Lost in the Game {Brollins}

| Chapter 11 |

There was no easy way of explaining Rebecca's home life. There were countless factors and components that made living in her house the way that they were.

Rebecca always tried to stay away from home as much as she could but it was often difficult, due to the fact that her parents barely let her out and were extremely strict most times.

She came up with every excuse she could, whether it was lying about a school project, lying about one of the girls needing tutoring, or lying about staying for extra help at school, she tried to stay out as much as she could.

Rebecca didn't like to criticize her parents often because she knew she probably wasn't the easiest to deal with, but it was constantly hard. She knew they were most likely doing the best they could, but she was treated like an outcast and at times it was too much to take.

She would go home and head directly to her room for the entire day, typically only coming out to use the washroom or eat, and she barely conversed with them.

Her parents were hard to explain sometimes, yes they lived together and considered themselves married, but they were constantly fighting and lived two very separate lives.

Rebecca had to give it to her father, he tried more than her mother to create a bond, but his attempts always fell short somehow. Although through it all, most of Rebecca's childhood memories included her father and she loved him with all of her heart. She knew how trying living in this household was and his job wasn't any easier, the poor man never got a break and Rebecca always felt bad for him.

Her mother on the other hand was a completely different story. With her, it was like night and day, either she considered Rebecca her best friend or she acted as if Rebecca was her arch enemy. She constantly attacked anything Rebecca would say or do and gave Rebecca most of her insecurities first hand. She only "loved" Rebecca on her terms and whenever she felt it was fit, but most times she didn't even glance in Rebecca's direction.

Although through it all, one issue Rebecca had and somehow never managed to shake was always forgiving her mother for everything and anything. Any hurtful comment, rude remark, and unloving statements were just brushed off, and she constantly gave her mother more chances. She yearned for a relationship with her mother and tried so hard, but it never worked out.

Another reason why Rebecca's relationship with her father had become strained was because her mother couldn't stand the two of them getting along for more than five minutes at a time. If Rebecca ever got in trouble, it was more than likely that her father would get blamed for part of it or get in trouble just because it was evident that Rebecca favoured him.

The girls knew some of Rebecca's issues with her home life and never failed to try and help her come up with a way out. They offered sleepovers, road trips, anything that could get Rebecca away, but she hated getting them involved in her drama.

At first, the girls never suspected anything was wrong with Rebecca's home life. That was the thing about her mom, she was a good actress and always acted as if she had the perfect family. The same went for when she would talk to anyone—including Rebecca's few friends—she acted completely opposite from the way she was at home, putting a performance on, and portraying herself as the perfect mother.

The worst part was that these issues Rebecca often thought about weren't even scratching the surface of what she had to deal with.

When Rebecca first approached her house, she noticed the truck gone from the driveway, which typically meant that her father was still at work or out doing something else. However, she did notice that her mother's barely used car was sitting in the driveway.

Rebecca slowly went to her front door, regretting not taking Mercedes up on her offer to go to the mall. She slipped her house key out of her pocket and unlocked the door, she then paused, taking a deep breath and sighing before letting her hand rest on the doorknob in hesitance.

"Here goes nothing." She quietly mumbled to herself as she let herself in and closed the door before locking it, she silently scouted around the first floor to see if there were any signs of her mom being home.

Her shoes weren't by the front door, her keys were gone from the hanger, and her purse seemed to be missing. Rebecca let out a sigh of relief and became slightly happier knowing she would have more time alone without being bothered.

Since she was alone for now, she decided to grab food before her mother would be there to yell at her for it. She then begrudgingly trudged down the creaky hardwood stairs to the basement where her room was.

Rebecca made it down the stairs and turned on the lights in the main sitting room that was considered the actual basement. The main area only had a few old and discarded couches against the boring beige walls that made the room seem even duller. At the end of the area, stood a door that led directly to Rebecca's room.

She actually enjoyed living in the basement, it let her be often forgotten and the only person she would have to deal with was herself. It was harder to hear the bickering, yelling, and fights that would often give her headaches, and the basement muffled some of the arguments allowing her to get a small amount of peace.

Rebecca's room was the only place in the entire house where she felt safe, and for the most part, it was the one place where it actually felt like home.