"Shay, honey!"
"Shailene!"
Shay remained still.
"Shailene Elizabeth!"
Exhausted from staying up late, Shay buried her face on her pillow, her breath too hot and not enough air to breathe, but the satisfying laziness of mornings causing her to not budge.
"Shailene Elizabeth Carter, you better be out of bed or I'll-"
Defeated but contradicted, Shay groaned and threw her blankets aside, it was too hot in that time of year anyway.
----
"I'm up, I'm up!" Her whole body felt sore from the laps done the previous night and with the heat in her room, Shay couldn't help but scrunch up her nose in disgust, her tank top clung to her torso with how much she was sweating.
Finding something to wear in the morning had always proven to be a torture, but Shay stook with whatever black combo she could find first. With little make up applied, Shay winked in the mirror before murmuring to herself "You got this Shailene. It's your 10th first day, you got this.".
---
"That's your first day outfit?" Mrs. Carter criticizes as soon as the cranky teenager lays foot on the kitchen floor. She is dressed in a yellow poncho and Shay doesn't really feel like she is in any position to criticize, but being the respecting daughter she must me, Shay simply sits down at the table, articulate fingers immediately working on folding up her sleeves so they sit comfortably above her elbows.
"It's my second year in this school, can't fool them anymore Mom." Shay replies, a hint of amusement in her voice. Mrs. Carter sighs, a hand aged by years of being a harpist leans forward and adjusts Shay's hair at the top, where it's disheveled and very obviously unbrushed.
"Can't you just put on something less... improvised?" Mrs. Carter insists kindly.
Shay avoids her gaze and rolls her eyes. Clothes are the least of her worries. Mrs. Carter shakes her head slowly and then grabs an apple to hand it to her daughter, who is about to touch it when it is snapped away but Mr. Tiny Evil himself, Asa Carter.
"I called dibths." Asa states, a cocky smirk on his lips as he holds the red apple in his chubby hand. He can't pronounce the 's' very well and Shay has always blamed it on karma, pay back for being annoying. Mrs. Carter, on the other hand, soothes him by saying he will grow and it will be fine, eventually.
"On an apple?" Shay asks, regarding the dibs. He nods and within a second is out of the kitchen, running, with the fruit and a hand-full of Frosty Flakes. "That kid is weird, he should go see a therapist or something." Shay huffed, receiving only a carefully given slap on my arm. Mrs. Carter disagreed.
"He's just... energetic." She corrects with fake smile, handing Shay money for lunch and a pear, which she knows by heart if Shay's favorite.
"Cosétte is driving me today, can I stay over at hers till my curfew?" Mrs. Carter, hands busy with Asa's lunch, hums a pondering "Hm...". She knows if it were up to Shay, she would only see her family when strictly necessary, and she can't blame her, being a teenager and all, but it still makes her feel unappreciated.
"Alright, but do your homework, I will not get another note from your teachers Shailene, not this year." She warns, somehow still tender.
Shay opens her mouth to reply when a loud car honk makes her jump in the spot. Before she can even think about moving, Mrs. Carter is already at the door. Mr. Carter is, very obviously, home.
Mr. Carter, all suited up and half-smiley, had been away for a week visiting Shay's Irish family. Someone had died, she was sure, but her parents hadn't told her who. Shay probably didn't even know they existed, so she didn't a big deal of it, but her father had been devastated for two days before his wife decided he needed to see his family. Now, he stood at the door, bangs under his eyes, he appeared tired, perhaps even yellow-er? Shay got up, put a smile on her lips and greeted her dad with a hug. Her hands wrapped around his round torso, Shay was only as tall as to reach her dad's shoulders with the top of her head, but the dorky man could care less. He bent down and squeezed his daughter with a strength foreign to her. Stumbling back a little when Mr. Carter let her go, Shay was almost ran over by her excited little brother.
