Fooling the World

Chapter 1

Rubbing Alchohol.

The acidic smell is the first one that hits my nose as I awken. I hear the steady beeping of machines in the background. I slowly open my eyes to see my parents sitting at the foot of the bed.

I must be in the hospital.

My mom's face suddenly twisted into a half anxious, half relived expression.

"Doctor she's awake!" my mom screams. The door opens and a middle aged man with slightly greying hair comes in.

"Im doctor Phillips". I don't respond.

"Okay, how are you feeling?" once again I remain silent. The doctor shoots my parents a unbeliving and slightly irritated look when he thought I wasn't looking.

Well that hurt.

"Could I talk with you guys in the hallway?" he asks my parents with a funny little sort-of smile.

"Of course." my dad says and quickly follows him outside. I'm left alone to my thoughts.

What are they going to do to me? Will they send me off to a mental institution?

My parents step back in with slightly more relaxed faces. I wonder what the doctor told them to make that happen?

"Amber", my mom starts, "your father and I have come to a decision". I felt myself numbly nodding my head.

"We have decided that you can make your own choices. You are either going to a rehabilitation facility, or staying a couple of months with one of my friends. Which will it be?" My mom said, with a sense of finallity in her voice.

I felt a tight knot in my throat followed by fast, hot, tears. I'm not even sure why i'm crying. I guess I should have known my parents wouldn't want to be around me, especially after what happened.

My mom suddenly looked extremely uncomfortable. She finally started unsteadly shuffling towards me when the doctor gave her a rude, judgemental look. She gave in and slowly held me in her arms, her posture rigid as a wooden board.

I could no longer hold back the sobs. I was once again breaking down. I felt so trapped, I wanted out.

I felt the horrible wieght fall back onto my shoulders when I realized that my parents didn't want me.

<°°>

The next day I felt broken. I packed my bags without any questions. It's not like it would make a difference. I can't have anybody knowing what happened to me! I suddenly thought, If my own parents don't want to deal with me anymore I can only imagine the reactions of others.

I walked downstairs to be greeted by my the hard stares of my parents. "Are you ready to go?" my dad asked with a strange look on his face. "Yeah, I need to talk to you guys for a second though." They immediately adopted worried looks.

"What's wrong Amber?", my mom asks.

"I don't want anyone to know why I was in the hospital." I stated.

My mom looked ready to protest, but my dad stopped her. My mom shot a tentitive look at my father.

"Okay." he said, "but the person who will be taking care of you has to know" He compromised.

"Fine." I mumbled, It probably wasn't going to get any better than that.

"It's time to go Amber!" my mother shouted. I took one last look around. I was glad I was leaving for a while; the walls were filled with haunting memories.

I practically ran out the door, then jumped into the car at lightning speed.

"Don't you want to know where you'll be staying?" My mom asked, shooting an incredulous glance at me.

"It must have slipped my mind." I stated, then resumed looking out the window.

"Well your going to Erica's house." My mom explained with a tentative look on her face.

My temper exploded.

"YOU DIDN'T THINK THAT THAT TINY PEICE OF INFORMATION WAS IMPORTANT!?" I screamed.

My mom visibly flinched.

"It must have slipped my mind." She softly stated.

I turned and looked stonily out the window without saying a word for the rest of the trip.

Let me explain before you decide i'm crazy. Erica is my mom's best friend. They have been Inseparable since middle school. She moved to California after collage but they still keep in touch. I've allways liked Erica, she's like an aunt to me. What's the problem then?

The problem is her demon son, Stephano.

I'm not going to lie. He is quite attractive, ge has dark brown hair and a built body. You can stare into his eyes for days and never get borred. He's on the scoccer team. But, his personality is frightening and his temper worse than mine. He has slept with pretty much every girl at his school and mine!

I've hated him with every fiber in my body ever since I was eight years old. One summer Erica and Stephano came to town for my birthday party all the way from California. This was an important party! My mom said that for the firat time I could invite my friends from school. Everything was perfectThen just as I was about to blow out the candles Stephano blew them out for me! Then stuffed my face into the cake. Later, he decided to stand on the kitchen table, and tell everyone about when I accidentally wet my bed last week. Nobody wanted to be my friend after that. I was alone and friendless for the rest of elementary school.

That's a stupid reason to hate somebody you might say, he was only a stupid kid after all, but you see that wasn't the only time he screwed me over. When I was 14 I transferred to a different high school. I had so many friends. I was even going out with football player, Matt. I was finally "popular" everything was perfect. Then Stephano and his mom came to visit again. My dad was on a business trip and our mother's were having a "girls night out". The house would be empty all weekend.

I decided to throw a house party. Everyone was there. So was Stephano. When the party was in full swing he decided to stand up on the table and make fun of me. In front of everybody he called me a fat, and ugly, pig. Nobody talked to me. He also kissed me infront of my boyfriend!! Then he told everybody that I had been cheating on Matt for the past 3 months. Of course everybody belived him. Everybody called me a slut, and an attention whore. I was ridiculed and bullied everyday after that. I've never had a real friend, and it's all his fault.

<°°>

The sound of the engine of the car eventually made me sleepy. The last coherent thought I had was about California.

On the way to hell. I thought.