An Unexpected Family [COMPLETED STORY]

Childhood Nightmares

You don't know alot about me, so let me fix that. I'm Elena Johnson. I'm 16 years old and my life is a living hell. I'm the only source of income for my family who are a bunch of drug addicts and drunks. They've been that messed up for as long as I can possibly remember. I grew up in the bad areas of New York, the sketchy downtown places you wouldn't want to be caught dead in. My parents used to be accountants until they got fired for obvious reasons. I went to school until grade 10 then dropped out. I was born on June 25th, 2002. I've never celebrated one birthday, never had a party or a cake or presents. Nothing. Birthdays don't mean anything, that signify that you're getting old, yay..! I've never had any friends and I'm okay with that too. It's harder to go through life with a hard attitude and a dangerous job if you have someone you actually care about telling you not to.

My childhood life sucked, but I guess less than it does now. My parents were still druggies but they were pretty good at hiding it. To a kid, they never really seemed high, I just thought that was how they were. I went to school everyday in cheap hand-me-down clothes that the other kids would make fun of. I never had "Justice" or anything like that. After school I would come home and cry to my mom about how mean the other kids were, but she didn't care. She told me that everything would be okay and they're just jealous of how great I was and this and that. As an 8 year old I bought that, but now I'm realizing how much she really didn't care. That we the standard parent response.

When I was younger my family cooked, well, my dad did. He never cooked anything too fancy but I still got food. It was usually soup or something, maybe pizza if we were lucky. Jaden is 2 years older than me. My parents always favored him over me. He got a big party for when he turned 10, I got a "happy birthday El." I was always kind of a brat, which is probably why they liked Jaden more. Now? Well I can't really tell who they like more now. Jaden never leaves his room and I'm never home. We should've been put up for adoption or something, they shouldn't have been allowed to keep us. I never open up this much to anyone, so you're lucky. I'm only telling you about me because we're going to be stuck with eachother for a while. Don't get used to it, this is about as much as you're going to get.

Anyway, that's depressing so I don't want to talk about that anymore. I'm taking my driver's test today! That's cool I guess. I'm not really nervous for multiple reasons. I've taken my parents car before and drove it and it was pretty good, and I've studied the book a million times because I had nothing better to do. I was ready, where I'm from once you turn 16 and pass the test, you can drive without an adult. I can't wait, I'll take some of the money I've saved up and buy a scrap car. Doing my work will be so much easier once I can drive. My test is in an hour and I have to walk, so I guess I'll leave now. I opened my window and jumped out, landing on my feet. I walked to the street and crossed it. The driver's test place wasn't too far away, I should be there maybe half an hour before. It's always good to be early, it makes it look like you care. Plus, I really just couldn't be at my house any longer.

After waking for about half an hour I could see where I needed to be. Perfect. I walked in to they grey brick building and gave my name. The lady at the desk nodded and told me to take a seat, so I did. I waited for about 20 minutes, I brought a book so I read that. The lady at the desk called my name and went to the room she motioned toward. The instructor was waiting in there already, so I sat down at the desk. We talked for a moment and then we went to the car outside.

I got in the driver's seat and did everything Jacob told me to, Jacob was the instructor's name. My hands were at 10 and 2 and we were off. I took every turn perfectly and did everything just right and passed my driver's test with ease. It probably helped because I wasn't nervous at all. I got my license and left. Usually I don't show alot of emotion but today? I couldn't stop smiling. I have been waiting for years to get this card. Years. Ever since I was 12 I've wanted to drive. I walked down the street with the biggest smile on my face and a skip in my step.

  Nothing could ruin this day for me. Not my idiot parents. Not my idiot brother. Not my run down house. Nothing. Nothing was going to stop me today. It was only 11:30 so I had the whole day ahead of me. What should I do? I was taking the day off today, no work. I didn't want to deal with people right now. I wanted to live in this moment. I wish I could be this happy forever. I was walking to the movies, there would for sure be something I'd be interested in. I haven't been to the movies in years. Now I was even happier. The movie theatre was a block over, a quick walk. I turned the corner and walked straight into a brick wall. A fabric covered brick wall... Oh my god, it's a person!
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Hey! Hope you're liking it, the next chapter will be more interesting I promise. This chapter was more or less a filler.

-8PW