Reality

Chapter One

I'm Catherine Archer. My parents, my sister, and I live a very happy life together.

Not.

I wish it were true. But this is the reality.

"It's okay, Lily. Please stop crying," I tell my little sister, as I try to shield her from the argument going on downstairs.

"This is it, Cat. Are...Are they getting a divorce?" She asks me, her lip trembling. I stroke her light brown hair, and sigh.

"I really don't know... but please stop crying, please," I pull her into a hug. No 8 year old should have to go through this.

"I GAVE YOU A SECOND CHANCE, ERIC. AND LOOK WHERE WE ARE," I hear my mother shout at my father through tears. The door slams. My mother cries.

Lily sobs into my chest, and I hear the car start and drive away. My father is gone now. For good.

Let me back up a bit. Eric Archer, the world's worst dad. When I was very little, before Lily was born, he cheated on my mother, Hazel, with some random whore that works at his office. My mother was still madly in love with my father, and she forgave him on the condition the whore got fired. Now, many years later, my mom finds out she never was, and my dad still had an affair with Stacy the whore, and so she kicked my dad out of the house, and he left. And so here we are.

"What are we going to do, Catherine? I love dad. He can't just leave us like that!"

"Lily, I think he just did, and I know this hurts right now, but we have to hold it in, for mommy, okay?"

She nodded, tears streaming silently down her red cheeks.

I hear my mom coming up the stairs, then down the hall, and into my room.
"Hi," she says.

I look at her. My mother. She doesn't deserve this. She comes and sits down on my bed, Lily running into her open arms, as she begins to sob again.

"Shhhh. It's okay. It's going to be alright," Said my mother, and I felt like it was more to herself than to Lily.

"Can I sleep with you tonight, mommy?" Asks Lily.

"Of course. Go put on your pajamas, I need to talk to Catherine right now, okay?"

Lily exits the room.

"Mom I-" I begin to say.

"Cathy," She says in a serious tone.
"I'm really sorry about all this. I wish I could do something about this, but I can't forgive him anymore I just cant, and it's not me I'm worried about, I still own the candy store, and that's all the money we need, but money won't... Can't... Fix us emotionally. And I know you know what happened, but please don't tell Lily. He's her hero, and, although he doesn't deserve any of it, she loves him. Please just help her through this in the correct manner."

She kissed my forehead and walked out of my room. Leaving me to lie down in my bed, alone, thinking of how my whole life collapsed in less than an hour.

I still love him, I do. He's still my father. But that doesn't mean I have to like him, or his choices.