You could probably hear my mum's screams from down the road.

I ignored her for a while but then got slightly worried that she was actually dying and looked towards my bedroom door. I had hoped she'd just make her way upstairs, you know, dying and all, but I soon realised that hope was foolish.

I made an ugly sound at the awareness that really, I'm only still living under my mum's roof in order to be her slave.

For example, my mother called me downstairs once to let the dog out because she "didn't want to do it."

Like mate, WE DON'T EVEN FUCKING HAVE A DOG.

She later disclosed that she just made me think there was a dog involved, to avoid making a sandwich herself.

This is the definition of child abuse, I tell you.

Accepting my miserable fate, I stood up and shoved my phone into my pocket. The walk downstairs was agony. My life was too precious to engage in more slavery.

I slowly made myself visible to my family, and I swear to god, my heart leapt with joy when I realised that my mum's eyes weren't fixed with a glare headed my way.

Instead, she was engaged in conversation with my twin brother. My mum was tugging on her McDonald's work uniform, while my brother was doing the same to the suit he was sporting.

I think they were comparing who's outfit was worse, but I couldn't be sure, because I was too busy considering whether or not to sprint back upstairs.

"Ash, stop hiding on the stairs," Drew said, looking at me weirdly.

This cunt thinks he's funny.

I groaned and went over to the breakfast bar. I raised my eyebrows at Drew, eyeing his suit. "You look like Dad."

"I'm having dinner with dad tonight."

"Ashy, next time when I call you, come down from your room straight away," pointing at me.

The narrowness of her finger made me want to ask if she was telepathically trying to "point" some sense into me. She was still glaring so I, very smartly, decided against asking her.

"I deeply regret my actions."

"Macie called. She said you weren't answering your phone." Mum explained, taking a seat with Drew and I.

Macie should know that I'm always on my phone, so if I don't answer it, I'm totally ignoring her.

"Oh, I haven't checked my phone," I lied. If I told her I was ignoring Macie, she'd get mad at me.

Mum loved my best friend more than me, I swear.

"But your phone's in your pocket - Ow!" Drew yelped as I kicked him in the shin. "Ash!"

This fucker wasn't going to ruin this.

"You little bitch." Drew glared at me.

I shrugged innocently at him.

"I'm going to leave for work before you guys kill each other. Ash, call Macie back and Drew, have fun with your father. And both of you fix your language before I get home, okay? Okay."

She picked up her handbag and kissed both Drew and I on the head. "Behave, Asher, I mean it."

"What? Why do I have to behave? You have another child to yell at too!"

Mum looked at me knowingly, however I didn't know anything.

I turned to Drew once Mum was out of the house. "You're a fucking dickhead."

"What?" He smirked at me.

I glared at him. "Don't ruin my lie!"

Drew shook his head and laughed. "You're impossible. Call Macie back."

"I'll do it when I want."

"You're literally a five year old Ash, grow up."

"Unfortunately we got mum's genes so that's not in the cards for us."

Drew choked out a laugh and stood up from his seat.

"Dad should be here soon, so while I'm gone, please don't burn the house down."

"Ha Ha, funny. Why are you going to that fuckhead's house?" I asked, scowling.

My father ruined our family. His girlfriend Leyla ruined our family. Why did Drew have to try and fix everything? Once something's been toyed with, you can't get it back to its original state.

"Oh, come on. Stop being mean. You haven't seen him in six months. He misses you."

The last thing I wanted to do was see my dad, but I knew I was hurting Drew by not seeing dad, even if he didn't show it.

Just as I was about to reply, I heard a beep from the front yard. "Dad's here. You should come out and say hello." Drew raced towards the front door, making an attempt at an encouraging gesture.

I'd rather shoot myself.

"Please don't do it on the carpet Ash," Drew said while leaving the house.

I need to stop speaking out loud, I swear to God.

I glared at him as he slammed the door. I grumbled all the way upstairs to my room and sat on my bed.

Usually, I had Drew or Macie to keep me company while my mum was at work, but Macie was in the fuck-you basket at the moment, so no. Just no.

I unlocked my phone, seeing all the missed calls from Macie. I sighed, frustrated, and decided to change into a stained hoodie and baggy basket ball shorts.

While I was changing, my phone started ringing. Seeing that it was Macie, I ignored it and finished changing.

But she called again. And I ignored it again.

Why I didn't think to silence my phone was beyond me, but let's face it, I've got very few brain cells left in me.

The third time she rang, I picked up.

"Yes?" I hated the constant ringing of phone. When someone's phone goes off in class, I always want to throttle them.

"Asher William Sage!" Macie's high pitched voice came from the phone.

"Yes, I believe that's my name. What's yours? Macie, right?"

"Asshole. You haven't picked up my calls or answered my texts. What's gotten into you?" She asked, concern clear in her voice.

I felt bad for worrying her, I really did, but I was still mad at her, although I wasn't gonna tell her that.

"Nothing, I just haven't been feeling well."

She hesitated before asking timidly, "Did I do something wrong?"

"How'd you get that from me wanting to barf?"

"Sorry, I just..."

I sighed. "No, you didn't do anything. I'm sorry, I've just feeling a bit off lately."

I still haven't had the chance to bring up the reason why I was angry at her. She was dating Louis, the guy I'd liked since the start of high school. But it wasn't even the fact that they were dating that pissed me off. It's the fact that Louis tried getting close to me to get to Macie.

I fully understand that it's not her fault because she doesn't know, but seeing them together still made everything about me turn sour, like extremely sour.

"Oh, okay then. Well, I'm just glad you're fine. Is your mum at work?"

"Yeah. Wanna come over?" I sighed. Well, I guess I have to interact with a human other than my family sooner or later.

I could tell she was smiling when she replied.

"Thought you'd never ask. My parents are out, anyway."

Macie's parents didn't really care about her, or at least they never acted like it. They were always out and leaving her alone, ever since primary school.

DCP got involved when she was a kid, but those useless cunts can't do anything right so her parents didn't change much.

"See you in 20," I told her before hanging up the phone.

I wondered what she would say if I told her that I liked and also fucking despised Louis. I wondered how she'd react if I told her how his toothy smile made me want to obnoxiously giggle and how his arrogant actions make me want to ring his neck out. She'd probably hate me. Perhaps she'd never talk to me again.

It also didn't help that no one in my life actually knew that I was severely allergic to boobs, vaginas and every other secret passage hidden in females.

I heard the doorbell ring forty minutes later, Macie's always late, bringing me out of my thoughts. I made my way downstairs and opened the front door.

"Hey," said Macie, her red curls lose and messy.

Edited by: LarryShipSails

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