A/N: this book is going to be really slow til like chapter five. sorry i gotta bore you to death for a while. Just gotta build background 💀 this is unedited btw.

Athena Kelly

Sundays are my favorite. My mother is a dedicated church member, so I tag along with her. I love the people in the congregation. They've always been sweet and kind. I also took it as an opportunity to bond with my mom and strengthen my spirit. My mom never forced any of us to go with her, so I wasnt yelled at about attending. I went because I wanted to. I could get out of the house and mingle with people at least one day out of the week.

Although my dad shares the same Christian faith as her, he rarely attends. Not because of his condition, he just never went. Now that I think about it, I had never even asked him why.

Amaru always stayed behind with him. She always tells my mom its to watch over my dad, but she tell me she just doesnt want to go. Why isnt she just honest? Who knows? She has a habit of lying for no reason.

I woke up to the smell of breakfast in the air. I glanced over at the clock on my dresser seeing it was nine. Flipping the covers off of my body, I got up to head out into the living room. My sister was apparently still sleeping because I didnt see her but my dad was sitting at the dining room table drinking coffee and reading some book.

He was an advocate for self help books. The amount of books he read and random studying of subjects he did made it clear to me that he was where my success in academics stemmed. My mom was never into school as much. She dropped out of college in her third year, which is always crazy to me because she was so close to finishing. But according her she was failing everything anyway.

"Good Morning" I yawned walking past my dad and into the kitchen.

"Hey, just on time" my mom smiled. "Here's your food. Take your father his please. And eat quick. You know you take forever to get ready."

I nodded grabbing the two plates from her. She had made grits and sausage. I wasnt the biggest fan of grits, but if it was what we had, i'd deal with it.

My dad smiled as I sat his plate down. "Thank you."

"Mhmm" I didnt like when people thanked me for regular things. I didnt think it was necessary.

I quickly ate my food while listening to my parents discuss random topics. When I was finished, I got dressed and waited for my mom in the car.

After about fifteen minutes, she came out fully dressed and we were on our way.

"After service i'm going to help clean. You can help if you want or just sit and wait for me" she let me know as we pulled into a parking spot. I nodded. I'd probably just wait.

Sadly, we were pretty late. That meant as we walked in everyone would turn around to stare and be nosey. It was a pretty big congregation, but that didnt stop the sound of someone coming in late from being loud and attention grabbing.

Just as I predicted, all heads turned when we walked in and took our seats. "Why cant they mind their damn business?" my mother mumbled quietly in my ear.

"You're cursing in church" I chuckled lightly.

"I'll ask for forgiveness later" she smiled and started taking notes on the lesson.

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"Athena I know you are not sitting down while your poor mother slaves away cleaning those pues" Mrs. Grimes raised a brow at me. I was sitting on the very last one because my mom usually started at the front and worked her way back.

I gave an uneasy smile to Mrs. Grimes. She folded her arms across her chest and looked at me in disapproval. I sighed and got up following her to the front where my mom was.

Mrs. Grimes was like a grandmother to me in a way. She was caring and humble. She treated my family like we were her own.

"Where were you last week? Lily missed you" she looked back at me. Lily was her five year old grandaughter who loved to cling to me. She also had three grandsons. Chase and TJ attended with her and Lily every Sunday. I had never met her oldest. According to her he was a lost cause and a world of trouble.

"Home. Menstrual cramps."

"Oh. Tell Amaru I miss her. You and her should come by my house tomorrow after school. I made some of those cookies yall like yesterday. I made sure to you her some."

We reached my mom who looked up and smiled. She gave Mrs. Grimes a hug. "I brought this one here to help you. Dont forget to get that thing from me before you leave" she winked and walked away.

I was curious. "What thing?" I asked my mom.

"Dont worry about it. Just grab the vaccuum and help me out please."

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After a good thirty minutes of vaccuuming, it was finally time to leave. I followed my mom into the kitchen where Mrs. Grimes, her grandkids, and a few other church people were.

"THENAAA!" Lily screamed running towards me. I laughed and picked her up.

"Hey Lily."

"TJ said you was pretty" she whispered. I looked over at him and laughed. TJ was younger than me. I just turned 18 and he was 14. Chase was 10. He sucked his teeth. "Bruh what she told you?" he asked me.

"She said you-" before I could say it, Lily grabbed my lips and pushed them together.

"Dont tell him!" she shushed me. I nodded in amusement.

"Sorry TJ. The princess has spoken" I said to him.

"Thats straight but if she told you I think you pretty, she lying" he said.  I looked at him offended. His eyes widened,"Nah not like that. Im not saying you not pretty, i'm just saying that I aint say it."

"Mhmmm, if you say so" I teased. "Lets go to grandma Lily" I walked with her over to where my mom was talking to Mrs. Grimes.

"I dont know what to do about her. She claims she wants to change her life but never does any better for these kids" I heard Mrs. Grimes say. I guess they were discussing her daughter. She's battling a drug addiction.

"Hey Lily" my mom smiled at her.

"Hi!" Lily yelled before hopping down and running off with her friends.

"Okay lets head out. Your father is probably starving and you know Amaru cant cook" my mom chuckled grabbing her things.

"Byyyyeee" I hugged Mrs. Grimes and waved to everyone else on my way outside.

"Remember to stop by tomorrow!!!!" she yelled out at me.

"Will do."