Welcome to the Family

I shifted the duffle bag over my shoulder as I looked up at my new home. It was your basic house. It was two stories, beige, and had a two car garage. It sat amongst rows of it’s clones on a street that was completely ordinary. It could’ve been down the street from where I’d lived in Indiana if not for the large palm trees that stood on either side of the brick walk that lead up to the door. Nope they were definitely California trees and not Indiana ones.

“Joey hon aren’t you going to go in?”

I turned and looked at my mom. She was about my height with bright natural blond hair and bright blue eyes. Most people thought that she was younger than 28 and were shocked to find out that she had a 15 year old daughter. Because if you do that math she had me when she was 13.

Yes I said 13. You see my mom was originally from California but had moved to Indiana when she was 13. Before she had moved though she’d told the guy who liked her, who just happened to be her older half brother’s best friend, that she loved him. He said he’d loved her too. Well they had sex and 9 months later hello world, meet Josephine Renee Chandler.

Chandler wasn’t my Dad’s last name by the way. My grandparents had refused to have me named after my father because he was older than my mom by two years and ‘had taken advantage of a little girl‘. They never mentioned him and neither did my mom so I didn’t really know anything about him. My mom didn’t even have a picture around for me to see.

All I really knew was that my dad had dark hair and brown eyes which I had inherited from him. Sometimes I wished I knew who he was so I didn’t have to live here. With Mom and Brad aka: mom’s new husband. He was a complete and utter dick and that was me being nice.

Brad thought that I was nothing but a pathetic punk kid who wasn’t going to amount to anything. He hated the fact that I wore black, played guitar, listened to my music as loud as I could get it and didn’t worship the ground he walked on like my mother did. The last one was the source of over half of the fights that the two of us got into.

Once the fights started they didn’t stop at yelling.

I shook off the thoughts that were plaguing me and turned to my mom.

“Yeah I was just admiring the house.” I said.

“I’m glad you like it. Now why don‘t you go and start working on your room. Brad knows nothing about teenage girls.” she said with a small smile and I headed inside.

My room wasn’t upstairs, in fact it was in the basement. For this I was glad. Mom had grown enough balls to talk Brad into letting me have the basement. I don’t know how she did it just that it meant there would be an entire floor between me, them and my younger sister Charlotte.

Charlotte that was a story. She was six, blond hair, huge blue eyes and a pageant queen. She was spoiled and overly sweet to everyone but me. That was Brad’s DNA in her. She hated me just as much as he did. I had always wanted a sibling and when I got her I wanted to return her. She was coming to California next week on a flight from Florida where she had been staying with Brad’s parents for a few weeks.

I walked down the stairs and looked around the room. Boxes were stacked on one side and a mattress on the floor on the other side. Brad had come to California two months ahead of time and set the house up. Obviously he hadn’t given a shit about my room. Not even my bed was put together. I threw my duffle onto the bare mattress in the corner of the room and walked over to the stacks of boxes that were against the wall.

It didn’t take long to find the box I was looking for. I pulled out my ipod dock and speakers and set them on the floor before pulling out a stack of posters and tape. After plugging in the dock I put my ipod in and turned my ipod on shuffle. I smiled as the opening cords of ‘Not Good Enough For Truth In Cliché’ by Escape The Fate started playing.

I danced around my room as I began to put my room together. The first and most important things that went up in my room were posters. Everything else could stay how it was for all I cared but my posters went up because being surrounded by the people that kept me sane on a daily basis was something that I needed.

It took a while but I managed to get all of them put up and then I started on my bed. I put the frame together using a screwdriver I’d stashed in one of my boxes for this purpose, knowing that Brad wouldn’t bother with my room. One it was together I put my mattress on and then made the bed with my favorite purple and black bedspread.

Flopping back against the pillows I sighed. It felt good to be relaxing in my own bed after a couple of days on the road with my mom and sleeping in hotels. I took my glasses off and laid them beside me and rubbed my face, being mindful of my eyeliner.

I was starting to doze off when the door at the top of the stairs banged open and I shot up.

“What the fuck are you doing down here?!? Why the hell aren’t you up there helping your mother bring the bags into the house!?!” Brad yelled.

I looked up at my step-father, his face red and his murky brown eyes bulging out of his skull.

“Because Brad she said I could come down here and set things up because she knew you didn’t give a fuck about my shit.” I snapped back.

“You ungrateful little bitch! You know that I didn’t have to bring you to California? I could’ve left you in Indiana with your little druggy friends to get high and knocked up! But no out of the goodness of my heart I brought you along!” he replied.

“Please you knew that if you left a 15 year old kid alone the cops would’ve been all over your ass.” I replied.

Suddenly he shoved me and my head snapped back with a dull thud against the wall. My body slid to the floor, pain shooting through my skull. I felt the back of my head and thankfully there was no blood.

I watched as Brad sneered at me before walking back upstairs. I cursed him in my mind with every step he took. The bastard. Probably going to go upstairs and tell Mom that I was a horrible child and once again try to get her to kick me out. Of course it wouldn’t work but he never stopped trying. You had to give the man credit. He sure was determined.

I picked myself up from the floor slowly, my body aching from the impact of the wall against my back. I had to get out of this fucking house or else I was going to go insane. I jerked my ipod out of the dock before slipping it in it’s armband case and headed upstairs to the car. Thankfully Mom hadn’t locked it or I would’ve had to go and ask her for keys which I didn’t want to do since Brad was most likely with her.

I reached into the car and popped the trunk. I reached into the trunk and pulled out my skateboard. I slipped my arm into the ipod armband and pushed play and a moment later Blessthefall’s Higinia started in my ears. I sat down my board and pushed off.

The wheels clacked and clattered over the sidewalk and the music played in my ears. I was slowly getting further and further away from the hell hole that I lived in. I was content.

I guess I was too content because I didn’t notice the car that was pulling out of one of the driveways. Well technically I did notice it but it was only after I hit the side and tumbled back onto the concrete.

“Fuck! Short Shit you hit a fucking kid!” a voice said and I heard one of the doors of the car shut.

I was still on the ground, assessing the possible damage to my body before I got up. It seemed that nothing was broken but my palms stung like a mother fucker and the pain in my back from being shoved into the wall was worse. Suddenly there was a shadow over me. I couldn’t see what they looked like though because of the sun in my eyes, just that it was two guys.

“Shit! Kid are you alright?” the shorter shadow asked.

“Does she fucking look alright? You fucking hit her with a car you dumbass!” the other one said, this one taller than the other one.

“I didn’t hit her with the car Jimmy. If I did she’d be under it and not lying on the sidewalk. If anything she ran into the car.”

“Whatever. Are you alright?” the taller shadow, Jimmy, asked.

“Y-Yeah. I think so.” I replied and sat up.

I started to get up and I felt hands on my elbows, “Let us help.”

I turned to thank both guys for helping me up and froze when I finally saw just who I was talking to.
“Woah, you’re Johnny Christ and The Rev.” I said looking at the both of them.

“That’d be us. And you are?” The Rev asked extending his hand.

“Joey Chandler.” I replied shaking his hand.

“Nice to meet you.” Johnny said and shook my hand as well.

“What the hell is going on? I thought you two were leaving.”

I turned and saw Synyster Gates running up the driveway.

“We were but then we sorta ran into Joey here.” Johnny said looking at me.

“Joey? Who’s Joey?” he asked.

“That would be me.” I replied.

“Nice to meet you. How do you know these two?” Synyster asked turning to me.

“Like he said. We ran into each other. Except literally.” I replied.

“You hit a kid?!? Are you alright?” he asked looking at Johnny and The Rev then me.

“I’m fine but is he?” I asked.

I had just noticed that Jimmy was frozen, he was looking at me with some sort of expression that I was having trouble reading.

“I think so…Jimmy?” Synyster asked waving his hand in front of Jimmy’s face.

Jimmy jumped and looked at Synyster, “What? Oh. Yeah I’m fine. She just reminded me of…someone.” Jimmy replied.

I opened my mouth to ask him who I reminded him of when my phone rang. I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and grimiced at the caller ID.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Where the hell did you go?” Brad’s angry voice came through the earpeice.

“I went out on my skateboard. I’m on my way home now.” I replied.

“Good. You’d better make it fast girl.” he said and the line went dead.

“Fucker.” I muttered and closed my phone, stuffing it back in my jeans.

“It was nice to meet you all, I’m a big fan but I gotta go.” I said and walked over to the car and pulled my skateboard from under it.

Thankfully it was unhurt. I sat it down and got ready to leave when Johnny spoke up.

“Hey would you like a ride home? I mean it’s the least I could do after almost killing you.” he said.

I shook my head, Brad would be furious if I let someone I’d never met give me a ride home, “Nah, it was really my fault. I wasn’t looking. Besides I just live a few houses down. Thanks though.” I replied.

“Well it was nice meeting a new neighbor. Maybe I’ll see you around the neighborhood.” Brian said.

I nodded, “Maybe.” and with that I kicked off and headed back to the hell I called home.