Chapter 1

Chapter 1

  As I pulled up to the old lakehouse, I tensed. I realized for the first time that I'm about to see the family I left seven months ago.

  The first family member to greet me is my older brother, Travis. He rushed to my car door, pried it open and pulled me out. He reeled me into hsi arms and squeezed me tightly. He plucked me off to get a good look at me.

  "You look horrible, Taylor," he joked. "Welcome home." We walked to the house and Travis opened the screen door for me. The familiar smell of home hits me right away; vanilla and a slight smell of cleaning chemicals.

  "Taylor!" my little sister, Callie, shrieked. She was only eight and scrawny for her age so I had no problem holding her up as she jumped eagerly into my arms.  My mom walked out of the kitchen. callie lept out of my old. She looked as healthy as she did when I lwft. She always he my same strong cheekbones and platinum blonde haid, along with my big, dark brown eyes. She's where I had gotten my unique features from. She said nothing as she enfolded me in an awkward but comforting hug.

  "It's good to have you home, Tay," she whispers.

  "Travis interupts us by saying, "You really look like you could use a decent meal." I laughed uncomfortably. "Come on."

  The dining room was clean, for once. Normally the dining room was cluttered with mail, paper work and other junk. Now, the table was set with food and we all took our seats. Travis looked uncomfortable as he fidgeted quietly in his seat.

  "Look's like Monique's late again," he murmured. I furrowed my brow. Monique?

  "She'll be here, Trav," my mom comforted him. Travis smiled at me.

  "Mo's my fiance," he said. I paused and kept myself from asking him questions. The doorbell rang and travis' eyes lit. "I'll get it."

  My mom, sister and I were alone for a minute.

  "Monique's a real nice girl, I think you'll like her," my mom said. Gosh, I had missed her cute, bumpkin accent. I said nothing and stared down at my empty plate. Then, she entered.

  Monique was a bit small for a twenty-something girl with a flat figure and a small face. She wore a brown cardigan, which matched her shine-less brown hair cropped short at her bony shoulders. She was white as snow with ugly, green eyes, small lips and a somehow perfect nose.

  "Taylor, this is Monique," Travis introduced her. Monique smiled at me, showing off her slightly crooked teeth. She occupied the seat next to me. Who did she think she was?

  "It's so nice to finally meet you," she whispered.

  "Hi, Mo," Callie grinned. Monique smiled at her and everything was quiet for awhile. 

  "Let's eat," Travis broke the silence. Everyone smiled and began passing around browls and plates. All of the food looked amazing; the fried chicken, mashed potatoes, everything. But, i knew my stomach would reject the food, i was still full from the bowl of cereal I had for breakfast a whole nine hours ago.

  "Excuse me," I said, pardoning myself from the table. I walked outside and sat on the porch steps.

   I thought about San Francisco, the place I had been for the past seven months. I still couldn't believe I had let my two best friends convince me to run away to San Francisco with them. We ran out of money quick, forcing us to depart from our crappy apartment and forcing us to stay with an old friend who happened to use and sell drugs.

  Now, I was recovering from the mistakes I had made; leaving my mother, sister and brother after the death of my dad and abusing drugs. Not to mention recovering from the cuts and bruises left on my body from being abused constantly by Aaron, the man we had been staying with. I lost all of my innocence within seven short months.

  I began to cry, how could it have come to this? I was just a hollow vessel now.

  "Taylor?" I turned around, it was my mom. I tried to smile but failed. "Are you okay?" I wanted to tell her everything, about the drugs, Aaron, everything. But, I couldn't. I was already a dissapointment, imagine what she would've thought about me if she found out everything I had done.

  "I'm fine," I said. "I just missed this place, Mom." Unfortunately, she didn't leave but took a seat next to me on the steps. 

  "Oh, Taylor," she whispered. "Look at you, you're all skin-and-bone." I looked down, not really knowing what to say.

  "What happened to you?" she asked. 'What did I do wrong as your mother to make you want to leave?"

  "Nothing, Mom, you're wonderful."

  "You think you can just come back here and expect no consequences?" she asked. "You left with no way to contact you for seven whole months. We thought you were dead, Taylor." She began crying.

  "I'm sorry, Mom. I don't know what else you want me to say. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," I whispered. I felt my face turn red but fought back the urge to cry. She wiped her eyes and got a grip on herself.

  "Come back inside, everyone's missing you," she smiled weakly.

  "I'm not hungry," I said. She paused and took a deep breath.

  "Just come inside." With that, she left me to my thoughts. I had no clue how I was going to get my life back on track.

Reviews

[Dominique]

O.o awsome!