NOTE:
10 Lessons you learn as a latchkey kid.
10. Money makes the world go round.
9. Common sense is your best friend.
8. Karma is a bitch.
7. Nothing is free.
6. A little hope, can go a long way.
5. Strength is not an option.
4. Love does exist, if you look in the right places.
3. Know what you want and don't let anybody tell you otherwise.
2. Wallowing in self pity gets you nowhere.
1. Damaged people are dangerous, because they know they can survive.
PROLOGUE:
"Dear Liam,
Hopefully over the next few years of your life you will realize being cool isn't all it's cracked up to be. Hopefully you'll realize there are bigger things to life and impressing all these people won't get you anywhere.
Hopefully, walking down that road you will realize that the people who love you are the ones that will accept you no matter what and anyone who won't isn't worth your time.
I hope along that road you learn to be who you are and to love yourself because if you don't believe you're worth it, nobody else will either. I just hope when you're faced with decisions you don't make them to please other people, I hope you make them thinking of the man I know you can be.
There's a lot to say that I don't really know how to say, but I owe it to you to try. I'm not sure what you'll remember at this point in time, I'm writing this at the age of 17 and I plan on mailing it wherever you are in 10 years or so. I don't know where I'll be by then or what will have happened but I figure you should know what did happen and why I left. I love you as if you were my own and I always will. You're so important to me but I selfishly ask for your forgiveness...for leaving. I believe that sometimes you just need to do what's right for you and you can't clean up other people's messes. You need to live your life. I hope you realize all the chances ahead of you, and that you can be anything you want and go anywhere you please having made the right choices. I hope you don't let the setbacks life has thrown at you, at such an early age stop you. I believe in you and I'll always be here for you. So here's my story.
CHAPTER 1:
Harmony Esabelle Anders strolled down the empty street, houses blurring around in her peripheral vision. The fall colors pulled her in as the wind blew her long curly brown hair here and there. She dug her hands further in the pockets of her tan fleece jacket so the fall weather couldn't touch them. It was only 3 o' clock in the afternoon and the day had already felt long to her. It didn't help that she got the once every two month phone call from her parents today, reminding her to do everything she was already doing and had been doing her whole life.
Harmony took care of herself and that's how it had always been and as far as she was concerned, that's how it was going to stay. Her parents were top of the social chain and they made sure everyone knew it. That was how Harmony was able to hide most of her life away, most of herself. Her parents were never home, always out promoting their music business and partying, lately in the Asian parts of the world from what it sounded like over the phone, while she was left to take care of herself. Legally, her older sister Leigh was suppose to take care of Harmony and Liam, Leigh's four year old son, as well. However, Harmony ended up with the responsibility of Liam while Leigh went out to do whatever, wherever, checking in once a week. Today was the day she made sure to check in, to get their parents call so she could reassure them she was doing her job and continue her life of leisure. Harmony was 12 years old when her parents started skipping out on her, and 13 when 19 year old Leigh brought home the baby. Once Leigh seemed to get bored of her motherly duties, about 2 months before Harmony's 14th birthday, she started using drugs again. She left Liam with Harmony more and more, until it got to a point where Harmony picked up Liam from daycare everyday after school, and knew to get money from under Leigh's mattress when she heard knocks on the door at one in the morning so one of Leigh's friends could bail her out of jail. Despite her obvious reason to complain, Harmony didn't. And mostly it was for Liam. She figured she should be strong for him, so hopefully he can grow up to be something, so he could grow up to be a good person despite the messy components of his life that could easily hold him back. It also made her feel like a better person, a bigger person. She was upset about the way things were sometimes, but keeping her head up let her know that she was a bigger person then her parents and her sister, and she could feel good about herself for doing what's right, not what's easy.
