When I got home, I threw my bag onto my bedroom floor and collapsed onto my bed. The day had really taken a toll on me, and it was only going to get worse. This was only the first day and it was already a complete disaster. It had started out good but then started slowly going downhill then it all came crashing and burning down the hill at 100 miles per hour when I saw Leo.

Part of me was still a little annoyed at Via for not telling me that her brother was coming home, but I'll get over it. I can't be that mad at her anyway. If my brother was coming back after not seeing him for 6 years I would be happy too. Being apart from family is one of the worst feelings in the world.

I mean, I guess I should have known that he would come back eventually. It's not like he was going to stay in France forever. Especially, if his sister was living in the States. Plus, I know him and he wouldn't want to live in France his whole life.

Why did my first day have to go like this? Why?

I planned on my senior year being filled with studying and applying to different colleges. I definitely didn't think that it was going to be filled with my best friends brother. Maybe if I ignore him he will leave me alone. But right now, all I needed was a hot bath, and some form of chocolate.

Chocolate always helped me calm down for some reason. I went down into the kitchen and grabbed a box of saltine crackers. My father and Via both didn't like saltine crackers, and I was the only one that used them in my soup.

It was the perfect place to keep a secret stash of chocolate. I grabbed a Snickers out of the box and then put it back in the cupboard. They would never bother to look in there. That's what makes it the best hiding spot for food I don't want to share with them.

As I unwrapped the Snickers, I walked over to the TV to see what was on.

Usually by now my dad would be home, but today he had to work a little bit later. My dad worked as an accountant. It wasn't the most exciting job, but it paid the bills. The money he made was enough to not be poor, but we were in no way rich.

I should probably start looking for a job so I can save up for college. Going to college was going to cost a lot of money.

I aimlessly flipped through the channels, trying to find something to watch. There's never anything on this early in the afternoon. All the good shows are on at night. My thumb was about to press the 'Next' button on the remote when a news channel story caught my eye.

Apparently, there had been a school shooting in Oregon. There was 3 people dead, including the principal, a student, and one of the janitors. The news reporter stated that there were at least 5 in serious condition and another 7 in less serious conditions.

The poor families, I thought. There's been so many school shootings recently, and nothing's being done about it. It just keeps happening. The people who control gun laws need to form some kind of new laws that are more restricting on who can by guns.

I'm all for the 2nd amendment, people should be able to own guns to protect themselves, but the laws in place now are horrible.

They aren't protecting people from guns, protecting families from the heart shattering loss. All they do is allow politicians to grow fat while they sit on an ever growing pile of cash. How would they feel if their kid was shot dead? Of course if their kid as shot and killed, they would have enough money to do something about it. But they won't because they are all selfish and dumb.

The politicians just use all the protests and rallies to gain more public favor and money. My dad agreed with me on this, and so did Via. Us students shouldn't have to fear for our lives because politicians won't get get off their fat asses and do something about it.

Just watching the news was getting me pissed off. No one should have to go through something like that. I turned the TV off, not wanting to watch anymore. It was too painful to watch the families faces as they cried for their loved ones.

Tossing the Snickers wrapper in the trash can, I made my way upstairs and into my room. My bag was still lying on the floor, right where I had thrown it. My bag was some how already filled with papers from each class.

One of my teachers was new to the school this year and was making us complete this survey about what we like/dislike so they can get to know us better. Don't teachers know that students hate this kind of thing? It's useless and there is no point in filling it out.

I grabbed my bag off the floor and walked over to my desk, which was situated right below my window. Conveniently enough, my window was right across from Leo's. It's been that way ever since I was little.

That was how he played pranks on me half the time. Leo would climb into my room through his window, since they weren't that far apart. Then, he would set up pranks around my room for me to find when I got home from whatever it was that I was doing.

Luckily, Leo wasn't in his room right now. He had left his curtains open, giving me a full view inside his room. For the most part, it looked the same. Except for all the boxes and no little kid things in his room.

Ignoring his room, I focused on the work in front of me. The first thing I did was sign all the syllabuses the teachers handed out. That was the easiest part. Then, I grabbed the sheet of paper from my new teacher and looked it over.

The questions were very generic. What's your favorite color? What do you like to do for fun? That sort of stuff. It only took me 10 minutes to fill out. Once I had finished the worksheet, I put it into my folder and put the folder back into my bag.

The other papers I left out, because a couple of them my dad needed to sign.

My dad got home a little after 6 at night. By the time he got home, he was too tired from work to cook dinner, so we ordered Chinese food. Via had been up in her room ever since we got home undoubtedly talking on the phone with her brother.

When she came down she looked at the Chinese food and told us with an apologetic look, "Sorry, but I can't eat with you guys tonight. I'm going out for some pizza with Leo."

"He's back? Athena, how come you didn't tell me he was back?" My dad asked me looking kind of hurt that I didn't tell him. "I didn't even know he was back until a couple of hours ago. Via forgot to tell me," I stated sending a glare her way.

She stuck her tongue out at me and walked out of her house. I swear, sometimes it was like Via was still 5 years old.

I wonder if she will move back in with her father and brother. Now that they are back, there's no reason for her to continue living with us. After she left, I grabbed a pair of chopsticks and dug in. The food was a little cold, but it was still fine.

"Your mother called me this afternoon," my dad said out of nowhere. I scoffed at my dad, "What does she want?" About 2 years after Leo and Via's mother died, my own mother decided that she didn't want to be my mother anymore. I guess she couldn't stand the sight of my face any longer.

My mother had always been caring and loving, but 2 years after Via moved in with us that all changed. She became cold towards me and barely even talked to me. Then, one day after about a month she decided that she had had enough.

My mother picked up and left us in the middle of the night. She didn't say goodbye or anything. No note was left, only an empty closet and a hole in our hearts.

My dad was left raising 2 little girls all by himself. Ever since that night, my mother has been out doing whatever she wants. About a month after she left, she filed for a divorce from my father. The papers arrived in the mail. It broke his heart. I knew he loved her.

My mother hardly ever talked to me any more. The only time she did was when it was my birthday or Christmas. I hadn't actually seen her in years. Even the cards she sent were really basic ones that she only signed her name on. No message, no 'I'm sorry for leaving you', no nothing. She was basically dead to me.

"She's coming back home and wants to meet with you."

I looked over at my dad. Was he really serious? Did he really think that I would I ever want to see the face of the woman who abandoned us ever again? "No, why would I? I hate her," I almost shouted at my dad.

Right now I was struggling to keep my anger in check. "Don't say that. You know she had her reasons for why she did what she did."

By this point, I couldn't even talk, for risk of shouting at my dad. I hated shouting at him. It made me feel horrible afterwards. Instead, I excused myself and made my way back to my room. When I got up there, I slammed my door and leaned against it.

My tears finally started to fall.

How could I forgive my mother? She abandoned us without a second thought. She abandoned us when we needed her the most. She doesn't deserve to be forgiven.

Part of me wanted to know why she would just up and abandon her family, but most of me wanted nothing to do with her ever again. My tears kept falling and falling.

That women had caused me so much pain, and now she wanted to be back in my life? No, I wouldn't allow it. Not if I had anything to do with it.

I wish Via was here right now. She would be able to comfort me. Via was the only person besides my dad that I truly trusted and loved. Via was there for me that night and when my mother left us. She was more than just a best friend to me, she was a sister.

After half an hour of crying, my eyes were all red and puffy and my neck was stiff from sitting against my door. My father had yet to come and check on me, but I know he's just giving me time to cool down.

Most likely, he will try and talk to me tomorrow morning during breakfast. Hopefully, Via will eat breakfast with us and act as a buffer.

I stood up an walked into my bathroom to wash away the tears.

As I looked at my face in the mirror, I heard the front door open and shut. Via was probably back. She wasn't gone as long as I expected her to be. Considering it was her brother, I would have thought she would have been out until her curfew.

Apparently, I was wrong.

When I heard Via's door shut, I opened my own and knocked on her door. "Via, you in there?" I asked. "Yeah, come in," she replied.

The door opened and I saw Via sitting on the edge of her bed, looking at her feet. "What's wrong Via?" The look on her face was making me worry. "My brother's an asshole," was all she said. I didn't push her to elaborate on that.

Via and her brother were constantly fighting. Even though they were twins, they argued more than an old married couple. After a little while Via fell asleep on my shoulder. Her head was getting kind of heavy, so I gently laid her head down on her bed and exited her room.

I wonder what Leo did this time. It was the first time they had seen each other in 6 long years, and Via came home upset. He must have down something bad to piss her off that much. Via hardly ever got mad at anyone.

Except for the people who bullied me. But, the second Via saw them she would scare them away like a scarecrow scaring away the birds.

I continued to contemplate this the whole time while I showered and got dressed. It had been a long day, and all I wanted to do right now was lay in bed and watch some Netflix. My comforters were practically calling my name when I got out of the shower.

As I got snuggled under my covers, my hand grabbed my phone off my nightstand and clicked on Netflix. I was currently on season 11 of Grey's Anatomy. It was one of my favorite shows. I was a little behind on it, though.

I only got into it because Via was watching it and it looked interesting. The rest of the night was spent watching Grey's Anatomy until my phone was only at 20%. It was almost midnight by the time I went to bed.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.

-----

Why did Athena's mother leave her? Why does Via think Leo is an asshole?

I hoped you guys liked this chapter. I'm sorry if the beginning of the chapter offended anyone. I've never been in a school shooting, so I don't know what it's like. I put that in there to raise a bit of awareness about how often school shootings are happening in America.

Everything that Athena thought about the school shooting and gun laws is how I feel towards everything. We need tougher gun laws in America, otherwise this will continue to happen. The families of the deceased shouldn't have to go through that.

The school shooting in this chapter is completely fictional. I just made a random one up. Again, I hope nobody was somehow offended with the mentioning of a school shooting. It wasn't my intention, and if it did offend you I'm extremely sorry.

Anyways, thanks for reading.

Don't forget to vote and comment!