-Chapter 1-

Lorin settles down in a small town after her parents throw her out. After 5 years of absolutely no contact with her family, her aunt calls out of the blue for a simple favor.

-Memories-

Summer sun rises during the month of June are the times I remember most. In those days, I would wake from my bed, brush my teeth, and meet my family for a nice breakfast on the patio. The birds would chirp and the cicadas would sing. My family was the sort to look out for each other - that is what I truly thought. So when the day came that I finally mustered all the courage I had to tell my family the truth of why I never had a boyfriend, I expected them to understand the pain I endured.

It was one of those summer sunrises, as I remember. I got up from my bed, going about my usual routine and going over everything I wanted to say. At the time, I was only 16. I was a straight A student and well on my way to college. The first thing I noticed was my body shaking. Realizing this, I tried to calm myself down, reassuring myself that my family was understanding and would love me even if I turned into a disappointment.

I walked through the house. My room was the very last, on the left, in the long hallway that connected all three rooms. Next to mine was the bathroom. Directly across the bathroom was the master bedroom, my parents room. At the very end of the hallway, on the right, was the remaining room. It was smaller in size and fit a double bed. That room was reserved for guests, usually my grandparents if they decided to visit.

It seemed still that day, but it was morning, so I assumed everyone was just tired. I placed my arms around my shoulders, trying to keep myself from shaking anymore. Before I went into the kitchen that led to the patio, I hugged my body and breathed deeply in and out about three times. I walked around the wall and into the kitchen. From there, I grabbed a plate and joined my family on the patio.

At the time, it was only my parents and me. I was an only child. Each of them smiled at me as I bent to kiss them on the cheek, as part of our family tradition. I sat down - it was a circular table, so we sat at an equal distance from each other in order to get a good view of one another. My father always read the paper while my mother drank tea and read a book.

I folded my hands together and placed them on my lap. Previous to this, I had rehearsed many times by myself to reveal what I kept hidden for so long. Somewhere in my heart, I knew they would accept me. Even so, a voice screamed not to do it. Without listening, I breathed in and out to relax myself again. I opened my mouth and let out the first words of my secret.

“Mom, dad… Can I talk to you about something?” I asked hesitantly. Both of them looked up from their reading. It might have been because of those strange few words I had never previously said, or because of how shaken I was saying it.

“What is it?” my father asked first. He always had a deep voice, but it became far huskier whenever he was expecting disappointment.

“Well… I don't really know how to say it,” I began.

My mother put down her book and cried, “Oh my God! You’re pregnant!?”

At first I was thinking something obvious - no! . But then it hit me that that was probably more accepting than what I was about to tell them.

“No, mother… I’m not pregnant.”

My mother paused and placed her hand on her chest. She took a deep breath and asked again, just to confirm it. “You are not pregnant? Then what is it?”

“Well…” I began. I remembered my rehearsals and exactly what I wanted to say, but somehow none of that seemed at all relevant now. “You will not approve of this, but I want you to know it isn't your fault.”

“Are you dropping out?” my father pitched in.

I sighed. “No, I’m not dropping out.”

“Well then, spit it out,” he said with impatience  

Once more I breathed deeply and calmed myself. “I don't like guys,” I began. “I like girls.”

The silence that followed after that was overwhelming. At first, they laughed nervously to themselves, trying to justify what I had said and pass it on as a joke. But when I shook my head and told them that wasn't so, they were not so kind anymore.

That night I was called many names. My mother cried until there were no more tears to be shed. As for my father, he began throwing my stuff from my room and pitching it down the stairs. Most of my personal belongings made of glass or that had a fragile casing were damaged beyond repair. There was so much crying and screaming I couldn't take it anymore. The loving family I once knew, they were not too kind anymore.

I spent the rest of my high school life living in their house. A few months had passed when I told them the truth and already they had another little girl. A girl named Sophia, and treated her as an only child while I was treated like a stranger in my own house.

My parents did not know what to do with me, so their answer was to ground me as if I did something wrong. They continued to accuse me of sinning against the Lord and that I would be condemned to Hell and that there was not a thing I could do to change God's mind. Once I prayed to God, but that was to ask that he help my parents see I was not abnormal, that I was just as normal as the girl they loved before I told them the truth. God did not change them.

I was 18 when I graduated from high school. I ended at the top of my class in all honors and with a GPA of 4.0. My parents did not attend my graduation since it was a few days away from Sophia’s birthday. On the day of my graduation, I told the truth to the rest of my family and my friends. That day I became completely alone without a soul to talk to. When I came back home, all of my belongings were packed away in their old car they said they’d give me.

That morning, there wasn't a summer sunrise. It was raining and dark. The sky wept as I packed away the very last things I owned. That day was the very last day I saw my parents and my friends. As I drove down the road, I only looked back once. The house faded into the horizon and I was finally free.

-5 years later-

Years passed by like hours to me. After leaving my house, I enrolled in an online college while working two full-time jobs to pay for tuition and my rent. The bar I worked at was crowded and men fought constantly. If someone were to tell me 7 years ago I would be living like this, I would have called them crazy. But, for as much as I imagined myself still with my family, happy and smiling, none of that was real anymore.

Since they kicked me out I had yet to get a call from them. The last thing my mother said to me was ‘see you later’ an obvious lie. My father's last words to me were ‘I can't even look at you anymore’. Those were the very last things they ever said to me. And who would have thought they would never get the chance to give me a proper goodbye?

When I graduated college I got a job at a firm as an accountant. I do admit it was not the sort of job I was too keen on getting, but it worked out for the better. I managed to pay back half of my tuition with all three jobs, but I rarely had time to sleep resulting in three emergency room checkups. And as much as I was too busy to think of the past, I wondered what my sister was doing now.

My cell phone rang one day when I was in a cafe talking to my girlfriend. She was a veterinarian, but her parents accepted her at a young age. We had been dating for three months when I was introduced to her family. Her brother, younger than her by five years, often talked to me about his girl trouble and the fact that he got dumped on a regular basis. As time went on I became more open about my sexuality and my workplace accepted me for who I was.

I answered my phone though I didn't want to, a girl was on the other end. At first, I thought that maybe they got the wrong number, but sure enough, it was my mother's sister.

“I need to talk to you about something,” she said in a muffled voice. It was scratchy and almost muted like she had been crying before she called. “Its about your parents.”

“What about them?” I asked back.

My aunt sighed and then explained. “Your parents were in a car accident.”

“That's bad” I played.

Alex smiled at me while she ate her meal. It was our day off and I promised to spend the day with her. “I’ll go to the bathroom while you figure this out,” she said.

“Lorin,” my aunt said my name with annoyance. “Your parents are dead.”

“Well, what are you gonna do?” I asked, just as annoyed as she was.

I could hear the other end of receiver crackle and then a large gust of air pass through. “I have a favor to ask of you.”

“A favor?” I sat back in my chair and crossed my right arm. After all these years of no communication and all of a sudden they wanted a favor from me. I felt a little angry.

“Yes, for your brother and sister.”

“Brother? So they had a boy in these 7 years they couldn't talk to me?”

My aunt sighed again. “I realize you probably hate them for what they did to you, but can I talk about this with you in person?”

Alex came back and sat beside me. “Come on, let's go already” she whispered.

“Give me a minute?” I asked, “I’m sorry, but I need to settle this… Alright, I’ll email you my address so we can talk at my place.”

“Alright. My email is the same, do you remember it?”

“I do. I’ll let you know what I want to do then” I hung up.

Alex looked at me, locking her arms with mine and resting her hand again on my chest. The town I lived in was small. It resembled more of a small village, so everyone knew everyone making it easier for us to display public affection.

“Why did they need your address?” she asked me.

“That was my aunt. Looks like my parents are dead.”

Alex sat up and looked at me in horror. “Lorin! Why are you so calm about it?”

“Its because I don't really care. Do you know what they did to me?”

She paused, then nodded. She and I are completely different. This town, the place she was born and raised, they all accepted her and loved her even if she was sinning against God. When I ended up telling her about all the things I had to do when I was kicked out of my house she cried. But I know that she will never understand that kind of pain. Regardless of that, I loved her all the same.

Once we paid for our meal we made our way to the car. Our plan was to eat lunch and then go to a movie. But for some reason I couldn't get that favor out of my head. Did my aunt want money? Or maybe she wanted a place to stash the kids so she could go to the bar. I wondered.

“Lorin!” Alex yelled.

I came back to reality and found us at a green light, but the car wasn't moving. I took my foot off the brake pedal and continued on to the theater.

“What’s wrong?” she asked me.

“I was just thinking about that favor… It's nothing, we are still going to the movie” I promised.

“I know that, but if you want to talk about it I’ll listen.”

“No, it's fine. My aunt will be here later so it's alright.”

We pulled into the movie theater parking lot. It wasn't as crowded as it usually was since we were there on a Tuesday. A family friend of Alex’s owned the theater so we always got free popcorn at the concession stand. The theater was not very big. In fact it there was only 4 screens and with not that many people living in this small town the theater wasn't usually too crowded. After our movie, we went back to the apartment where we cleaned and organized things for when my aunt would visit.

“So is your aunt going to spend the night?” Alex asked.

“Probably not. After all, they think I’m disgusting.”

“Should I leave when they get here?”

“No. They know already so doesn't it make sense that I have a girlfriend now?”

She looked down at the dishes. I sighed and walked up behind her, wrapping my arms around her. “You know I love you.”

“Shouldn't we finish cleaning?”

“Ugh, I've had enough of cleaning. This is our day off isn't it?”

Alex was shorter than me, so it felt natural that I fall as the ‘boyfriend’ in the relationship. Though often she would treat me like a kid and take the lead. But usually I made most of the advances, which didn't bother me one bit. I pulled her over to me and we kissed. Then, the phone rang.

“Are you gonna get that?” Alex asked.

“No, not right now” I kissed again. She pushed lightly and smiled.

“I’m not going anywhere” she promised.

I didn't smile but did as she said. It was aunt's number, a most unpleasant sight. “What is it?” I asked.

“You live out in the boonies, where the hell is this place?”

“It's a small town, why, don't you approve?”

“No! Why should my niece have to live out there in God knows where?”

“Shocking that you wouldn't approve of anything I do. You know, the reason I’m here is because of your sister, right?”

“Do not talk about your mother like that!” she yelled into the receiver.

I could only laugh at her. It was ridiculous that, after all, this time she was concerned now. It truly was pathetic on her part.

“I’ll talk about that woman anyway I want. It doesn't matter if she’s dead, my opinion won't change.”

“Lorin” Alex weakly smiled. I smiled what I could at her, then glared at the counter top.

“If you want to talk about things then come here. I’m not going anywhere near my hometown. Take it or leave it” I offered her.

“Fine,” she said after a long drawn out sigh. “I’m bringing your brother and sister. Are you dating… Anyone?”

“You mean a girl? Yes, I am. And she isn't leaving when you come over” I began to raise my voice. It was enough that they wouldn't accept me, but to not accept Alex only made me angrier.

“Right… I’d like to meet her.”

“Really.”

“Lorin, if I’m in the way I’ll just go over to my parents house,” Alex said with sad eyes.

“No, she said she would like to meet you.”

“Oh, is she there with you?” my aunt asked. Eavesdropping my conversation

“Yes, her name is Alexandria. You can talk to her when you get here. Is there anything else you want or are you just here to harass me?”

“No. That's it. I just wanted to be sure I got the address right.”

“Well, you got it, so bye now.”

My aunt sighed again and then hung up the phone without saying farewell. I closed my cheap flip phone and kissed Alex again. “I can't talk to that which.”

“You’ll be fine. I’ll protect you” she laughed, pinching my cheek lightly. I smiled again, taking her hand and leading the way to the couch.

“We really should finish,” Alex said between kisses.

“That's fine, they won't be here until tomorrow and she’s terrible with direction.”

“What about your uncle?”

I paused. That man was just like my father. Except, he wanted my parents to throw me into a mental hospital to correct my brain. He was completely homophobic, believing it was some sort of brain condition that would be solved by medicine. Once at Christmas he suggested that I just marry a man even if I felt nothing for him so I could bare children. I hated him more than any of the others.

“I doubt he would even look at me. He’d kill me if he knew I was dating you.”

“Maybe we should stop,” Alex said, pushing away from me. I grabbed her wrist and pulled her onto my lap.

“If you left me now all of that would be for nothing. I love you, Alex. That won't change even if he kills me.”

The next day we woke up in the living room. Alex was putting the dishes away in the kitchen when I opened my eyes. I looked around the room lazily before getting up. The time was 9 O’clock.

“Hey, we slept in the living room?” I asked. My phone had three miss calls. One from Alex’s sister and the other two from my aunt. I looked at it with disgust, then dialed her number.

“You! I have called you twice already” my aunt yelled. It was loud, but with two little children arguing. Suddenly I realized those two kids were my brother and sister. “Quite! The both of you!”

“I just woke up. What do you want?”

“I’m driving there now. Make sure the house is clean and fix up whatever the two of you did or are doing.”

“You mean sex? What kind of the dumb question is that.”

“Right. Just get everything clean” the noise in the back became louder with screaming. “Shut up!” she hung up the phone.

“The witch will be here soon” I warned Alex.

She walked into the room with a cup of coffee and handed it to me. “I already finished cleaning up.”

“Oh no, you don't have to clean because my aunts coming.”

“We need to clean up when we have company, Lorin.”

“But not for unwelcomed company.”

She did not reply, she only laughed. “Go take a shower, I cleaned some clothes too.”

“Ah! You really are like an angel” I reached out and hugged her waist. “Stay with me forever.”

“Just get dressed” she laughed and bonked my head.

“I forgot how.”

“Lorin…”

“Show me how.”

“Go take a shower!”

I sighed and got up. The bathroom was so far away, but somehow I made it. The warm water of the shower woke me up slowly and my enthusiasm was so far gone. When I finished I walked into the bedroom. She even made the bed and laid out a nice dress for me to wear. I laughed when I saw it. I hated dresses since they made me look feminine, but it was one of her personal favorites so I put it on.

Back in the living room she had the couch ready and the carpet vacuumed. “Why so optimistic?”

“Because, I've never met your family before.”

“Yeah well, don't get too enthusiastic. They’re a bunch of no good homophobes.”

Alex rose her brows to me and brewed more coffee. “They should be here soon, right?”

“Dunno. She is terrible with direction and she’s got two little-screaming kids in the back seats.”

“Your brother and sister?”

“Yeah.”

“How do we explain me?”

I paused. “That you're my girlfriend. They’ll figure it out eventually.”

“Are you sure I shouldn't just go to my parents?”

“No! Stay! I beg you. At least let there be one person I like around me!” I exaggerated my voice.

My phone rang again my aunt. I answered it. She was confirming the address, which she was parked in front of. Once I told her my address again a knock came at the door. I opened it, my aunt stood there gripping onto two kids arms.

“Sit down!” she yelled at them. I couldn't believe it. She looked so old. Granted, it was about 5 or 6 years since I last saw her. And Sophia, she was a lot older. “I told the both of you to be quite.”

“Sophia started it” the little boy complained.

“No! You liar!” Sophia yelled back.

“Shut it!” I yelled. Both were completely silent. “I don't care. Don't yell in my house.”

Both looked terrified, but that didn't stop me. Suddenly, the little boy started crying. Sophia didn't move though.

“Come on Lorin, now you made him cry” Alex pouted.

“I don't care. Hey! You! Keep it shut.”

Immediately he did as I said.

“Well, now that that is over with. Hello, I’m Rachel, Lorin’s aunt” she said reaching her hand out to Alex who gladly accepted it.

“I’m thirsty!” Sophia demanded.

“I told you to get water at the store,” my aunt said. “Do you have anything?”

“We have juice. Do you want juice?” Alex asked.

“Yeah!”

While Alex searched the fridge for juice I sat down with my aunt. She seemed serious as she handed me the paperwork.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“This is your parents will. They want to give you their earnings.”

“Earnings?”

“Its like inheritance. They want to give you their house and some of the furniture in it.”

“No.”

“Excuse me?” she sat back in the chair and looked over the top of her glasses trying to look intimidating. I didn't move and instead repeated the answer.

“I don't want it. Is this what you had to discuss because I really don't want anything they had”

“This isn't it, but you have to say who will take the property.”

“Give it to the state. Or, give it to Sophia when she gets older, I don't care. If you want it takes it.”

“You would rather live in this trash ridden town instead of a good neighborhood?”

“Good neighborhood?” I laughed. “That's neighborhood attacked me every day when they found out I was gay.”

“Not so loud” she warned me.

“Why? To afraid those two will hear that I have such a perverted lifestyle? Or are you afraid that it is somehow contagious like a disease? Look here, I hate you just as much as I hated those ill hearted parents.”

“Hush your mouth.”

“No. This is my house, I pay the bills and I’m 23 years old. Get out if you don't like it.”

She was silent, then packed away the papers. “So you don't want the property. I have a favor to ask of you.”

“Which is?” I asked with an annoyed sigh.

“Your brother and sister. They don't have anywhere to go.”

“Really? You and uncle aren't good enough?”

“Lorin enough. I’m serious. Your uncle is sick and I’m old. I can't have two kids running around like that anymore. I was wondering if you would mind fostering them for a while.”

All I could do was laugh. Finally, my family decides to get in contact with me once again so I can do their work. “Only when it’s convenient for you, huh?”

“Lorin” she yelled sharply. This got the attention of Alex and the kids. “If you don't do something I’ll have to put them in the system.”

“Aunty, what's the system?” Sophia asked.

I stood up from the couch. “Should have thought of that. It’ll kind of be like the time you got rid of me, huh?”

Alex held me hand. “Lorin you can't do that” she whispered.

“I’ll do whatever I want!”

The little boy began to cry again. “She’s a meany! She made Andy cry again” Sofia yelled. Alex reached out to the boy and hugged him.

“We’ll talk about it” Alex finally said.

“No I don't want-”

“We’ll talk about it.”

When Andy finished crying they packed up to leave. Once they were gone Alex crossed her arms and glared at me. She sat beside me and held onto my hand.

“I know it was hard to see her” she began “I’m not going to deny it. But your brother and sister never did anything to hurt you.”

“I know that.”

“Then why are you making them suffer?”

I looked at her. I knew from the start that Alex wanted kids, she always loved them. Everything about them, from changing their diapers to playing with them and watching them grow into adults. It was just sad that I would never be able to give her that. So I understood why she felt so compassionate about raising two children.

“Its like I’m helping out my aunt.”

“Well”, Alex rested her head against my shoulder and held onto my hand. “Sometimes you have to do what you don't want to do something right.”

I thought about it, making the apartment dead silent with only the ringing in our ears. “You want kids right?”

“Huh? Well, I guess.”

“I can tell. You love ‘em. But I can't get you pregnant” I turned to her, kissing her. “I’ll sleep on it. But right now we need to finish up from last night” I whispered in her ear.

“You perv” she laughed. “Let's go.”

Author's Note

This story does not contain sex scenes so please do not get the wrong idea. Anyway, any and all suggestions and even comments are very much welcome. However, please do not complain about the main characters sexual preference.
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This is my edited version, but I am still looking for ways to improve! Let me know what you think in a review. I will probably post a second chapter soon, but life happens so who knows when. Thanks for reading

Reviews

[Shelby]

That whole "show don't tell thing" is something I disagree with a lot. BUT. The first paragraph or two, you have quite a bit of showing, and it's really wonderful. The birds chirping and cicadas singing was lovely, and really paints a picture of the sort of childlike paradise your character has known. It's lovely. The second paragraph was a good example of telling, although the "even if I turned into this disappointment" was slightly confusing. Only slightly. Where it gets a bit clunky, however, is in the description of the house, and I can sympathize because describing rooms and houses and environments is a kind of clunky business. But perhaps if you described it as she walked through, noting what is around her as she passes it, it might work better. Just a suggestion.
"It was still that day, but morning so I assumed everyone was still tired" What day? Why are they tired?
"I was an only sibling, but expecting to have a little brother or sister. Each of them smiled at me as I lend to kiss them on the cheek" First, expecting to have a little brother or sister? Do you mean her mother is pregnant, or she is hoping to get one someday? Second, I lend to kiss them, did you mean bend? If so, it should be bent, to make it past tense. If not, then the use of lend doesn't make sense.
"because of how shaken I was to say it" Slightly awkward phrasing. because of how shaken I sounded/looked, something along those lines might be better (again, just a suggestion).
Whenever is one word.
"Your pregnant" should be You're. Whenever I have to use a your/you're, I try to say it without contractions. OMG you are pregnant, just to make sure. If you are doesn't fit, then i know to use your.
"your dropping out" same deal.
When writing conversation, you would write quotations, blah blah blah whatever they say, (comma), end quotations, she said (or whatever you put). Same thing at the beginning: i said, "blah blah blah."
"they were not so kind anymore" and then "they were not too kind anymore" I would suggest either wording it differently, such as "they had suddenly turned mean" or something similar, or, since that would be a little redundant anyway, saying instead, "that loving family i once knew had vanished/had turned into something I barely recognized" etc. etc.
"They then onwards" I suggest using from then onward, they, as that makes more sense.

You get the idea. There are several grammatical errors throughout, but I assume (hopefully correctly) that you simply didn't edit very thoroughly before posting and would recognize them if you read through again carefully, so I will leave those to you.
Overall, I would say you're a talented writer (one of the better I've encountered on this sight), you just, as is always the case, have room for improvement. The story, I think, is quite relevant to the times, and would probably touch quite a large audience, so there's definite potential there. If you have anyone who would be willing to read through and edit grammatical errors, that would probably be a good idea, since others are more likely to spot our mistakes than we ourselves are. If not, and you don't care much about grammar at this point in your writing, I would just suggest you add a note for reviewers to ignore those, or else you'll get the same comments every time. I hope, if you haven't already, you keep the persistence and push on to finish this story. I would be interested to read the whole thing (I am particularly interested in women writers this year, and reading from female perspectives, so you have my attention, at any rate). Good luck, and keep in mind that I'm only making suggestions. If you disagree with anything I say (apart from grammar, as those are real rules, and not just my opinion, haha) keep in mind that this is your book, and you get to make all the decisions. I'm just a friendly peruser. Good luck!