A short break...

I'm really sorry guys, but I'm going through some deep emotional stuffs right now and I can't really work on April while I'm like this because it isn't helping. I am continuing my legacy, as it's a happy happy happy story which is what I need right now. I apologise that updates haven't been exactly fast anyway, but I hope to restart in the new year when this will all have hopefully cleared up. I am by no means quitting this story, as I have a lot planned for little April and her friends, just taking a short break to get my mental state back in order and then we'll be back in business.

Again, sorry about this, and I hope to 'see' you all in January. Thank you.

Monday, September 4th

I've not really had much time to write this for over a month, I spent the rest of the summer break outside with either Lottie and Justin, or Emily and Travis, or all of them, or a mix of a few of them. I slept over at Lottie's a few times, or she slept over mine. I stayed at Emily's a couple of times, but because my Daddy was still staying there then there was only room if Amelia was out. Daddy moves at the weekend.

School started back up today. I didn't want to get up, I'd got used to sleeping in. I sat next to Emily on the bus, because we both get on at the same stop. Lottie was already on the bus, but she was sat next to Holly, a girl who lives near her and is in our class, Justin didn't get the bus, and I wondered if he was coming in to school at all, but he told me later that he walked in because he can see the school from his front porch. I guess that makes sense really.

We have a seating plan now. A boy-girl one. Emily and Travis are sitting together, I guess nobody told the teacher that they're boyfriend and girlfriend, and usually the one to do that is Dahlia, but obviously they're best friends. Justin has to sit next to Dahlia. She kept talking to him all morning, and he'd keep looking back at me with this desperate 'help me' look on his face. I know it's mean, but I couldn't help but laugh.

I hate where I'm sat. I'm second from the back, Whitney, the loudest girl in the class is behind me, next to Jared, who used to bully me when we first started school, and I'm next to Whitney's twin brother Gavin. Whitney and Gavin kept arguing with each other, and Whitney kept asking me questions and telling me to 'tell him' whenever Gavin was winning the argument. Jared seemed to enjoy their arguments, and kept grinning at me whenever I'd turn around to tell them to be quiet. The teacher didn't seem to notice any of this. I don't know how I'll learn anything this year. We start high-school next year! I hoped to get good grades to look good when we started, but I don't see that happening now.

At lunch break, I met up with Justin and Lottie, and Emily, Travis and Dahlia soon found us too. I don't even remember what we were talking about, but Jared came out of nowhere and started saying all this weird stuff to me about my parents. Like he thought he knew something. He's never even met them, and none of us like him because he does nothing but wander around teasing people. I just ignored him, and we all did the same, except Justin.

I looked around when I heard him practically growling under his breath like a dog, and he was glaring at Jared. I asked him what was up, but apparently Jared had seen his expression and was laughing at him now.
"Sorry, am I offending you?" He laughed. "Don't worry, I'm not after your girlfriend." I think we were all a bit surprised by the girlfriend comment. I mean, yeah, I've hung around with Justin more than the others, but that's mainly just because neither of us had any summer clubs like the others did.

But anyway, we didn't really have time to think about it or defend ourselves, because before I knew it Justin had pounced on Jared and had him on the ground. That was when I remembered how strong Justin was. He carried me almost all the way across town before, even though he's skinny as ever. He was just punching him, and I could hear Emily and Lottie gasping while Dahlia was laughing about it and cheering him on. Travis looked a bit like he was in shock, and it was obvious then that none of them were going to be any help.

So I went in there and started pulling Justin back. Jared spat on the ground before laughing and saying "And your girlfriend saves the day." Justin looked like he was about to say something back, so I pulled harder on his arm.
"Justin! Leave it!" I shouted at him, I was suprised by how angry I sounded. He seemed to calm a little, and for a split-second I wondered if what I said had some how calmed him down.

"Come with me, young man." That was when I realised a teacher had come over. He took Justin and Jared off to the principals office. None of us had a lot to say after that, and there wasn't long left of lunch anyway. On the way back to class, Emily told me to stop worrying, and I was surprised when Justin wasn't already in the classroom when we sat down.

Whitney spent most of the afternoon asking me about the fight. Jared hadn't come back into class either. Gavin kept telling Whitney to shut up, but I didn't need him to. I was ignoring her anyway. A note was passed back to me about half past two, it said 'Come round mine after school? From Dahlia x' Dahlia?! Dahlia invited me to her house after school. I thought back over the day and she'd been really nice to me all day. Infact, every time I'd seen her over the summer she wasn't too unbearable. I looked up and she was looking at me, so I nodded my head yes. She smiled before turning back to her work. Then it sunk in. Dahlia 'Teachers Pet' Jones had invited me to her house.

I didn't see Justin after school, either. I had guessed he must've been sent home before that, but I still kind of hoped he'd be there. Being sent home from school for fighting on your first day isn't a good start, and I don't know what his Mum would say. Probably nothing, she doesn't seem like the type to shout much, and from what Justin has said, she doesn't really care much what he does.

Emily lent me her phone on the bus, as mine is still secret, and I told my mum that I was going to Dahlias. She seemed as surprised as I was, but fine about it. Emily came back with us too. Dahlia's mum seemed nice, we didn't see much of her. She was playing with Dahlia's half-brother, Brandon. He's really cute!

We sat in the garden in the sun, and talked about nothing much. Until Dahlia suddenly changed the subject.
"I know what you're going through, April." I had no idea what she was on about. Literally none. I looked at her a bit blank for a while before she carried on. "With your parents. Mine split up when I was six, my dad cheated on my mum." I was a bit surprised that she knew why they'd split. I mean, I had my theories, but my parents won't tell me anything. I wonder if that's partly because of the amount of time that's passed? I didn't say anything, and she carried on. "Did they tell you or did you work it out for yourself?"
"What?" I asked, confused again.

"About the affair. My dad told me after it happened, to you, I mean. My mum told me about my dad cheating when I was ten and I asked."
"What affair?" I sort of knew. I worked out something like that had happened by the things they were shouting that night, but I didn't want to believe it. I looked at Emily and she was staring at Dahlia with a 'shut up' look on her face. Dahlia looked almost embarrassed. "And why did your dad tell you? How did he know?" She was biting her lip now. I wanted to cry. That's why her dad was all pally with me at the beach earlier in the summer. It seemed so obvious, but I didn't know. How could I have known? I don't even know. I stood up, ready to walk off. I just wanted to be alone, but Dahlia stood quickly as I did, and Emily wasn't far behind.

"April, wait. I'm sorry-" She started, but I didn't let her finish.
"Shut up. Just shut up, Dahlia! You never know when to stop talking and when to mind your own business." I shouted. I didn't really know what to say after that, and I do feel bad for shouting because none of this is her fault. It's my mums fault, and her dads fault. Grown ups always mess things up.
"Excuse me, April, but it is my business!" She replied angrily. She raised her voice a little, but not too much. "If my dad and your mum get married-"
"Our parents won't get married, and we won't be sisters." I knew that's what she was going to say. I didn't want to hear anymore, and ran round the side of her house and down the road.

I turned to look back at the house. I couldn't work out what just happened, but most of all, why I didn't seem to care. Why don't I care that my mother is sleeping with Dahlia's father? Why don't I care that that's the reason my daddy is moving to Bridgeport in four days? It just doesn't matter anymore for some reason.

I wondered what to do. There was no way I was going home, I can't look at my mum the same ever again. So, I headed to my second home, Lottie's house. Lottie lives on completely the other end of town to Dahlia, but if you cut through the fields it doesn't take too long.

Justin was at the park. Maybe I knew he would be. Maybe that's why I cut through the park rather than walk down the pathway around it. He was just sitting on the bench, staring at the ground and swinging his legs, and I made him jump when I stood infront of him and spoke.
"What happened?" I demanded. I was still angry about the fight, and the argument with Dahlia. He looked up at me and stopped kicking his legs.
"I got suspended." He said it like it didn't bother him at all. Well, maybe it doesn't bother me either. Maybe I don't care if he fails school. It's his own stupid fault for fighting.
"How long?"
"Three days. Including today. I'm back Thursday."
"What did your mum say?" He just shrugged and went back to swinging his legs and looking at the ground. I knew he didn't want to talk about whatever happened between him and his mum, so we just stayed silent for a while. "My mum's having sex with Dahlia's dad." My voice broke as I finally admitted it to myself.

His eyes almost fell out of his head as he looked up at me. My stupid bottom lip started to wobble like it does when I try not to cry, and he jumped up and pulled me into a hug.
"I'm sorry." He said. I'll never understand that saying. Why should he be sorry? He didn't do anything. "Did she tell you?" He asked, pulling away. I shook my head no.
"Dahlia did. I just came from her house."
"Well, I wouldn't trust a word that comes out of that girls mouth." He frowned, I shrugged, and we fell silent again for a few minutes.

"I'm going to see if I can spend the night at Lottie's." I spoke up finally. "I don't want to see my mum right now." He nodded his head, agreeing with my idea.
"Do you want me to walk with you?" He offered.
"No thank you. I want to be alone for a bit." He nodded again, and we said our goodbyes before I headed to Lotties.

When I told Lotties mum about what Dahlia said, she hugged me and said she'd talk to my mum. They've set me up in the spare room so we can all sleep in a bed, and get some sleep. Usually when I stay over and it's not a school night, I either top-and-tail with Lottie, or sleep on the floor in her room, but they wanted us to sleep properly.



I'm baaaaack!
Wow. Sorry for the wait. :| Basically, I wrote the chapter literally months ago, as in, this could have been ready two weeks after the last one if I'd just got on with it. Then I realised I had to make almost every pose, then I procrastinated for about a month, because it's what I do best, then I finished all the poses and went to double-check I had all I needed, and ended up re-writing half of it, and needing different poses to the ones I'd made... And then, to top it all off, I finally went to shoot about 2 weeks ago, and my game suddenly decided it hated me, so I spent the last two weeks fixing that (still a WIP, btw), then shot for this, then of course, procrastinated for another few days on fixing the pics and dropping them in... And now here we are. Finally. :p
So, sorry, hopefully I'll give myself a kick up the backside and get the next one out in two weeks or so! When we get to three weeks, you may all start poking me with long sticks. I need it sometimes...

Bonus: Meet Justin and Mya

“Krista” My name escaped his lips as a gentle moan. He was spent. My clients were often done before me, and it came as no surprise that I was left unsatisfied. I smiled politely, before rolling off the bed and redressing. He sat and reached for his wallet, counting some notes before handing them to me. “I’ll recommend you.” His face was twisted into a smirk, satisfied and still drenched in post-coital ecstasy.

“Thank you.” I replied to his comment, before seeing myself out.

My line of work isn’t something you plan for; it isn’t something little girls dream of becoming. But it’s all I know. Most people assume that prostitutes choose their work for two reasons. One because they were abused as children and so become so mentally scarred that they need to feel needed, and satisfying the unsatisfied is all that they can think of. Two is me. Drugs. A drug habit isn’t cheap, and it isn’t something I’d wish on anyone. You’re controlled by your habit, and everything you do revolves around the drug. You trust nobody, but you’ll do anything you can to get your fix. You don’t care that you look like death, haven’t showered in weeks. I try to make more money than I need for my habit, I need to, I have a son to think of.

When I get home, my housemate is asleep on the couch. She’s like me, only she doesn’t have a child. We met on Seventh, in Bridgeport's red light district, when I was fifteen and she was eighteen, we’ve looked out for each other ever since, and now we take shifts looking after Justin. You make more money at night, so we’ve worked out a system where we work every other night, and on the night’s we don’t work, we work the day. The day shifts go slowly, it picks up a little when the local businesses let out for lunch break, but other than that you’re lucky if you bring in a hundred simoleons. The only reason we do them is so there’s always someone here for Justin.

I gently shake Sasha awake, she smiles when she sees I’m home, and points to the kitchen. I can tell she’s had her share, she looks sleepy and relaxed.

“Got you one set up.” She states, drowsily. I nod and move to the kitchen. There’s a syringe already loaded for me on the counter, so I tie off my arm and inject. I sit as I gently release the tourniquet and feel the golden brown liquid course through my veins and hit my heart. I feel the beating slow, and a feeling of normality hits. All sense of guilt over what I’m doing to Justin is gone, and everything is right with the world.

I don’t know how much time has passed before I grab myself a glass of water and join Sasha in front of the TV. She tells me she fell asleep watching a documentary about a guy going to rehab to kick his heroin habit, and we laugh at the irony.

“How’s Justin?” I ask.

“He’s been an angel, as always.” She replies. My Justin is an angel. Before I fell pregnant with him, I was living with Austin. He told me he wasn't going to raise any child I had, and as 'a dirty skag head' there was no way to prove 'it' was his. I know Austin is Justin's father. I guess I chose the name Justin as a sort of hint to Austin if they ever eventually met, but now I know that's almost impossible. Finding out I had a life inside of me made me cut the heroin down to a minimum, and Sasha and I looked for an apartment, vowing to always be there for each other. We’re all each other have. Addicts don’t have supportive parents to fall back on, not usually; there are a few who do, but not us. Sasha doesn’t talk about her parents, and so I don’t ask. Mine kicked me out and all but disowned me when I was fourteen. They said they couldn't handle me any more, but I know I could never do that to Justin no matter what he did. I’ve met many people during my life since all this began, and they all have a dirty secret. You learn not to ask too many questions, especially when those questions give you information about the person that could be used against them in court. I’m not sure Sasha’s parents could, but I still won’t ask all the same.

Some days I worry about never coming home. I wonder if Sasha would stay and care for Justin if I was gone. There was recently a spree of missing prostitutes, and Sasha and I had to cut back on hours, it just isn’t as safe out there as it used to be. I’ve tried to quit the drugs, and I’m going to do it properly soon. Last time, I went cold turkey. Sasha bought me coke and speed to get me through, but the draw was too big. It’s just too easy to get hold of heroin in Bridgeport. I’ve thought about moving, but I don’t think Sasha would come with me. I want a better life for Justin. He’ll be starting school next year, and that means he’ll be mixing with people like me.

*~*

When the investigators collected the body, they didn’t care. Nobody cares about people like us. I wish that I’d got home before Justin. I was supposed to, but my dealer was messing me around and made me wait on that corner for an hour. When I made it back to the house, he was sitting on the overgrown lawn, white as a sheet. He was staring off into the distance, and even though I was fiending, I could tell something bad had happened. He wouldn’t talk to me, and when I put my arm around him, he pushed away and walked off down the street. I was torn between going after him and investigating the house. I could see the front window was broken, completely cleared. Like someone had thrown something through to break it, and then pulled the remaining glass out to gain access. I knew Sasha was in there, but I didn’t want to prove it to myself. I didn’t want it to be true.

It all happened so fast after that. The investigators arrested me. They said I wasn’t under suspicion, but they had evidence of my soliciting and drug use around a minor. They said they were willing to let me go if I would talk. I refused at first. I knew exactly who had done this, and I wasn’t about to meet the same fate as my best friend, but they offered me witness protection. In a quiet countryside town, with a good school for Justin to attend. Eventually I complied, and before I knew it Justin and I were ushered back to the house and were hastily packing what we could before boarding a bus set for Winchester.

*~*

My mum has a new name. Mya Hope. They said it would be too confusing for me to change my name, so I’ve stayed Farrow for now. I can’t help but hate her for this, even though she didn’t pull the trigger, she bought this situation into our lives, and my ‘aunt’ Sasha is dead because of it. I’ve had to leave all my friends behind, everyone I ever knew, without even saying goodbye! Tom Farley was having a pool party this weekend at his grandparents loft, I bet they have a great time without me.

I took a wander around this town yesterday. I only saw about four people, all middle-aged, and all rich-looking. We don’t fit in here. This place is so upmarket that even the stupid trailer park is hidden behind rows of perfectly trimmed conifers. I doubt anyone even knows we’re here. I didn’t see any kids at all, even though I hung around the park for a while. The park was right next to the school, and it’s tiny. My old school was four floors, plain grey concrete with black asphalt surrounding it, and this new one looks like a log cabin made by the damn pioneers! I'm surprised they even have electricity out here in the backside of nowhere.

I go out for another walk. My mum is trying to find some way of making money here, because there’s no way this town would have enough of a dark side to need her ‘services’ enough to fund her habits. She keeps saying she’ll quit, but I don’t think she’ll ever manage it.

I end up back at the park, and play on the swings by myself. There’s a blonde girl about my age arguing with who I assume to be her older sister. They look like try-hards. Wearing designer clothes, but they don’t look rich. I wonder if they got those clothes from the back of a truck, like my mum does?

I continue watching the ‘blonde family drama’ as a woman I assume to be the mother comes out of the hut (which I assume contains toilets) to tell them off. The three of them look like clones or something, and I’m shocked when a brown-haired man comes out behind the mother carrying an equally brown-haired toddler. Boy, I think. I take a wild guess and say he’s the step-father and the toddler is a half-sibling to the blonde girls. I follow them with my eyes as they make their way over to the lake to have a picnic, and notice another girl about my age is now sitting on the bench. She looks about as lost and lonely as I feel, so I go over to try and make my first friend.

__________________________________________________________________

The first part of this, I wrote a few months ago. I have many short stories half-written, and as I started typing backstory I remembered it. So I changed the names and edited it a little to suit my needs. Easy!
For those of you who are lucky enough to have not been exposed to drugs before, here's some information about heroin, which Mya/Krista was using in that first part. The kind of thing I imagined her on last chapter, was mephedrone (known around here as 'M-cat') and alcohol, but the late stages where she was coming down from the 'cat'.

Tuesday, July 25th

 Warning: Language and drug references.

Daddy picked me up at 10am yesterday. He drove me out to the fields where he works, and let me play with the chickens! Chickens are my favorite animal, I love going there in the spring when there's loads of baby chicks to play with.

After that, we went to the beachside pool. I remember daddy teaching me to swim, and he kept saying he couldn't believe how grown up I was and how good I'd got at swimming. He used to take me to the pool every Saturday, but I started going with my friends instead when I was ten, so he's not seen me in the pool for a while. After a few hours he told me he had something to tell me, and got out before helping me out (the ladder broke a few years ago. The owner had it removed because of health and safety, but hasn't got round to putting a new one in)

He sat down on one of the loungers, and I kneeled on the foot-rest. He told me that he'd got a new job. In Bridgeport. He said he would be moving there in September. I just stared at him for a while, I didn't know what to say!

"What about me?" Was all I could finally come up with. I could see hearing me say that hurt him, and I could see tears starting in his eyes, but I felt the same way so why shouldn't he?
"You can come and visit me all the time, honey. And I'll still come here and see you when I can, I'll stay with Auntie Lynn. I'll still be there for Christmas at Gramma's." I was silent again for a bit. Christmas at Gramma's was tradition. Every year we all go and squeeze into her little townhouse in Bridgeport for a week. Will my Mum be going this year?
"I'll miss you." I said, trying to hold back tears so I could be strong for my Daddy. I know he wouldn't do this if he didn't have to.

He picked me up and swung me around infront of him, before kneeling on the floor and pulling me close for a tight hug.
"I'll miss you more than you could ever imagine." He said while he kissed my hair and rubbed his hand on my back. "Your Mummy will still be here, and you can phone me up any time and I'll answer. I know these past few weeks have been hard for you, but we can get through this. I love you more than anything, and if you miss me too much I'll move back."
"Why don't you just stay?" I asked.
"April, I'm sorry. Let's try this for a few months. If it doesn't work out by Christmas, I'll move back. I promise." He kissed me again, and I hugged him a little tighter.

We didn't do much else after that. He took me to have lunch and an ice-cream, but it didn't cheer me up much. When we got home, I went straight to my room, and I heard him telling Mummy about it downstairs. She didn't shout or anything, but when he left she came straight upstairs and hugged me while I cried on my bed.

I texted Justin when I first woke up today. Lottie had some horse-riding lessons, and I really needed to get out of the house and talk to someone. He'd replied by the time I was back up from breakfast and a shower, and we met up in the town by the hospital.

He asked me what was wrong straight away, but I didn't want to talk just yet. We walked out of the town centre, through the fields and up the hills before we sat down and I finally felt like talking.

 We sat in a patch of tall flowers under the shade of a willow tree for hours. He barely said a word, and let me say everything that was on my mind. He's a really good listener. I told him all about yesterday with my Daddy, what we usually do at Christmas, how much I missed spending time with him, which I hadn't even realised until yesterday. He asked a few questions, and when I started to cry he'd either move closer and put and arm around me, or just stroke my arm to make me feel better. When I'd been silent for a few minutes, he leaned in, put a hand on my shoulder, and whispered in my ear: "Tag, you're it" before jumping up and running off.

I couldn't help but laugh as I watched him run off, looking over his shoulder with a cheeky grin on his face. I managed to get up and chase after him, though, I think he let me catch him.

We played tag for a while, it must've been about half an hour or so. Until I hurt my ankle. I was 'it' and was just catching up to him when I felt it twist on itself. I grabbed his arm for support.

"What's wrong?" He asked. He looked really worried. I didn't reply for a minute, I was trying not to cry. I didn't want him to think I was a baby, which is silly, because I was crying infront of him not much earlier.
"I think I broke my ankle." I replied after a bit.
"Broke it?" He raised his eyebrow and did a little half-smile. "April, if you broke it you'd be screaming on the floor."
"How do you know? Maybe I'm really good with pain?" I sort-of snapped at him, which I felt bad about. "I don't think I can walk." I said more calmly.
"Well, it's a long way home, and I don't think you can fly..." He joked. I jerked his arm down a bit, and he laughed.
"What about your house? Where do you live?" His face immediately fell.
"No, you don't want to go there." He said quickly, shaking his head.
"Justin, please! If it's closer can't we just go there to rest up and get a drink?" I was really thirsty from running around in the sun, and I looked up at him pleadingly. He looked kind of panicked, like he was having some kind of internal battle.
"We can go there for ten minutes, if you promise to never tell anyone you've been to my house. Don't even tell anyone where I live." He was staring deep into my eyes the whole time he spoke, and he sounded pretty worried. I nodded in agreement.
"I promise. Not even Lottie. Where do you live?"

"Down there, behind those trees" He said, pointing down the hill towards the school and the park.
"Are you sure?" I asked, confused. "I've never seen any houses around there..."
"I know where I live, April!" He snapped, before putting his arm around my waist, pulling my arm around his neck, and helping me hop down the hill a bit.

"Can you go any faster?" He asked. He looked like he was in a rush for whatever reason.
"No, Justin! I've hurt my ankle, haven't I?" I felt like crying. I wished I'd never asked to go to his house. He was so sweet until I suggested it, and I was starting to worry about what was at his house by this point.
"April." He sighed, before he stopped and bent over infront of me. "Jump on."
I just stared at his back a minute, before climbing on as he'd asked.

He took a minute to rearrage my legs before starting to walk quickly down the hill.
"Justin, you can put me down if you want?" I offered once we reached the main road again.
"No, you don't weigh anything anyway." I'm not sure I believe him. I must weigh about the same as him, he's just strong obviously.

He took us down the streets leading to the school, before ducking into an alley by the park, and walking through a thick row of trees.

He put me down when we reached the other side.
"I didn't even know this was here..." I said stupidly, looking around. There were three trailers in this top bit, and I could see a couple more down the hill behind the others. There was litter and broken things everywhere, right in the entranceway was a pile of something that looked like it had been burnt before it was abandoned three feet from the bins. I could hear a dog barking nearby, but I couldn't see it, and there was a radio on loud in one of the trailers. It didn't look like the kind of place people choose to live, especially not if they have children.
"This way." Justin said, leading me down the slope towards the steps to the big cabin in front, I tried putting a little weight on my foot as we walked. It still hurt, but I realised Justin was right about it not being broken.

We reached the front door, and he took in a deep breath, and let it out before opening it.

He stepped just inside the door, and I looked over his shoulder. There was last nights pizza box still sat on the table, with dirty glasses and empty bottles over the table and the counters behind. The once-white paint was starting to peel off the counters and appliances, revealing the rusting metal underneath.
"Fuck sake." Justin whispered under his breath, before stepping properly in, pulling me behind him, and closing the door.

The room stank of stale smoke, grease, and mould. There was a purple-haired woman on the couch, who I assumed to be Justin's mum, although she looked young enough to be his sister. She lay there, staring blankly at the ceiling, surrounded by empty glass bottles, cigarette packets and old take-away wrappers. Her skirt was even shorter than anything my cousin Amelia would wear, and she gets told off for dressing like that all the time. The TV was on quietly, and she was whisper-singing along to a rock song.
"Where's your gaville, your jury, what's my offence this time? You're not a judge but if you're gunna judge me, then sentance me to another..."
"Mum." Justin said, and finally she turned her head and noticed us there.
"Oh, hey baby! Did you have fun?" Her speech was slurred, her voice hoarse as if she'd been screaming all morning, her eyes kept rolling in her head, her jaw was chewing, but I couldn't see any gum, and she looked like she was about to throw up.
"You said you were going to bed." Justin looked angry at her.
"Yeah, I think I did say that... I guess I got caught up." Justin moved closer to her, picking up a bottle of pills from the table and giving it a gentle shake, before turning to me.
"April, my bedroom is behind you. I'll be there in a minute." I nodded, and started walking towards the room behind me. "You know I can't get your prescription again until next week." I heard him scold his mum.

I closed the door behind me, but the walls weren't very thick.
"I know that, baby. Just chill out, I know a guy, don't worry."
"Mum," I heard Justin shout." "You wonder why I never bring anyone over? Do you even know how embarrassing you are? How much of a state you look? Look around you! You need to wake up before it's too late." I heard something hit the wall, I assume it was Justin throwing the pill bottle, before he burst through the door, slamming it behind him.

He jumped onto his bed, before tapping the mattress beside him, indicating for me to join him. I sat next to him, massaging my ankle. He didn't say anything, so I looked around his room. It was small, even smaller than mine, with fresh cream paint covering the walls. He had nothing in there besides his bed and a rather dirty-looking rug. There were a few posters on his walls of some band I'd never heard of. 'K-Infinity' or something. They looked like the kind of band Amelia might listen to.
"Sorry about her." Justin muttered after a few minutes.
"It's ok." I had no idea what to say, but I knew it wasn't ok. "What's wrong with her?" I was sure I already knew.
"She's drunk. Or high. Or both. She always is these days." He sighed, and leaned back, stretching his legs out infront of him. "That's why I don't want you to tell anyone you've been here."

"I understand." I lied. Well, I understand why he doesn't want anyone to know, but I don't understand how someone like her can still have their kid around. I don't know anything about drugs really, but I know from TV and movies that you need money for that kind of life, and I don't think she has a job, but I didn't want to ask.
"Is your leg better now? I want to get out of here." I looked up and he was looking at me. He had this desperate look in his eye. I rubbed my ankle while I tried to think of something we could do now.

We heard a smash from the other room, followed by Justin's mum laughing. Justin jumped off the bed and pulled my arm.
"Come on. You're too young for this, I'll carry you." I had no idea what he meant by too young, because we're the same age, so that made no sense, but he did carry me to the park, and we stayed there for most of the rest of the day. We didn't even mention his house or his mum, which he seemed thankful for.

Now I'm really worried, though. Clearly his mum can't take care of him, she didn't even ask who I was and I could have been a criminal or something! My mum always asks who people are when I bring them in, and she would never let our house get into that state. I wish I could ask someone what to do, but I know Justin would probably never speak to me again if I did.




Justins Mum was singing Ignorance, by Paramore, if anyone was wondering.
The band K-Infinity is from one of Valpre's stories, Krisis.
To avoid confusion, I feel I should point out that this is two days of diary entries in one. The last chapter was too short, and if I split this in two the problem would repeat itself. :)

This is her, for anyone who wanted to see. She purty! 

I might do a 'meet these characters' bonus chapter for her and Justin. There's a lot of backstory there, so I'm now taking votes.

Sunday, July 23rd

Daddy rang me today. (On the house phone, Mum bought a new one last week, and I'm not telling them about the phone Justin gave me.) He's going to take me out tomorrow. Hopefully we'll get some ice cream if the weather is nice. It should be, it's always nice in summer here.

I texted Justin when I first got up today, seeing if he wanted to go out somewhere, but he hadn't replied by the time Mum wanted to go to the store, so I went with her shopping.

We were wandering around the aisles, picking stuff off the shelves and joking around like we always do when we're shopping. Shopping for food can be boring, so we always find something to make it more entertaining. Anyway, so suddenly Mum taps me on the shoulder and points to the end of the aisle. Justin! He was carrying a basket past, heading to another aisle, and I ran up and tapped him, making him jump.

"Oh! Hi, April." He looked uncomfortable. Like he'd been doing something he shouldn't have, even though he was just shopping like us.
"Hi!" I grinned. "Where's your Mum? I want to meet her." I asked. A sudden look of desperation or worry or guilt or something flash across his face before he could hide it.
"Oh, she's... Somewhere..." He answered quickly. "What are you doing here?" I could tell he was just trying to change the subject, but I went with it anyway. I don't know much about his Mum, but I know he doesn't get on with her that well.
"Shopping, silly! Same as you! This is the only place in town to buy food, so where else would I be?" I smiled at him, and he looked like he was trying to smile back, but he didn't look that happy.

"Ok." He replied, looking around us for something else to say. "Well, I have to go find my Mum, I guess." He said after a while as he started to bend down to pick up his basket.
"Ok. Do you want to hang out later?"
"I dunno, I'll see if I can." Just then, Mum came up behind me.

"Justin, would you like to come for dinner tonight?" I beamed at the suggestion. Justin has only been inside my house once, and I'd love for him to come over more.
"Uh..." He looked really uncomfortable. "Maybe another time. Thanks for the offer though, Mrs. Matthews." And with that he walked off.

"Is he ok?" Mum asked me.
"I don't know." I shrugged. He's never been lost for words, never looked so uncomfortable the whole two weeks I've known him. And we've spent pretty much every waking minute together. "I don't think he gets on with his Mum. Maybe they just had an argument?" I suggested as we moved on to the next aisle.

We carried on shopping as normal. We tried to laugh and joke like normal, but I couldn't help being worried about Justin. We got to the end of one aisle, nearly finished with our weekly shop, when I turned to the checkouts.

I saw Justin. Alone. Paying for a few bags of shopping before carrying them out the shop. They looked heavy, and I couldn't work out why he was alone.
"Mummy?" I asked in a small voice. Mum turned to where I was looking and saw him too. "Where's his Mum?" I asked, know she'd have no idea either, but hoped she could say something comforting. She couldn't.
"Honey, lets finish this shopping then you can ask him where she was?" She suggested. I knew he wouldn't tell me though. I know he was alone at the supermarket, but I don't know why.

He wouldn't tell me, either. He still hadn't replied to the text I'd sent when I got home, and I tried ringing him but he didn't pick up.

I played outside on my own all afternoon, and when I got up to bed then he'd text me back finally.
Sorry abt 2day. May B C U 2moro?
I stared at the message for a while, wondering what to reply.
I'm seeing my dad tomorrow. I'll tell you when i'm back.
He didn't reply, and I don't know whether to ask about his Mum or not. If he wanted me to know, he would have told me, wouldn't he?






Thank you to Valpre for sending me the supermarket. It arrived decorated as if it were a house... (See here and here) But I didn't have to build anything :p

Saturday, July 22nd

Authors note: Sorry guys, maybe I died or something, I dunno, but I've had this written since before I posted the last chapter (all those months ago...), I just got a bit wrapped up in my legacy to go shoot for this. Sorry!



 

I've spent almost every day the past two weeks with Justin. He's loads of fun, and he's really helped take my mind off my parents. It helps that he's been through it all too, I think.
Daddy, I mean Dad (hehe), came by to get more clothes a few times, but he still hasn't got all his stuff. He's sleeping at his sisters (aunt Lynn, across the street), and Emily says he hasn't looked at any houses, but he applied for a new job the other day! I thought he liked working on the farm. I know he moans about it, but that's what adults do! They moan about stuff even though they like it.

Justin met Lottie for the first time yesterday, we hung out at the park for a bit, Lottie was telling us all about her holiday. She said it rained most days, and me and Justin laughed at that because it's been boiling here! She invited me to spend the night, and she asked if Justin could as well, but her Mum said she wasn't allowed boys to sleep over 'at our age'. I said I'd ask my Mum, she's letting me get away with anything at the moment, but Justin said his Mum probably wouldn't let him stop out anyway.

Justin walked us to my house so we could pick up some things, and then walked us both to Lotties house too! It's at the top of a really steep hill, so we told him he didn't need to, and he said "You can never be too careful."? How weird is that? I remember about two years ago, someone stole an apple from the market, and it was the talk of the town for months. What were we being careful of? I suppose Justin has always lived in a city, and so being careful is something he's used to. We had the 'stranger danger' talk in school, and my parents have told me not to talk to strangers, but there are no strangers in Winchester. There's about 100 people, most of them are young people still at school. I know everyone at school, and you can work out who's each persons parents because there isn't a lot of choice. I guess it was sweet of him to worry, though.

And then something weird happened when we got to Lottie's, Justin asked if he could talk to me alone a minute, so Lottie took our stuff inside. He stared after her, making sure she'd gone all the way in before he turned back to me.
"I've got you a present." He was grinning his usual 'I'm planning something' grin, and I couldn't help but shoot a worried smile back.
"What is it?" I asked, imagining that he'd picked up a slug or something disgusting like that on the walk up there.

 He pulled a gift-wrapped box from behind his back. He actually planned this, and didn't just pick something off the floor? "What is it?" I repeated, excited this time.
"Well, if you open it you'll know." I hesitated. "Go on! Open it!" He pushed, and so I did.
"A phone?!" I was shocked. He got me a phone?! My parents won't even get me one, they say I can't have one until I can afford to pay the bill myself. Even though they won't let me take a paper-round, because it's not safe apparently. "How did you get this? Why did you get this?" I wasn't even sure I wanted to know. Justin is twelve, like me, he doesn't have a job, like me, and I've never met his Mum, but I assume she wouldn't buy phones for her sons friends.
"It was just an old one my Mum wasn't using anymore, and I got you it so I have a way to contact you. It's a long walk from my house to yours, and if you can't or don't want to come out then I have to walk all the way back. Much easier to just ring you." I didn't know what to say, but he was still beaming at me, his eyes twinkling after his good deed.

"Thank you!" I said after a while, and threw my arms around him. I've never hugged a boy before, except Lottie's brother and my Dad, but they don't count. It was weird and I wasn't sure how long I was supposed to hug him for. He didn't seem to mind, so it probably wasn't too long, but he didn't hug me back. Maybe he was as shocked as I was. After I pulled away, he said he'd send me a text later so I had his number, and then I'd have to send him one back so he had mine. ("If I could work out how". He actually said that!)

We had dinner with Lottie's parents and brother. I love her family, they're always so happy, and they were all extra nice to me and gave me extra dessert because of my parents. They let us sit at the breakfast bar instead of the dining table. I like sitting at the breakfast bar, I know it sounds weird, but it's fun! Maybe it's because it's high up? I don't know.

Ellis helped us set up Lottie's room for me to sleep, and he told me all about his holiday too. I know it was the same holiday, but Ellis and Lottie have very different ideas of fun, so I like hearing what they did from both sides.

After Ellis left us, I told Lottie about the phone. She was as shocked as I was, but gave me her number immediately so we could see if it worked. It did.
"What will you say to your parents?" She asked me after we'd stopped squealing about me sending my first text from my own phone.
"Oh, I dunno. I didn't think of that." I really hadn't. What if they would take it off me? "I guess I'll keep it a secret because they might not let me keep it." Lottie nodded.
"But what about the bill?"
"I don't know." I shrugged. "I'll have to ask Justin about it, I guess."

Time flew by, there was so much to talk about, and then at about nine Justin text.
Gess hu?  Was all it said. I'm not good at text speak, because I've never used it, but Lottie told me that it meant 'Guess who?'. I think I'll pick it up quickly, she said if there's something I don't understand then I should just say it out loud, because it will probably sound the same as the word it replaces.

 The boogeyman?  I sent back as a joke. Lottie and I had eaten a lot of sugary snacks by this point, and it seemed really funny. It isn't now I'm reading it back not-hyper.
Boo!  He replied, which sent us into fits of giggles, causing me to nearly fall off the bed, and making Lottie's Mum come in and tell us to start to wind down or we wouldn't sleep. She wasn't angry, she's never angry, but her bedroom is next to Lotties, and Ellis' is on the other side so we can't ever be too noisy when I sleep round.

We weren't tired, probably because of all the sugar, so we changed into our PJs and went downstairs to watch TV. If we're downstairs we can be noisier too, so it was better all round. We stayed up past midnight! We've never stayed up that late before! Justin stopped texting about half eleven, so that must've been when he went to sleep.

We didn't wake up until nearly midday, and so we had lunch for breakfast!

And then I spent the whole afternoon at the park with my two best friends. I wish summer holidays would last forever, we're nearly halfway through already, and I really don't want to go back to school.