Damnit, Gallavich

Chapter 1 - October Bliss

"Kid, wake up. You got school." I heard Mickey as he knocked on my door.

My eyes fluttered open, revealing a blurry room at first sight. Recollecting my vision took a few moments, but I soon figured out my surroundings.

"Alright I'm up." I said as I quickly got up and out of bed.

I looked at my blue fluffy jacket sitting on a chair, opposite of the room.

October isn't bad, but I hate the cold. Halloween is nice, but it freezes that night. My jacket is soft but I'll still freeze my ass off in it.

I'm just not ready for October.

I was quickly dressed in five minutes, grabbing the closest pile of clothes I could find next to the jacket.

I definitely needed to clean my room. There's like five different piles on the floor.

"Where is it?" I asked myself as I tried to find my beanie.

I looked through all my drawers and found it laying at the bottom of my dresser.

I put it on quickly before leaving for the bathroom.

My red hair was always curly when I woke up, but after brushing it, it's only a bit wavy.

"I really do look like Ian don't I?" I asked myself as I admired my freckles.

"Yep. You really do." Mickey said, leaning on the door frame.

"Jesus Mick you scared me." I said as I jumped a little while trying to reach the mirror.

"You left the door open." Mickey said with a chuckle.

"I know that...sort of." I said as I finally got down from the sink with my hands throbbing.

"You know we can get you a step so you can see clearly? You're nine, not fourteen, you haven't gotten a growth spurt yet." Mickey said as he watched me look at my hands in agony.

"And yet I have a vast vocabulary." I said, smirking.

"More like cursing." Mickey said as he rolled his eyes and walked out.

"Where do you think I got it from?" I asked.

"Either me or that old family you had where the dad basically cursed for a living and the woman was a prostitute." Mickey said, chuckling.

"She wasn't a prostitute." I said.

"She definitely looked like one." Mickey said.

"That's not the point." I said with my eyes wide open.

"Heh, you're in a safe place now. Anyway, the bus will be here soon so hurry up with breakfast." Mickey said as we walked into the kitchen.

I quickly got cereal to eat while Mickey made coffee.

"Where's Ian?" I asked.

"He already went to work. Early call I guess." Mickey said.

"Oh, okay. I was gonna ask him about parent night on Friday." I said, eating a bit of my coco puffs.

"Why can't I go with you?" Mickey asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Last time you went with me to parent night you couldn't stand the teachers talking about my grades and ended up walking outside AS SHE WAS TALKING for a smoke...in front of children." I said, crossing my arms.

"Okay that's true but come on, I want to be there for my daughter so why not?" Mickey said as he grinned at me.

I had to grin back, thinking again that I had a real family now that cared about me and called me their kid. I never had that before.

Ian and Mickey are the parents I never had. My real parents are unknown, really. I just remembered that they died when I was a toddler, so I was in foster care for a while until I finally got adopted.

"Alright fine, but please do not smoke or bring a beer to school, please." I said.

"I won't pumpkin." Mickey said as he took out his fist for a fist bump.

Of course I responded to that with a fist pump.

"Alright kid, onto the bus stop." Mickey said as he got my backpack for me.

I put on my backpack, which was Ian's old backpack from 2011. It's still in good shape somehow.

Mickey walked me out the door and I quickly saw the bus at the end of the street show up to the stop.

"You better get going kid. I'll see you when you get home." Mickey said as he kissed my cheek goodbye.

"Bye Mick!" I said as I started walking off to the stop.

I saw my best friend, Alex, at the end of the street, waving towards me to get my ass over to her quickly.

"HURRY UP GALLAGHER!" Alex yelled as I finally almost caught up to her.

"IM COMING!" I yelled out.

"Finally, the bus was about to leave." Alex said as she stepped onto the bus.

We rummaged through to the back of the bus and sat down together.

"So who's taking you to parent night on Friday?" Alex asked.

"Mickey is." I responded.

"Oh god, remember last time?" Alex asked.

"Yes, I remember, but don't worry, he said he won't do anything this time." I said.

"He said that last time." Alex said as she rolled her eyes.

"Oh shut up no he didn't." I said.

Alex just giggled at me and continued to look out the window.

Alex was a lot taller than me. She looked like a seventh grader more than a fourth grader. She is ten though, not thirteen.

She has dark brown hair with darkish blue eyes. Her freckles kinda showed and she always wore jackets. Always.

I'll catch her during the summer with a hoodie on. I don't get how she can do it.

She's been with me ever since I first gone to school, and we have a lot in common.

She's in a foster home with somewhat alright parents. They aren't the greatest but they aren't like grandpa Frank who's a drunk.

She loves to ride bikes and has a hobby of engineering. She always fixes my bike when it's broken.

Together we are a power team, or just a couple of idiots. Who knows.

We always ride the bus together and she always comes over when she doesn't like staying at home.

Sometimes we go by my Uncle's house to hang out with my uncle Liam, who's in Middle school.

We do basically everything together, which I'm assuming that's a good thing to have in a life filled with turns.

Being on the bus was the fun part, but the school part always gets to me.

Every time. Every day.