Starting Over

I stared at the
photograph of my family and me laughing at the beach. I missed them so much. Maggie,
my little sister, was smiling madly while perched upon my back as if she were a
monkey. My mother and father’s faces were turned to the side, laughing at me
and my sister. James, my older brother, was holding the family dog, Peanut, who
was wriggling out of his grasp. I smiled at the memory. They were killed in a
car wreck on the way to the local diner. I was sick that night, so I had stayed
home. People are always telling me how lucky I was, but I would much rather
have been in the car with them. At least then I wouldn’t be living with some
shitty foster family that pretends they care, but really only loves their
biological daughter, Tessa. Allen is my foster dad, and Victoria is my foster
mom. Tessa is their daughter. They’re just fostering me for the extra bucks
they get every month. Fine by me, I get out of this hellhole in two years
anyways. Maybe I can get emancipated, god knows they wouldn’t mind signing the
papers. So, who am I, you ask? My name’s Avery. Welcome to my hell.