Bring Me to New York

Chapter 1

The loud rock music from the next room jolted me awake. I rubbed my eyes sleepily and reached for my alarm clock, yawning. I groaned when I realized that I'd been waken up at 8 o'clock in the morning. Goodness, my brother knows no boundaries.

Groggily, I tumbled out from bed and walked to Alex's room, barely awake. I pounded on his door loudly, but no matter how loud the pounding was, it seemed to drown in his loud, horrible music. "Alex!" I screamed. "Turn off the music now!" At once, the music stopped and the door opened to reveal a very angry Alex.

"What's your problem?" he fired, leaning onto the door frame. My eyes widened at his statement. "I think, mister, that should be my question. What's your problem? It's only 8 o'clock!" I shot back.

He flipped his blonde hair to the side and glared at me. "If Audrey doesn't care, then why do you?" I glanced at the empty room beside his. "She's gone out for cheer leading practice. Her room is empty," I said, pointing to her room.

"Ashley Kim-Rivers. I do not care if you hate rock music. It's my passion, and I do what I like," he retorted, and slammed the door in my face. I jumped from the impact.

"Mum!" I shouted as the music turned up again. "Mum!" I shouted again, running down the stairs. I sighed when I realized Mum was not at home. Shaking my head, I went to the kitchen to make breakfast for myself.

Suddenly, the front door burst open and in came Audrey, the fabulous, glamorous girl whom everyone adores. Everyone, that is, except for me. She sashayed into the living room in her cheerleading uniform and plopped onto the sofa.

"Where's Mum?" she asked, turning on the television.

"Why are you back?" I asked, ignoring her question. She gave me the evil eye and pointed a perfectly manicured finger at me. "I asked you a question."

I shrugged and bit on my bread. "So did I," I answered.

Audrey stood up and crossed her hands on her chest. "Ashley Kim-Rivers. You do not talk back to me. No one ever does."

I gave her a nonchalant look. "Well then, let me be the first."

I watched as her face turned as red as a tomato. She stamped her foot in frustration and screamed: "Ashley Kim-Rivers! Now I know why your birth mother left you! Because you are useless! Worthless! I don't even know why Mum took you in!"

   Tears prickled my eyes. I cupped my face in my hands. "Your mother was probably a good-for-nothing Chinese slut!" she continued.

  That was the last straw for me. I ran out of the house and slammed the door as hard as I could and ran to the park, collapsing on one of the benches. I started crying, with not a single tear to spare. I cried even harder when I realized that I still hadn't changed from my clothes from the previous night.

All of a sudden, I heard a loud thud and a groan of pain. I looked up a saw a boy, no older than me sitting on the ground with his skateboard beside him, groaning in pain.  I quickly wiped my tears and rushed to help him.

"Oh, gee, thanks," he said, holding my hand to stand up. He looked flushed, obviously embarrassed. He was very tall and lean, with a broad body frame and side swept brown hair. I watched as he bent down to pick up his skateboard.

"Are you sure you can walk?" I asked, eyeing his swollen ankle.

"I think I can- OW!" he exclaimed, sitting down on the nearest bench to examine his foot. "I think your ankle is sprained," I offered, sitting down beside him.

He made a weird sound and looked at me. "Really? I've never sprained an ankle before. Is it serious?" I gagged at his question. "Probably. Depending on how hard you fell..... judging by the look of your ankle, it should be quite serious," I joked.