What's Left of Me

10.

I've been tossing and turning for hours I can't sleep because of my dad and his girlfriend. I don't even want to know what they are doing in the other room. I smack my pillow on my head and groan. I grab my phone from my nightstand and text Brandon.

Me: Are you up?
Brandon: Yeah, why are you?
Me: Guess
Brandon: Gross, come over
Me: Okay
Brandon: Come through my window, don't want to wake up my parents.

I slipped a t-shirt on and grabbed my slippers. I crept out of my room and ran down the hallway. When I made it out of the house I let out a breath of relief. I walked over to Brandon's house and went through the back gate. I admired the pool as I walked past it and up the deck stairs. When I got to the deck Brandon's window was open. I climbed up on the railing and Brandon's face appeared. He grabbed my hands and pulled me through. His room was dark except for his desk light. It looked like he was working on something. He shut the window and I climbed onto his bed.

"You don't have to sleep on the floor," I said sliding under the covers. He looked at me. "I mean, if you touch me, I'll kick you," I smiled. He laughed and walked to the other side of the bed. The whole bed smelled like Brandon. He turned off his desk light and climbed into bed next to me. I closed my eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

In the morning I'm woken by Brandon shaking me. I open my eyes.

"What?" I groan.
"Time to get up," he said. He was already dressed and ready for school. I groaned again and hid under the covers. He pulled them back.

"Ava were going to be late and you already missed half of yesterday," he said. I sat up. He was right.

"Fine, but you're driving me to school," I said.
"Deal, now get up," he said. I got up and went out the window and back to my house. I quickly got dressed ins one leggings and a t shirt. I knew Pricilla would judge my outfit but I didn't care one bit. My dad and Candace weren't awake yet so when I was done getting ready I grabbed a granola bar from the pantry and headed outside
where Brandon was waiting for me in his car.

"Were they awake?" He asked as I shut the door.
"Nope, thank god," I said putting my seatbelt on. Brandon started driving.
"Thanks for last night," I said thinking back to when I snuck into his room. "I didn't kick you did I?" I smiled. He laughed.
"Thankfully no," he said. We pulled into school and I saw Jesica getting out of her car.

"Park in my spot," I said. Brandon looked at me like I was crazy. "Just do it," I said convincing him. He turned his attention to the parking spot and pulled the car into it. Jesica noticed the car and met my eyes. Her eyes widened and turned towards the car. I got out of the car before Brandon and walked towards Jesica.

"You have some nerve Ava," she sighed. I smiled. She looked down at my t shirt. "You know Pricilla is going to have a fit about your outfit right?" She asked. I sighed and looked at Brandon who got out the car. "So he drove you to school?" She asked.

"Yeah, um my dad showed up the other day at my house with his new girlfriend," I said as Brandon approached us.
"You're kidding," she gasped. "What did he say?"
"Nothing, he acted like mom never existed," I said.
"What about the girlfriend?"
"Her name is Candace and she looks like a Barbie doll," I said. She made a disgusted face and looked at Brandon.

"Hi Brandon, I'm Jesica, Ava's friend, I don't think we have ever met," she said.
"Hi," he said putting his hands in his pockets. She looked at me with a weird expression and I gave her a confused expression.
"I know Brandon was with you the other day when you saw me....." she said. I caught on.
"Brandon won't say anything Jes," I reassured her. "Right Brandon?"
"Of course, I would never tell anyone," he said. She nodded.
"We better get to class," she said smiling.

At lunch Pricilla pretended like nothing happened the other night when she showed up at my house. I wondered if she was mad at me or simply didn't care. I noticed Melody was oddly silent and Pricilla was extra chattery today. After lunch I walked with Melody in the hallway.

"Melody, are you alright? You seem really quiet today," I said. She looked at me.
"Yeah, it's just some stuff at home," she said.
"I'm here if you want to talk," I said smiling. She gave me a small smile and nodded.

When the final bell rang I started walking down the hallway when my phone started buzzing in my pocket. It was a weird number that my phone didn't recognize.

"Hello?" I said.
"Hi, is this Miss Sinclair?" A lady asked.
"Yes, Who is this?" I asked.
"I'm calling from the bank, I was just calling to confirm your recent transaction from your college fund account," she said.
"I'm sorry, my college account?" I asked.
"Yes, this afternoon the money was taken out, we were just calling to see if you wanted to set up another account to deposit that money in?"
"Um, who exactly received the transaction?"
"Looks like it was your father," she said. I couldn't believe it. My dad has taken out all my money from my college fund account. There must have been thousands of dollars in that account.
"Miss Sinclair?"
"Um, thank you," I said hanging up. I gripped my phone and stormed out to the parking lot. Brandon was talking to Anthony. He saw me and gave me a look.

"What's up?"
"I just got a call from the bank, telling me my father has drained my college tuition account," I said. His eyes widened.
"I should go," Anthony said patting Brandon on the back. "Good luck with.... that." Once Anthony left Brandon drove me home.

"I can't believe he did that." I said. Brandon looked at me.
"Maybe he took it out to keep it safe?" He suggested.
"No way," I said. When we pulled up to my house I couldn't believe my eyes. There was a brand new red Lamborghini sitting in the driveway.

"I'm going to fucking kill him!" I said getting out of the car. I shut the door and made my way to the front door. When I got inside I could hear talking from inside the kitchen.

"What the hell is that?!" I said storming into the kitchen.
"Ava! You're home! You like it? It's my new car," he said.
"No! I don't like it! You used all my college tuition on that?!" I screamed.
"Ava, calm down, it's not like you we're going to use it," he said. I closed my mouth and stared at him. Last year I would have believed that. I didn't need to go to college but I wanted to. I turned on my heel and stormed out of the house. He took all my money well I going to go take his. More specifically my moms. I slammed my car door and backed out of the driveway and drove to the bank.

When I got to the bank I met with the woman I talked on the phone with.
"I'd like to transfer my moms money into my account," I said. She nodded.
"Will this be a new account?" She asked.
"Yes, and I don't want anyone having access to it, especially my father."