Down For The Count

Helpless

Paisley's POV

Month number four.

How I'm still alive at this point? I have no clue.

Okay...maybe I'm being a teensy bit dramatic. But I hate it here. Each day gets worse than the day before, and each day I think maybe Lin and Vanessa will come bursting through the front door and take me home. But of course that doesn't happen, it never does.

In all honesty, I think they forgot about me. We don't talk nearly as much as we used to. Maybe it was supposed to be this great thing that happened...but maybe it's over. I guess this is just my life now.

I sighed, trying to shake my head of the thoughts as I made my way up to the front door, my backpack still slung on my shoulders as I stepped inside the house.

"Dad?" I called, only to receive no answer. But I'm used to it at this point. When is he ever home?

I walked over to the refrigerator, frowning at the stupid piece of paper we had just gotten in the mail from the courthouse.

Paisley Miles.

It's official.

Not sure why Dad had the audacity to put this on the fridge, though.

I quickly took the paper off, ripping it up into as many tiny pieces as I could and throwing it in the trash can.

When I turned back to open the refrigerator, it was, as always, empty.

I groaned loudly, making my way to my room and taking my books out of my book bag and setting them down on my desk.

Tonight would probably be devoted entirely to AP Government homework.

Lin did keep his promise about helping me with AP Gov homework from September through December. But now that he's not here, I'm very much struggling to even pass this class. I'm borderline failing, and I'm confused on pretty well everything, and there's way too much work, I can hardly keep up.

I flipped through the large textbook, reading a paragraph or two, then accidentally zoning off, then having to reread that paragraph, then zoning off five minutes later, then going back to reread that paragraph. It was an endless cycle.

After an hour had passed, I had read about ten pages, when I should've had at least twenty  done.

And I have forty more to read...

I'll never pass this class.

It was already starting to get dark outside, and I still had other classes to get homework done for.

I scanned through the subtitles and headers on each page, trying to briefly scan everything, or find something interesting that I could at least focus on.

Branches of Government

Nope, next.

Ranked Ballot Systems

Nope, next.

Political Participation

Nope-

"PAISLEY NICOLE!" I heard Dad yell from the kitchen. I sighed, pulling away from my textbook, wondering what I could possibly be in trouble for this week.