyed monster who was eyeing me up. I learned that her name was Jade, fitting well with the piercing color of her eyes.

He excuses Jade from the room, and begins apologizing sincerely. "Grace, I am so sorry about what happened with Mom and Dad. I had no idea what they were doing and-"

I cut him off, "It's alright, no hard feelings," I shrug, not wanting to talk about what happened. The topic of my parents made me extremely emotional, and I was scared to cry in front of them. What happened wasn't his fault anyway, and there was no reason for him to apologize.

Ryan helped me lug my bags into my new room, leaving me to unpack. The room was painted a bright shade of white, with all white furniture and fluffy white bedding. Although the room was pretty, I thought it lacked color. 

I kept quiet, however, thankful to have a clean place to stay.

I laid down on the bed, the fluffy comforter hugging my body. I closed my eyes, relaxing to myself as I thought about how much better my life would be here in Canada.

So, you're probably wondering why the hell me, a fifteen year old girl, is living with her big brother.

It all began about a year or two ago. They started going out more, it was almost as if they were partying like college kids. It disgusted me. They were rarely home, and I had to learn how to start caring for myself.

They didn't buy me things I needed, they never checked in on me. Never attended my dance recitals, and when questioned, I always lied and said they were working. It was almost as if the drugs and alcohol were a bigger part of their lives than I was.

No one knew, not even Ryan. I really had no way to communicate with him after he left the country, and I was too scared to get my parents into trouble.

At least I thought no one knew. One day, my parents disappeared. They stopped coming home, leaving me to myself. One of the neighbors noticed and reported it to the police.

To this day, I still don't know where they are and honestly, I'm fine with that. After dealing with my parents for so long, I found myself extremely grateful that Ryan was willing to welcome me into his life.

I'm not asking for pity points. There are people who have it so much worse than I did, and I am just extremely thankful that I was able to get out of the poor conditions I was living under.

I dragged myself under the covers, resting my head on the fluffy pillow that Ryan provided me. After my flight, I felt drained, and my eyelids felt heavy. Pretty much as soon as my head made contact with the soft fabric, I was out.

OKAYYY i just rewrote this whole thing because i thought my old intro was super stupid // not interesting and did pull people in enough so here we have a little more background. pls leave feedback