Sweetened Facade

Chapter Three

I must have fallen asleep in Finn's room as I woke up with a startle. It was eleven o'clock already. Clarisse is gonna get mad. 

I mentally prepared myself for the emotional train wreck I would run into once I got home as I drove through the silence of the trees. My stupid foster family consists of a very cruel and horrible mother of two brats for daughters. She has a pear shaped figure and pale white skin and a pair of lime green eyes that remind me of a snake. She's tall and quite beautiful on the outside, but a horrible person with a cold heart. She seems sophisticated when you first meet her, when in fact she is a two-faced witch. The day we moved in she made such a big scandal saying she didn't need "Any homeless idiots strolling around my fine china!" That was when I realised how horrible she'd really been. We grew up with our parents treating us with love and teaching us respect. I vaguely remembered Clarisse from when we were young and Dad had a lot of business partners. I encountered her once at a house party where I met her daughters.

Two bratty daughters. Briana and Alexa.

Briana is 18 and complains all the time. Her rich background and wealth are the only things she has going for her, honestly speaking. She's in the year above me, but that doesn't stop her from joining in on the raids against me.

Then Alexa is a total coward. She's tall and tan and beautiful, Caitlin's best friend. We are in the same year, just that I'm the social outcast and she's the schools elite and most popular girl. She walks around the halls as if she is a runway model. 

I strongly despise Alexa for what she did the first day I was at her school. She told Caitlin that I was a slut and that I hung around with a lot of boys and that I got pregnant and had a son. Of course, none of those things were true, but Caitlin spread the rumours. Once Alexa found out about my mingling with the wrong crowd she only added fuel to the fire and built a really bad reputation of me. I was fed up of my own inner-turmoil and guilt that I didn't care anymore.

Finn is all I have. And the only tolerable person out of my foster family is Christopher Bostick, my foster guardian. Dad trusted that he would take care of us in case anything ever happened. He failed his promise. He let his wife treat me horribly and he neglected Finn's needs. All he really does is take care of finance. 

***

I quietly opened the door and crept into the pool of light in the hallway. The walk from the driveway to the door was cold but I was enveloped by the casual warmth of the house as soon as I walked in. Slipping my shoes off quickly, I hopped up the stairs and dashed into my room. Phew, I sighed. Luckily there were no fits of anger or fights when I got home. Briana and Alexa would often argue over little things, Clarisse would pick a fight with me, or the most common and their personal favourite, they all ganged up on me. There would be none of that tonight. I peeled off my clothes and slid into a comfy pair of pajamas. It was a little over midnight when I decided to open a book. 

Med-Entry Exam 101.

I studied for an hour or so before finally sliding into bed. 

Cars screeching. Squealing. His face. Her cry. Blood. Water. 

Sweat was condensing on my skin as my blood ran cold. Tears began to stream down my face as my breath was pulled away from my lungs. Blur. Sting. Pain. 

I shot up suddenly, heart racing out of my chest, tears melted into my skin. Hugging my knees I scanned the clock. 

2:57 

It always happens at this time. I braced myself for another sleepless night and argued against my better judgement. Eventually I ended up re-reading my med-entry book until I made another attempt at sleeping.