It had been almost a month since I arrived at Gail's place. It wasn't that bad there. Actually, it was a lot better than I thought it ever would be. Since then, I had had absolutely no contact from my brothers. I was starting to get worried. How was Reed? Was Nikolai happy I was gone? Did they even miss me? One Saturday morning while I was eating breakfast Gail must;ve noticed I was in a mood.
"What's up, kiddo?" she asked.
"I just miss my brothers," I shrugged it off. "They haven't called or anything,"
"Well that's 'cause they can't," Gail said with a strange hint of optimism in her voice. They aren't allowed to see you or talk to you, seeing as they abused you and it wouldn't be good for you." I didn't bother to argue with this woman. But still, I needed to know what was going on with Reed. I waited a couple hours, then asked Gail if I could use her phone.
"How come, dear?" she asked. She didn't sound suspicious, but I was still afraid she'd catch on.
"Uh, I want to see... if Felicity can hang out." Yeah. Right. Scout was out with Bambi and Trace. She'd invited me, but ever since Gail told me my brothers weren't "allowed" to see me, I didn't want to do anything else.
"Oh. Ok! I'm glad you're making friends!" she said happily. I took the phone off the cradle and went to my room, closing the door behind me. I dialed my home phone number. It rang a couple times. I was sent to voicemail. I began to leave a message, when someone answered.
"Harley?!" It was Carmine. Oh my God. I'd never been more happy to hear his voice!
"Carmine!" I nearly shouted.
"Oh my God! I can't believe it's you! Are you ok? Are they being nice to you? Are you ok?"
"Yes, yes, and yes again," I laughed. "How are things at home?" There was a long silence.
"Dalton's family is pressing charges. Reed may be in for life." Shit.
"Carmine, Reed didn't do it though!" I protested.
"We don't know that, Harley. As much as I'd like to think that..." he sighed.
"No, he told me. He wasn't lying! I know it! We have to find out who did!" I said. Again, another silence.
"I don't know, Harley..."
"Carmine, do you want Reed out or not?" He sighed.
"Yes."
"Then get your ass over here!" I said. Carmine hesitated, but then agreed. I gave him the address of the house. He was to come at midnight, when everyone was asleep.
"See ya then," I said and hung up. I hung up just as Aspen walked in, not bothering to knock. "What do you want?" I asked, a little rudely. I guess I was just worried that Gail would catch me.
"Who was that?" she asked.
"No one." I went and put the phone back. Gail looked at me expectantly. "She's busy," I said. She nodded sadly. I went back to my room, finding Aspen on my bed. She had my box in her lap, and I caught her just as she was about to open that. I snatched it away, clasping the easy lock.
"What are you doing?!" I asked. Aspen stared at me with her mouth open. Fuck, she saw the gun didn't she? The blade?
"I'm sorry, Harley! I just..." she said. My heart was about to burst out of my chest.
"Don't ever do that again! It's rude to go through people's stuff!"
"Ok, I won't. I'm sorry..." she apologized. I sighed and hugged her.
"It's ok. Just don't do that again." She nodded.
"Harley? Can you tell me what's in there?"
"Just some personal stuff."
***
Midnight came. Everyone was asleep, and I sneaked out to the kitchen. Sky growled, then stopped when she realized it was me. We'd grown to like each other. She even slept on my bed sometimes. I put my fingers to my lips.
"Shh..." I went out onto the front porch, careful not to make any noise. A half hour passed, still no Carmine. Another hour, still no Carmine. I sat on the porch step, with my chin in my hand. I yawned, fighting to stay awake. After two and a half hours, I gave up and went back to bed.
The next morning, Gail woke me up at 11 o'clock. I was still half asleep.
"Geez, didn't you sleep at all last night? You're like the living dead!" she said. I yawned. A couple hours later, I decided to call Carmine and see what was up.
"Dude! What the hell!" I said.
"I'm sorry! Nikolai's car was broken! I couldn't get it to start! And I couldn't call, cause that would wake everyone up!" I groaned.
"Well, then how am I gonna get there?"
"I don't know... Maybe we should just forget the whole thing. I heard that Reed might just get a couple years. That's not so bad, right? It's better than life."
"How could you say that?! He shouldn't have to serve time for what he didn't do!"
"Harley, anyone could have killed Dalton. Do you know how many people he's pissed off? The guy was an asshole."
"Whatever," I hung up.
"Who were you on the phone with?" Gail asked.
"Bambi," I said quickly. I set the phone back in its place.
A couple minutes later, the phone rang.
"Hello?" I said.
"Oh, hi Harley! It's Bambi!" she said. My eyes widened, but I quickly regained my composure. "Do you want to hang out? Invite Scout too, please." I covered the mouth piece of the phone so she couldn't hear.
"Uh, it's Bambi... again," I said. "She wants to know if Scout and I can hang out."
"Sure," Gail said. "Why didn't she just ask the first time?"
"Uh... I don't know? Maybe she couldn't hang out before and she cleared her plans? Does it matter?" Gail shrugged.
"Yeah, where are we hanging out?" I asked. Bambi said we were going to hang out at Trace's house. She said Scout knew the way. I told Scout, and she said we'd have a lot of fun. She left to go get her shoes. I reached for my box, then stopped. It'd been a long time, and I'd never needed my knife or gun... I felt a strange feeling in my heart for Scout and her friends. Now they seemed like they were my friends too, well, except Felicity. She's more of a I-just-put-up-with-you-because-Scout-likes-you friend. I felt like I could really trust these people. It was weird. I'd never felt that with anyone except my brothers. I smiled to myself and put the box back under my bed.
Scout and I got to Trace's house, and his mother let us in.
"Hello, Scout and.... I don't believe we met..." his mother smiled.
"This is Harley, my sister," Scout smiled proudly. My heart felt weird... It felt really nice to have Scout introduce me as her sister. I shook Trace's mother's hand.
"Trace is in the basement," she said. Scout thanked her, as did I, and went to the basement. It was really big, complete with a pool table, dartboard, and a giant TV and stereo system. Music played on an iHome, as well from an intense game of Rock Band on the TV.
"Hey guys," Trace smiled. He stood behind the couch, while Forest, Bambi, and Felicity were rocking out. Forest was on drums, kicking ass, Bambi on bass, doing pretty well, and Felicity on guitar.... She sucked.
"Hey Trace," Scout smiled.
"Hi," I said.
"Ugh!" Forest, Bambi, and Felicity said together. The game stopped, probably because Felicity was terrible at Rock Band.
"Nice, Felicity," Forest joked.
"It wasn't me," she said innocently. Everyone rolled their eyes. Honestly, I didn't know why anyone even invited her. Scout took Felicity's place on the retry. I sat on the floor, watching as they rocked out to "Our Truth" by Lacuna Coil. Scout was much better than Felicity had been. They got a near perfect score.
"You wanna try, Harley?" Bambi asked. I took her place on the couch between Forest and Scout. We played "Misery Business" by Paramore. I'd never played Rock Band, but I did pretty well if I say so myself. We got through 70% of the song before the crowd booed.
We played a little while longer, then Trace and Forest had a duel with ping pong. They put the table on top of the pool table, jumping into various karate poses. I stood off to the side talking to Bambi, and to Scout when she wasn't in deep conversation about hot guys with Felicity.
I had a great time at Trace's. I'd only hung out with them outside of school a couple times, but never like this. They really seemed to accept me into their group of friends. It was awesome. Everyone, except Felicity, was really nice and funny. When Scout and I left, I had a headache from laughing so much.
"Harley, can you go put your jacket in your room?" Gail asked a while after we got home. I got up off the couch, grabbed my jacket that was on the kitchen chair, and went to my room.
My heart stopped.
"Aspen! What are you doing?!" I said in a frightened whisper. Aspen looked as scared as me. In her hand was my gun. I closed my door shut, just in case she went screaming to Gail or something.
"Is this real...?" she asked, her voice shaking. My box was wide open on my bed. I didn't know what to say. If I said yes, she'd definitely tell Gail. If I told her it was a toy, what if she pretended to "shoot" me? That thing was still loaded.
"Aspen. Please. Put it down..." I whispered. I felt like I was going to pass out. But she did as I asked and set the gun on the bed gently. Then I ran over to her and hugged her, tears coming now. I don't know exactly why I was crying. Maybe because I was so afraid she could've hurt herself if I hadn't come in to put my jacket away.
"Harley... Why do you have a gun?" Aspen asked slowly. I grabbed the tops of her shoulders and looked her in the eye.
"Aspen, you can't tell anyone. Not a soul. Not Gail, or Scout, or Jezebel..." I pleaded. "I needed it, ok? But I don't anymore. I don't use it. You can't tell anyone!" She nodded real fast.
"I won't. Pinkie promise." She held out her little finger. I wrapped my pinkie around her and shook. Call me crazy, but even the pinkie promise didn't make me feel better. "I won't tell anyone," she said. "I'm sorry. I was curious what you had in it." I sighed. "I'm sorry..." she said again. "...You were a cute baby."
"Thanks," I laughed. I wiped the tears from my eyes. Aspen hugged me again.
"Dinner!" Gail called. Aspen smiled at me, giving me the sense she'd stay true to her word this time. She took my hand and guided me to the kitchen, after I put the gun back in the box and under my bed.
"What's up, kiddo?" she asked.
"I just miss my brothers," I shrugged it off. "They haven't called or anything,"
"Well that's 'cause they can't," Gail said with a strange hint of optimism in her voice. They aren't allowed to see you or talk to you, seeing as they abused you and it wouldn't be good for you." I didn't bother to argue with this woman. But still, I needed to know what was going on with Reed. I waited a couple hours, then asked Gail if I could use her phone.
"How come, dear?" she asked. She didn't sound suspicious, but I was still afraid she'd catch on.
"Uh, I want to see... if Felicity can hang out." Yeah. Right. Scout was out with Bambi and Trace. She'd invited me, but ever since Gail told me my brothers weren't "allowed" to see me, I didn't want to do anything else.
"Oh. Ok! I'm glad you're making friends!" she said happily. I took the phone off the cradle and went to my room, closing the door behind me. I dialed my home phone number. It rang a couple times. I was sent to voicemail. I began to leave a message, when someone answered.
"Harley?!" It was Carmine. Oh my God. I'd never been more happy to hear his voice!
"Carmine!" I nearly shouted.
"Oh my God! I can't believe it's you! Are you ok? Are they being nice to you? Are you ok?"
"Yes, yes, and yes again," I laughed. "How are things at home?" There was a long silence.
"Dalton's family is pressing charges. Reed may be in for life." Shit.
"Carmine, Reed didn't do it though!" I protested.
"We don't know that, Harley. As much as I'd like to think that..." he sighed.
"No, he told me. He wasn't lying! I know it! We have to find out who did!" I said. Again, another silence.
"I don't know, Harley..."
"Carmine, do you want Reed out or not?" He sighed.
"Yes."
"Then get your ass over here!" I said. Carmine hesitated, but then agreed. I gave him the address of the house. He was to come at midnight, when everyone was asleep.
"See ya then," I said and hung up. I hung up just as Aspen walked in, not bothering to knock. "What do you want?" I asked, a little rudely. I guess I was just worried that Gail would catch me.
"Who was that?" she asked.
"No one." I went and put the phone back. Gail looked at me expectantly. "She's busy," I said. She nodded sadly. I went back to my room, finding Aspen on my bed. She had my box in her lap, and I caught her just as she was about to open that. I snatched it away, clasping the easy lock.
"What are you doing?!" I asked. Aspen stared at me with her mouth open. Fuck, she saw the gun didn't she? The blade?
"I'm sorry, Harley! I just..." she said. My heart was about to burst out of my chest.
"Don't ever do that again! It's rude to go through people's stuff!"
"Ok, I won't. I'm sorry..." she apologized. I sighed and hugged her.
"It's ok. Just don't do that again." She nodded.
"Harley? Can you tell me what's in there?"
"Just some personal stuff."
***
Midnight came. Everyone was asleep, and I sneaked out to the kitchen. Sky growled, then stopped when she realized it was me. We'd grown to like each other. She even slept on my bed sometimes. I put my fingers to my lips.
"Shh..." I went out onto the front porch, careful not to make any noise. A half hour passed, still no Carmine. Another hour, still no Carmine. I sat on the porch step, with my chin in my hand. I yawned, fighting to stay awake. After two and a half hours, I gave up and went back to bed.
The next morning, Gail woke me up at 11 o'clock. I was still half asleep.
"Geez, didn't you sleep at all last night? You're like the living dead!" she said. I yawned. A couple hours later, I decided to call Carmine and see what was up.
"Dude! What the hell!" I said.
"I'm sorry! Nikolai's car was broken! I couldn't get it to start! And I couldn't call, cause that would wake everyone up!" I groaned.
"Well, then how am I gonna get there?"
"I don't know... Maybe we should just forget the whole thing. I heard that Reed might just get a couple years. That's not so bad, right? It's better than life."
"How could you say that?! He shouldn't have to serve time for what he didn't do!"
"Harley, anyone could have killed Dalton. Do you know how many people he's pissed off? The guy was an asshole."
"Whatever," I hung up.
"Who were you on the phone with?" Gail asked.
"Bambi," I said quickly. I set the phone back in its place.
A couple minutes later, the phone rang.
"Hello?" I said.
"Oh, hi Harley! It's Bambi!" she said. My eyes widened, but I quickly regained my composure. "Do you want to hang out? Invite Scout too, please." I covered the mouth piece of the phone so she couldn't hear.
"Uh, it's Bambi... again," I said. "She wants to know if Scout and I can hang out."
"Sure," Gail said. "Why didn't she just ask the first time?"
"Uh... I don't know? Maybe she couldn't hang out before and she cleared her plans? Does it matter?" Gail shrugged.
"Yeah, where are we hanging out?" I asked. Bambi said we were going to hang out at Trace's house. She said Scout knew the way. I told Scout, and she said we'd have a lot of fun. She left to go get her shoes. I reached for my box, then stopped. It'd been a long time, and I'd never needed my knife or gun... I felt a strange feeling in my heart for Scout and her friends. Now they seemed like they were my friends too, well, except Felicity. She's more of a I-just-put-up-with-you-because-Scout-likes-you friend. I felt like I could really trust these people. It was weird. I'd never felt that with anyone except my brothers. I smiled to myself and put the box back under my bed.
Scout and I got to Trace's house, and his mother let us in.
"Hello, Scout and.... I don't believe we met..." his mother smiled.
"This is Harley, my sister," Scout smiled proudly. My heart felt weird... It felt really nice to have Scout introduce me as her sister. I shook Trace's mother's hand.
"Trace is in the basement," she said. Scout thanked her, as did I, and went to the basement. It was really big, complete with a pool table, dartboard, and a giant TV and stereo system. Music played on an iHome, as well from an intense game of Rock Band on the TV.
"Hey guys," Trace smiled. He stood behind the couch, while Forest, Bambi, and Felicity were rocking out. Forest was on drums, kicking ass, Bambi on bass, doing pretty well, and Felicity on guitar.... She sucked.
"Hey Trace," Scout smiled.
"Hi," I said.
"Ugh!" Forest, Bambi, and Felicity said together. The game stopped, probably because Felicity was terrible at Rock Band.
"Nice, Felicity," Forest joked.
"It wasn't me," she said innocently. Everyone rolled their eyes. Honestly, I didn't know why anyone even invited her. Scout took Felicity's place on the retry. I sat on the floor, watching as they rocked out to "Our Truth" by Lacuna Coil. Scout was much better than Felicity had been. They got a near perfect score.
"You wanna try, Harley?" Bambi asked. I took her place on the couch between Forest and Scout. We played "Misery Business" by Paramore. I'd never played Rock Band, but I did pretty well if I say so myself. We got through 70% of the song before the crowd booed.
We played a little while longer, then Trace and Forest had a duel with ping pong. They put the table on top of the pool table, jumping into various karate poses. I stood off to the side talking to Bambi, and to Scout when she wasn't in deep conversation about hot guys with Felicity.
I had a great time at Trace's. I'd only hung out with them outside of school a couple times, but never like this. They really seemed to accept me into their group of friends. It was awesome. Everyone, except Felicity, was really nice and funny. When Scout and I left, I had a headache from laughing so much.
"Harley, can you go put your jacket in your room?" Gail asked a while after we got home. I got up off the couch, grabbed my jacket that was on the kitchen chair, and went to my room.
My heart stopped.
"Aspen! What are you doing?!" I said in a frightened whisper. Aspen looked as scared as me. In her hand was my gun. I closed my door shut, just in case she went screaming to Gail or something.
"Is this real...?" she asked, her voice shaking. My box was wide open on my bed. I didn't know what to say. If I said yes, she'd definitely tell Gail. If I told her it was a toy, what if she pretended to "shoot" me? That thing was still loaded.
"Aspen. Please. Put it down..." I whispered. I felt like I was going to pass out. But she did as I asked and set the gun on the bed gently. Then I ran over to her and hugged her, tears coming now. I don't know exactly why I was crying. Maybe because I was so afraid she could've hurt herself if I hadn't come in to put my jacket away.
"Harley... Why do you have a gun?" Aspen asked slowly. I grabbed the tops of her shoulders and looked her in the eye.
"Aspen, you can't tell anyone. Not a soul. Not Gail, or Scout, or Jezebel..." I pleaded. "I needed it, ok? But I don't anymore. I don't use it. You can't tell anyone!" She nodded real fast.
"I won't. Pinkie promise." She held out her little finger. I wrapped my pinkie around her and shook. Call me crazy, but even the pinkie promise didn't make me feel better. "I won't tell anyone," she said. "I'm sorry. I was curious what you had in it." I sighed. "I'm sorry..." she said again. "...You were a cute baby."
"Thanks," I laughed. I wiped the tears from my eyes. Aspen hugged me again.
"Dinner!" Gail called. Aspen smiled at me, giving me the sense she'd stay true to her word this time. She took my hand and guided me to the kitchen, after I put the gun back in the box and under my bed.
this is my first story that i made on here i'm still decideing if i want to make more of this book or not i am still decideing on a tittle name.please do not hesitate to criticize i need it.thank you <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 I Taylor Ann Smith was not happy.I was very mad.How dare them! i thought angrily to myself.how dare them decide who i marry!.this all happened when i came down for breakfast."Good morning mother,good morning farther."i said happily.Mother was cooking eggs and toast while father was waiting."Hello darling"said Mother cheerfully as she sat a plate of eggs and toast in front of me."good morning taylor" farther answered. his plate."what's happening today?"i asked still eating."well.. mom started looked unconfertable...we decided who you were to marry"."What!" i cried almost chocking on my food.
Glance the other way
Rip your heart out
I just don't care anymore
You're useless
And uncaring
You know nothing!
Yet you pretend you do
You're a pretender
A pretender is just a liar in disguise
A pretender is a faker
A pretender hides
A pretender is a maker
Of the dark abyss
You told me once
I told you twice
Now what?
Do we forget the past?
Live for the future?
Or remember and continue on our path?
...Decisions...Decisions...
Left or right?
Up or down?
Wrong or right?
Please give me the answer
For I do not know
Right and wrong any longer
Rip your heart out
I just don't care anymore
You're useless
And uncaring
You know nothing!
Yet you pretend you do
You're a pretender
A pretender is just a liar in disguise
A pretender is a faker
A pretender hides
A pretender is a maker
Of the dark abyss
You told me once
I told you twice
Now what?
Do we forget the past?
Live for the future?
Or remember and continue on our path?
...Decisions...Decisions...
Left or right?
Up or down?
Wrong or right?
Please give me the answer
For I do not know
Right and wrong any longer
Chapter 4: Sunny day
These were the days of peace and happiness.
Days were spent in peace and love.
Jack loved his job, even though he wasn't that patient with children who didn't pay attention on his classes.
But, he knew. He was doing something
important, something useful.
And most of all, he knew that his lovely wife
and beautiful little Gwenny were waiting for him
at home.
Dana was amazing at kitchen.
Jack loved everything she made.
One happy family they were.
Like every morning, Jack would go to work,
and Dana would make a breakfast and some coffee to wake them up.
Morning coffee was something wonderful
for both of them.
After having breakfast, Jack would drink coffee
with Dana, looking at her with the same gentle
and passionate love that never fades.
"I'll see you later, darling." - Jack said and
went to work.
Dana was still sitting and enjoying in the coffee,
watching through the window the sunlight.
She could smell the flowers that were growing
in the yard.
These were the days of peace and happiness.
Days were spent in peace and love.
Jack loved his job, even though he wasn't that patient with children who didn't pay attention on his classes.
But, he knew. He was doing something
important, something useful.
And most of all, he knew that his lovely wife
and beautiful little Gwenny were waiting for him
at home.
Dana was amazing at kitchen.
Jack loved everything she made.
One happy family they were.
Like every morning, Jack would go to work,
and Dana would make a breakfast and some coffee to wake them up.
Morning coffee was something wonderful
for both of them.
After having breakfast, Jack would drink coffee
with Dana, looking at her with the same gentle
and passionate love that never fades.
"I'll see you later, darling." - Jack said and
went to work.
Dana was still sitting and enjoying in the coffee,
watching through the window the sunlight.
She could smell the flowers that were growing
in the yard.