Chapter One

Chapter I

Freedom! No stepmother, no stepbrother, just me. Well, at least there are times of the day wherein I’m all alone in the house. I’d seriously choose being all by myself than with my stepmother and stepbrother.

Trust me, if you were me, you’d rather be alone. This stepmother and stepbrother I’m talking about, they’re not really nice to me. Wicked would be a good word, too. They’re wicked to me. I guess the biggest mistake my father did was marry Gena, my stepmother. That was 12 years ago, though. I couldn’t bring back time and just get my real mother from the afterlife and just live a happy and normal life. I guess we can’t all be happy forever, but can we be miserable forever?

Oh, Nerice, you’ve got to stop thinking of bad thoughts.

Yes, I’m Nerice. Nerice Lopez. I’m currently 16 years old, quite miserable, as you now know, but I can’t stay like that everyday! I’m not that stupid that I would just lock myself in my room and cry all day. I’m currently living with my stepmother and stepbrother. My father’s in Chicago for his business trip. Oh, only if he knows what it feels like without him.

People always said I looked like my mother. I knew what she looked like but not so much. I have a vague picture of her in my mind. How could I possibly have a clear picture? She passed away when I was 4. I didn’t have a very clear memory of my childhood.

“Your eyes, your eyes look exactly like your mother’s.” That’s what people would always tell me, especially my father. I have dark brown eyes, it’s not so big. My mother’s part Filipino, part Chinese, that’s why. My father also tells me that I got her nose, it’s not pointed but people always referred to it as “cute.” The thing I’m mostly sure about is that I got her height. My mother wasn’t so tall, reason why I’m small even though my father’s so tall.

“What to do, what to do?” I asked myself. I can’t seriously waste my time while Gena and Gerald aren’t here. School starts tomorrow; I finished organizing my things already since a week ago. A weird thing about me, I get excited over the thought of school. I like new school supplies, I like going to school, and weird thing is, not only because of my friends, but also because I want to study. Also, I get to occupy my mind with a lot of things, because I that, I wouldn’t need to think about the pain that Gena and Gerald brings to me and the sorrow that my mom brings to me.

I stood up from my bed which I was sitting on. I went to my window and looked at the view outside; I could go out and visit Blaze, my best friend. I could also watch the guys playing basketball by the court; I always liked watching basketball. Maybe play volleyball with Jean and the rest of the girls? No, bad idea. There’s not much to do, really. I guess I’ll just go with my first choice and visit Blaze.

I changed my clothes and started to run down the street. Blaze’s house was just a street from mine. I greeted a lot of people on my way there. I love making friends; I guess I got that from my father. His business seems to be so easy for him because he’s just naturally friendly.

“Oh, hello, Nerice!” Blaze’s mom greeted me as she opened the door before I could even ring their doorbell. “Looking for Blaze?” I nodded, smiling. Blaze’s mom was so nice to me. She treated me like I was her daughter and I love her for that. “He’s by the court, playing basketball. You know guys.” I laughed at her last sentence and thanked her. I guess I just ended up with my second choice; to watch the guys play basketball. The court was just 4 houses away from Blaze’s house so it wasn’t a big hassle for me to go there.

As his mother said, Blaze was there, playing basketball. I chose I seat near his things (yes, I recognize his things for afar) and sat there. I admire how Blaze could play basketball so well. He’s a natural.

Blaze has been my best friend ever since I was 7. He was new to our neighborhood and our school; he was my classmate back then and since I was the type of student that would befriend new students right away, I befriended him and since then, he became my best friend. I remembered back in 3^rd grade, when Blaze was 9 and I was 8, this girl hated me because of Blaze. Yeah, she had a crush on Blaze, a big one, and since I was Blaze’s best friend, she felt the need to hate on me because she thought I was his girlfriend. Funny, I’ve been receiving quite a number of hate since he became my best friend but we just laugh at it. I guess girl’s find him that attractive. I mean, who wouldn’t? He’s half British, half Filipino. He’s tall, smart and handsome. And honestly, to Filipinos like us, guys with green eyes are very attractive. To add up, he has a British accent, but he just sounds funny speaking our language, or maybe he just sounds funny to me.

“Nerice!” Blaze called me as he finished playing. He ran up to where his things were and sat next to me. “How’d you get out of your house?” he asked, laughing. Yeah, that topic was already a laughing stock for us.

“Obviously, Gena and Gerald aren’t home. I sometimes wish you’d think.” Don’t worry, I’m sarcastic.

“You’re so funny, I can’t breathe.” He said with a poker face. Yeah, we’re pretty much like this, full with sarcastic comments. Sometimes, there are even things only we could understand. We would just laugh at random stuff, and it’s weird but I guess I just got used to it.

“So, how’s life lately? I haven’t heard from you for a week already. No text, no chat, no calls, nothing.”

“My phone’s with Gerald, no internet connection in my room. Life’s good,” I sighed. “Sad part is I missed you.” Truth be told, I did. But it still sounds cheesy.

“Stop making me cry.” He joked. I smiled. This guy just always makes me smile even if he doesn’t try. Well, what are best friends for?

“Nerice!” my neighbor, Jeffrey, called me from the gates of the court. “I saw your stepmother’s car, better get home.” He said as he entered the court and started playing with the rest of the players.

“I’ll take you home and I’ll explain.” We stood up and started walking. Yes, we did not hurry towards our house. As I expected, the black car was there. I opened the door and Gerald was in the living room. When he saw me, a grin appeared in his face.

“Mom! She’s here!” he shouted from the living room. I rolled my eyes as Gena went downstairs and started shouting at me. I never understood a word she said. She sounded like she was rapping a horrible song.

“Mrs. Lopez, may I speak?” Blaze said out of nowhere. I totally forgot he was there.

“And you brought your stupid best friend to stand up for you?” she said, totally ignoring what Blaze said.

“FOR YOUR INFORMATION, I am not stupid, Mrs. Lopez. I am thoroughly knowledgeable and I am educated at one of the finest schools in the country so you can’t gravely say that I am stupid. Another, Nerice didn’t purposely bring me here; I actually went here with her, just to put in the picture to you that you have no right to lock her up in her room and screech at her like that. That’s all I have to say, I suppose,” With that, my stepmother became speechless. I have to say it made me speechless, too. It was so brave of him to do that. “Oh, and once you harm my best friend all over again, I guarantee you’ll be sorry. Okay, bye for now, Nerice. Get real ready for tomorrow. See you.” And he left.

Author's Note

If you were paying attention to the story, you'd already know how old Nerice is.
Please tell me what you think of this chapter. I revised the first one and it was a major revision. =))
By the way, ignore the tense errors for now, I'm still not editing it.

Reviews

[Jazique]

Not bad editing does count in this contest sorry but, your writing is near perfect in the grammatical, spelling, and punctuation department except I feel that you could easily making two sentences into one with the "No, bad idea. There’s not much to do, really." other that you were good with no errors and as for the writing itself in the world of entertainment Wow. I want a friend that tell someone off like that for me who did me wrong. Way to go I'm going to like Blaze.

[jhed]

wow. i'm starting to like this :D

[quinfinn]

what a wonderful friend! very nice write!

[compositionc]

That's really good. I like Nerice. Sarcastic comments are lovely.