When Will You Realize That I'm Your Child Too?

Ariana walked into the school and walked over to the kids she knew and had become friends with, "Ariana! Wanna come to the mall today?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah! That would be great." Ariana smiled. The bell rang and the group walked off to class.

Ariana loved her friends. She truly did. She just didn't like the stereotypes about the group she was in. On her first day, everyone warned her about the people she hung out with. They claimed they were the bitches of the school and ruled everyone. But when she met Sarah, she realized they were all normal. That was the one disadvantage about being a dancer. Everyone thought the dancers and cheerleaders were sluts and mean to all the other kids in the school. It wasn't true.

After Ariana's first three classes she passed by Adam in the hall, "Hey Adam." She smiled. He smiled at her, but frowned at the girls next to her.

"Hey. You wanna come to the mall with me and my friends today?" He asked.

"I'm already going with Sarah and everyone else." He shook his head.

"They're all bitches. You're going to turn into one of them." Ariana rolled her eyes and walked away. She was tired of everyone disapproving of everything she did. To Ryan everything about her was wrong. To Adam everything about her friends was wrong.

Ariana and her friends all walked down the street to Sarah's house. She lived a minute away. They dropped their backpacks off and started to walk towards the mall.

The girls walked into the mall and Ariana spotted Adam and his friends. She walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder, "Hey." She smiled.

"Hey. Here, Dad told me to give this to you." Ariana's smile widened. Adam pulled out something from his pocket and handed it to Ariana. She frowned. A thick roll of money. Since he didn't want to spend anytime with her, why not give her all the money in the world. She shook her head and handed it back to Adam before walking off back to her friends.

Ariana didn't buy anything. She didn't need anything and she didn't want anything. Although, if there was a store where you can exchange your dad for a new one, she probably would have stopped by.

She walked into the house, after saying goodbye and thanks to Sarah's mom. She passed by Ryan, who didn't say a word to her, and walked up to her room. She set down her bag and sat back on her bed and sighed.

There was no question about it. She hated her dad. She hated him and didn't want anything to do with him, "Ariana, come to the music room with me." Adam smiled. She sighed.

"I don't want to, Adam." She groaned.

"Please, c'mon! I'm gonna play something for Dad!" Ariana stood up, only for her brother's happiness, and followed him to the music room. She sat down on the couch next to Adam and listened to him play something she had taught him when they were ten, "Why don't you play something, Ariana?" Brendon suggested.

"No." She said.

"C'mon, you and Adam can play something together." Jon urged her.

"Nope." She said again.

"C'mon, just one thing." Spencer said. She took the guitar from Adam and played a D minor chord before handing it back.

"Done." She said and got up and left the room. She could feel everyone's eyes on her back. Still, she walked out and walked down the hall to her room and shut the door. She pulled on pajamas and crawled into her bed and let the tears fall onto her pillow. She silently cried herself to sleep, and no one came in to say goodnight or ask if she was okay.

No one has told her they loved her since the night her mom died. She was the last one to tell her someone loved her.

Ariana turned to her other side and looked at the picture of her mom. It had finally hit her. Her mom was dead. Dead. That dreadful four letter word that no child wants to hear. Her mom was cold and still in a small box six feet underneath her feet. She was probably rotting away in sorrow, because her kids lived in Las Vegas and couldn't go visit her grave in New York.

Ariana thought things couldn't get any worse. But of course, when you think that, things always do. Ryan started to talk to her. But now she wished he would have just shut-up and ignored her, "I told you, maybe you should quit the dance team and join the band. Adam is doing great and getting plenty of recognition from the high-school." Ryan noted. Ariana turned to him.

"For your information, I just got a letter from the high school saying they want me to join their dance team even though I'm only in eighth grade." She fired.

"But still, you can't go anywhere in life with dance. Adam can do many things. He can be a producer or a writer or a critic or a rockstar like me."

"Maybe I don't want to be a rockstar like you." She mumbled and walked up the stairs to her room, already crying. She hated Las Vegas and wanted to leave. She hated Ryan and wanted to leave. The only reason that kept her in her misery was Adam.

Ariana lay on her bed and sighed, wiping the last of her tears. She was about to turn off her light when she heard a muffled knock from the other side of her door, "Ariana, can I come in?"

"Go ahead." She mumbled. Adan opened the door and closed it again. He walked over to the side of her bed and sat down.

"Hey." He said softly.

"Hey." She replied.

"What's up with you? Why do you always come up here and hide out? I miss having you around." He smiled sadly.

"I hate him, Adam. I hate him." She said.

"Hate who? Did someone do something to you at school?"

"I hate our dad, Adam. I can't stand him. I wish mom never died and I wish we would have never found out he was our dad. Everything was perfect before. It was fine knowing he was a rockstar we would never meet. It was perfect. But no, now everything is fucked up." She hissed. He stared at her wide-eyed.

"How can you say that about him? After all he's done for us?"

"What has he done for us!?" She questioned.

"He's put me through band and taught me so many things about music-"

"That's helping you, Adam! Not us. Name one thing he's done for me." Adam thought for a moment.

"He gave you a home." He noted. She shook her head.

"Home is where you're happy. Home is where you go home to a family and dad that cares about you. This isn't a home, Adam. This is the exact opposite. This is hell."

"I can't believe you! Dad had the choice to take us in, and he did. He didn't want us to go to grandma and grandpa's! He wanted us to live with him!"

"He didn't want me! The first day we got here I noticed it! He only pays attention to you and lately he's been wanting me to be like you!"

"I've never heard him say such a thing!" He protested.

"Because you're never around! You're always doing something with music! You're always doing things to impress him! Whenever you're gone he tells me I should be more like you. Do you know how I feel? If I were you, I wouldn't be me. I don't want to play the fucking guitar and I don't want to be in the fucking marching band. I want to dance and I want to play the piano. I want to sing. Did you even know I could sing? I found that out two days ago, Adam," Tears filled her eyes, "I found out that I could be famous with my voice."

"Ariana, I'm sorry. But I can't do anything about it. I never see Dad act like this. Maybe you're imagining it, because mom is dead." He said softly.

"DON'T BLAME IT ON MOM!" Ariana yelled. The house went silent. Adam stared at her, wide-eyed. Ariana was never one to yell out of anger. Ariana let out a big breath and grabbed her cell-phone and Ipod. She pushed past Adam and walked down the stairs. She passed by everyone sitting on the couch. She could have sworn Ryan glared at her. Everyone gave her sympathetic looks as she walked out of the house, slamming the door.

Ariana wrapped her arms around her as she walked down the street. She couldn't stand home anymore. After an hour of being out, she turned back and made her way home. She opened the door. Everyone was still on the couch, watching television. Ryan noticed her and got up with a letter in his hand, "You have a letter." He said flatly before handing it to her and walking off. She glared at the back of his head before turning on her heels and walking back up the stairs.

She walked into her room and shut the door. She sat down on her bed and opened up the letter and scanned over the small print.

Dear Ariana J. Ross,

We are please to inform you that our choir teacher and dance instructor would like you to perform at the Performing Arts Honors on Saturday, December 29th. We hope that you will accept our asking and perform with the Las Vegas High School Dance Team, and sing a solo performance of a song of your choice. If you choose to participate, you will be performing three times with the dance team and one time as a soloist. Your solo will be one of the last performances, due to the fact that you have a gift for singing.

Please stop by the school office for more details and we will give you your music and outfits.

Thank you,
Ms. Vanessa Martinez
(LVHS Performing Arts Director)

Ariana smiled with happiness, she didn't want anything to ruin this moment. This was her own letter, her own way of telling her that she can prove everyone wrong. She can rub it in Ryan's face and tell him that she can be like Adam, but in her own way.

She set the letter on her nightstand and pulled on a pair of pajamas and buried herself underneath the blankets on her bed, "Hey, Dad! I'm performing at the Performing Arts Honors!" She heard Adam yell.

"No way! Yes! This is so awesome! I'm so proud of you!" She heard Ryan reply.

I'm so proud of you

Words she would never hear ever again in her lifetime.