Audrey Carter
"No, sweetie. I almost got it!" I giggled at him and smiled as his hand attached to the lone string of the pink balloon. I took it from his hands and tied it to my wrist so it would have a better chance at staying. Daddy turned his head to look at me and smiled for a quick second and then everything went black.
I jolted up from my pillow and felt a bead of sweat splash onto my forearm. God, damn nightmares. I glance at my alarm clock that is currently illuminating my bedroom, it reads 2:46. I shove my comforter away from my body and I wipe away the sweat on my forehead with my hand. Walking to the window, I flip a switch and turn on the ceiling fan. The sun isn't even close to showing, great. I pry open my bedroom window and walk to my closet to pick out an outfit for the day, knowing it'll be impossible to go back to sleep with the thought of my father on my mind. I feel tears try to break from their barriers and I hold them back, knowing my father would want me to be strong about this. I snatch my clothes from the hangers and tiptoe downstairs and into the shared bathroom.
I've only been in the shower for five minutes when I hear my foster mom banging on the door. "Audrey, get out of there! It's been twenty minutes, I swear!" Her squeaky voice gives me the shivers as I shut the shower off and wrap a towel around my body. I open the bathroom door to see her glaring at me and tapping her foot.
I mouth a "sorry" to her and run up to my room. I still haven't spoken a word since I was nine and quite frankly, I think Sue think's it's ridiculous. I push the thoughts back and strip out of my towel and get changed and do my hair. I double check myself in my hand-me-down mirror and push a stray piece of hair behind my ear. I pull my phone from its charging dock and sigh, running my hand through my hair as I prepare to go downstairs for breakfast.
As I walk through the main hallway, I glance at the calendar and laugh to myself. Oh yeah, it's my birthday. Forgot I had one of those. I roll my eyes at myself and continue walking to the kitchen. I grab an apple from the dish on the island in the center of the kitchen and polish it on my shirt quickly and take a bite. I see Sue's son, Benjamin, walking through the main hallway and he smirks at me then waves. "Good morning, sissy!" Although he's a year older than me, he calls me sissy. It's always been his nickname for me since his parents took my into their home. He first used it to comfort me, to tell me that he would be here for me through it all and gladly, he has been when his parents should have been instead.
He slips a small box into my hand and whispers, "Happy Birthday, sissy!" I give him a reassuring smile and nod to him as I slide it in my shirt pocket. I toss my apple core into the trash can and sit down at the island beside Benjamin. I see my foster parents come into the kitchen with mysterious grins on their faces, making me completely uneasy and sick to my stomach. I wonder what they're up to.
"Go pack your bags. We're taking a trip for Audrey's birthday." My foster dad says, my jaw drops. Is he being serious? Benjamin trades a look with me and I run upstairs to find my foster mom packing my bags for me. I frown.
I grab a piece of paper and a pen and write on it, "I'm more than capable of packing my own bags.." She glances at it and shrugs. Great. I take my bags once she's finished and I pack them into the trunk then slide in the backseat beside Benji. I close my eyes and rest for a bit, thinking of how fun this trip will be.
It was only two hours into the ride when I felt the car come to a stop and saw my foster dad at my door. I was confused. My foster mom threw my bags onto the sidewalk and my arm was tugged for me to get out of the car, I let out a small whimper of pain. I looked down at Benjamin who was asleep with his headphones on. "You really thought we would bring you on a trip? How humourous!" My foster mother glares at me for the millionth time today and gets back in the car and sooner rather than later, they're gone. I thought I was going to cry but I can't, I wouldn't. I needed to stay strong for my father and my mother.
I picked up my bags and pulled my hair over my face as I began walking down the sidewalk. Around fifteen minutes later I heard a group of boys laughing at a joke one of them said. I looked down at the ground and held one of my suitcases closer to me. I felt a strong force collide with my chest.
"Dude, that's not even that funn- oh shit! I'm sorry!" I look up and see a familiar face who had his hand extended out to help me up.
"Nice one, Justin! Knocking people and their shit over already and we haven't even started partying!" I see a darker skinned boy who's yelling at Justin. "Damn, Jaden! Shut the hell up, it was a mistake!" I giggled a little to myself and then it comes to me, this is Justin Bieber! I pull my hand away and stand up on my own.
"Hey there, what's your name beautiful?" Justin smiled at me with his big, brown eyes. They sparkled. I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out.
