The Parents' Secret

THE PARENTS' SECRET, PART 2

**TEEN ALICES POV**

My dad picked me up from school. When I got home I did my homework, exciting i know. I couldn't stop thinking about FP. When I was doing math homework, I wrote FP instead of 'fractions'. I slammed my pen down on my desk.
'Someone's angry,' my sister, Penny, was standing in the doorway. 'What's up?'
She doesn't actually care about me. She just wants to know what goes on in school since she got excluded. And then she goes and tells her South Side Serpent friends, so they can go and bully people, with a purpose.
'Why'd you care?' I said. Can she just leave already.
'I'm your sister.'
'Get out.'
'Suit yourself. I have better things to be doing.'
My mom walked in.
'Penny, go and clean them glasses. Alice has school work to be doing.' she said.
Penny grabbed the two glasses that were in my room, drank the left over soda out of one, and then threw them both down the stairs. For 2 seconds straight all I could here was loud glass shattering.
She laughed.
My mom turned around and gave her the biggest death stare before screaming at her. I couldn't here it, because I put my hands over my ears. But you could predict what she was going to say.
'At least they don't have to be cleaned now.' said Penny. She ran down the stairs, dodged the glass and just before she went out the door, shouted 'That's gonna need cleaning, Mom. Since Alice has school work to be doing.' Then she slammed the door.
I felt so bad for my mom. She was almost in tears.
'Promise me you won't take after Penny in the next two years.'
'I promise, Mom.'
Penny was always the bad kid. My family was labelled the 'perfect family' so when Penny was suspended from school. There was a lot of shit coming out of peoples mouths about us.

**7PM**
My dad dropped me off at work. His work lost loads of money and he had been made redundant. It was horrible news. I was the only working person in my family and my mom and dad refused to take money from me. He did, however, have a job he could fall onto. It was longer shifts, but more pay.
I work at the Twilight Drive In. In the food bit. There was an Audrey Hepburn movie on tonight so it was going to be busy.

LATER THAT NIGHT
I'd served a whole lot of hot dogs and sodas tonight but the queue was still endless. Finally, at 8pm the queue had gone. I was counting all of the money I had made tonight, with my back to the hatch, when I heard someone say '2 sodas and a hotdog, and uh-ermmm popcorn... please. I didn't turn around.
'We're out of hotdogs, sorry.'
'That's fine.'
I turned around.
His mouth dropped. It was FP.
'Oh hey,' he said, ' I didn't know you worked here?'
'Yep. Everyday. 7PM.'
'Cool.'
We stared into each others eyes for like 5 seconds, it felt like 5 minutes.
'Shit your sodas.' I broke the silence. The queue was getting longer, fast.
I placed the sodas on the counter.
'Uhhh, $2.50.'
'You forgot my popcorn.'
'Shit. Sorry.' I ran around the pantry looking for popcorn. Found it.
I slammed the popcorn down, by accident. And the box of popcorn fell... all. down. him.
'Oh my fucking god. I'm sorry. I-'
'It's fine. Don't worry.'
All I could do was worry and panic. The queue was huge now.
'What's taking her so long?' I heard someone shout.
'I better go.' He placed the $2.50 on the counter and smiled. That. Freaking. Smile.

**9PM**
There were still some people in the queue, but everything has gone. I closed the shutter and turned over the 'open' sign, so it would say 'closed'.
I shouted, 'SORRY'.
I gathered my stuff together, grabbed all of the money, and left. When I was walking out of the door someone walked in front of me. I jumped.
'Awwww, lil' sissss.' It was Penny. She was drunk. 'It's past your bed time.' She slurred on her words.
'Penny-, what are you doing here?'
'Serpents. Sssss- said that. Wanted to watch. Film.'
'You don't make any sense. Let's go home.'
I heard lots of laughing. I turned around. Serpents. They were doing jingle jangle.
'You want some?' Someone shouted.
I bolted out of the gates and didn't look back. I sprinted all the way home. I didn't stop.
I pushed the door open.
'Someone's sweaty.' My mom was ironing.
'Penny is drunk and doing drugs with the serpents.' I was panting.
'Again? No surprise.' I expected her to be furious. 'How was work?'
'Fine.' I ran to my room. My phone was beeping.