I woke up to the sound of a loud knock on my door, followed by the voice of my little sister, Jessica.

"Wake up, Jason, we’ve got school!"

I slowly open my eyes and groan as I sit up, still feeling sore from the fight the other night. My gaze moves over to the empty spot in the bed beside me, remembering that Izzy went home yesterday after staying with us for a couple of days. She figured it was fine enough to head home; Seth would probably have calmed down by now.

"I’m coming, Jess! I’ll be down in a minute!" I yelled back through the door, pulling myself out of bed and heading towards my closet to get dressed.

“Okay!” Jessica responds through the door before I hear her footsteps rush down the halls and stairs.

I pull out my outfit, a black hoodie, blue jeans, and black sneakers, before putting them on. I took a look around my room once dressed, seeing some old sports trophies on a nearby shelf. My game console is hooked up to the TV on the wall and some movie posters on the walls. I haven’t felt like taking them down.

My gaze is drawn to the hat hanging on the closet for a brief moment before shaking my head to clear my mind and leaving my bedroom. I make my way down the stairs into the living room, seeing the Christmas tree still set up in the corner with only a handful of ornaments still hung up. The three-seat couch with a coffee table in front of it in the center of the room, and my Dad passed out in his recliner, likely hungover just like every morning.

I turn to see Kate and my two sisters in the kitchen and dining room, respectively. Kate brushes her long and straight hair out of her face, the light blonde color matching Jessica’s. Her pale blue eyes look up at me before she smiles, gesturing me over.

"Come on, Jason, breakfast is already done. You can serve yourself. I need to get to the hospital. I’ve got a lot of surgeries today." She speaks quickly, grabbing her purse and stepping over to Jessica, giving her a kiss on the forehead before her thin form rushes past me and out the front door.

I sigh as I give her a half-hearted wave and make my way into the kitchen, grabbing a plate of the bacon and eggs she made. Taking my seat at the table with Jessica and Thea a moment later and looking between them. Thea is picking at her eggs and occasionally taking a bite while Jessica is happily eating her vegetarian-friendly version of the same breakfast we have.

"You two ready to go back to school?" I ask, striking up a conversation as we eat our breakfast.

"Yeah! Ms. Anderfield is taking over for Mr. Maddox this semester!" Jessica cheerfully responds, a big smile plastered on her face, before shoving more food into her mouth.

"Ms. Anderfield, you mean Nyx’s daughter?"

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"Yeah, she was TAing for Mr. Maddox last semester and is gonna be our teacher now."

"Nice. I think Nyx mentioned that, but I don’t remember. Do you have anything exciting going on at school, Thea?" I turn my attention to my other sister.

"Nope, just classes as usual." She continues to pick at her food and glances at me before looking back at her plate.

"Well maybe you should join some clubs, Thea, both of you."

"No, I don’t have time. I just got a manager position at the gas station."

"Oh, weren’t they gonna give the position to Toby?"

"Yeah, but he got caught smoking weed again, so they changed their minds."

"Why hasn’t he been fired yet."

"He’s willingly working for below minimum wage, so it’s better than hiring someone who isn’t an idiot."

"I guess so, but you should still try to do something. Friends will help you." I give her a somewhat forced smile, which she returns just as forced.

"I’ll try, maybe..." She sets her fork down and stands up. "I’m gonna go finish getting ready." She walks off from the table and back up the stairs, out of sight.

“You should go get ready too Jess, I’m gonna go wake up dad so he’s not late for work.”

“Okay!” She rushes up the stairs after Thea.

Once I hear Jessica’s door close, I sigh and wipe my face, preparing myself to deal with Dad. I get up and bring all the plates over to the sink, noting Thea barely ate anything compared to Jessica and I’s plates. After giving them a quick rinse, I approach Dad, examining him and noticing an empty bottle nearby, feeling some anger at his drinking. I kick the side of his recliner hard, jolting him awake as he sits up and looks around before his gaze settles on me.

"What the fuck, Jason!" He yells, struggling to straighten his chair so he can get up.

"It’s already six. Get up so you can go to work." I respond, turning away before heading up the stairs, ignoring his angry yelling as I enter my bedroom.

I pull my backpack out from under my bed and check to make sure I have everything I need. Papers, pencils, whatever the fuck else, it all seems to be there. I quickly put the backpack on and got the straps tightened to be comfortable before exiting my room, spotting Jessica and Thea already waiting for me in the hallway.

"You two ready to go?" I ask them, and the pair both nod before we head down the stairs. Dad was already gone and headed to work by now.

We make our way out of the house, locking the door behind us and walking over to my truck. I hop into the driver’s seat, Thea climbing into the passenger seat beside me, and Jess sitting behind us in the middle seat. I start up the truck and we begin to drive towards Eastview High School, where we all attend. I myself am a senior while Thea is a junior. Jessica is a freshman despite only being twelve. She’s pretty smart and skipped a few grades, but that’s made it hard for her to make friends.

"Do we need to make any stops before getting to school?" I ask my sisters, knowing we likely don't, but just wanting to make sure.

"Nope." They both reply in unison, Thea reaching forward and turning on the radio, letting some music play as she turns away to look out the window.

“Okay.” I glance at both of them before returning my sight to the road, just focusing on getting us to school now, ready to face whatever lies ahead of me there.