Her Guardian Angel

-Elaina's Point of View-

"Mommy," I said, bouncing down the stairs before skipping into the kitchen with my twin sister, Angel. We stopped in the doorway, Brandan and Trevor both looking up from their breakfast. Brandan smiled at us. "Don't we look like pretty princess' mommy?"

Our mother looked over her shoulder. She made a face, rolling her eyes, then looked back down at the bowls of cereal she was making us. I looked over at Angel. Her bottom lip was stuck out, a few tears in her eyes. I hugged her. Mommy wasn't the nicest person, and Trevor, our step dad, he wasn't any better. Brandan was the only thing we had. He is our seven year old big brother. He was amazing.

"Would you two brats just get over and sit down so you eat." She slammed the bowls of cereal down the table, making a face at us before walking over to Trevor. "I don't need to be late for work. Hurry and eat."

Angel and I walked over, taking our seats.

Trevor laughed, "C'mon, Karen, tell them they look like little princess' so they'll wipe their depressed ass expression off their faces."

"Right." Mommy laughed, rolling her eyes. "I don't lie to my children, Trev. And those expressions, they are nothing a good slap won't take care of."

Trevor smiled, satisfied with mommy's answer. He pulled on her arm, pulling her down she he could reach her face with his lips. I gagged, looking over at Angel. She still looked like she was going to cry.

"Oh, cheer up, Angie." Brandan said, messing with the bow in her hair. "I think you guys look like princess'."

"That's because you are really gay." Mommy told Brandan, slapping his hand away from Angel's bow. "They look like two spoiled brats. Now, eat the fuckin' food before I shove it down your damn throat. We have to be up and out of this house in less than five minutes."

With that, mommy left the kitchen, Trevor following her. Brandan motioned for us to hurry and eat our breakfast so we didn't make mommy mad anymore than she already seemed to be.

"Here, let me take your things." Brandan offered, getting up from the table. Angel and I ran into the living room, where we had left our bags. We quickly slipped the straps over our shoulders as Brandan walked out of the kitchen. "Let's go before mom comes back in here and we never hear the end of it."

All three of us ran out to mommy's car, where she was waiting for us. The car ride to school seemed to be the longest car ride of my life. We weren't allowed to talk to one another, mommy wouldn't turn on the radio, and she was talking on the phone to daddy, arguing about who's weekend it was. Not like either one of them cared. They both wanted all three of us our of their hair and as Brandan says, "They just can't wait 'till the day they get us six feet under.". I'm not even sure what that mean, but I'm sure it's true.

"Alright, here we are. Now, get the fuck out so I can get to work." Mommy said, pulling up in front of the school. She got out of the car and opened Angel's door. Brandan and I warned Angel about looking at mommy with tears in her eyes and her lip poked out, but she didn't listen. "What the fuck is this, Angelica?"

"I'm scared, mommy. Will you walk me to my class and make sure it's okay for me to stay here. I could just go to work with you."

Mommy snatched Angel out of the car by her little arm. She shook Angel, standing her in front of her.

"Look here, I don't have time to deal with you. I finally get to get rid of you for the most part of the day. I'm fuckin' excited. I don't care if you are scared, I wouldn't give two shits if you had to be rushed to the hospital right now. You are going in that school and tomorrow, I better see a different expression on your face of I'll definitely make you cry. Got me, Angelica Marie?"

Angel nodded, blinking her eyes a few times to keep the tears from falling and making mommy go crazy on her in front of the school. Mommy shoved Angel backwards and went back to her car, getting in the front seat. She spun off, not once waving or telling us she loved us.

Brandan sighed, wrapping his arms around us. "Welcome to hell, girls. Your freedom is about to be taken from you and you are going to be trapped here for a good part of the day." He smiled down at both of us. "Are you ready?"

"It's gotta be better than being home, right?" I asked.

"Ugh, well, of course. It still sucks, though." He rolled his eyes. "The only good part about this place is meeting new people. Which you will do. Some you might like, some you might not. Ignore the people that annoy you because nothing good comes out of saying something to them. And whatever you do, do not steal snacks from the fat kids. They go all psycho crazy on you."

Angel and I laughed, following Sheep into the school. He made sure he got both of us in our right places before leaving us on our own. Angel and I weren't in the same classes. It bummed us out, but I knew I was going to be okay on my own. Angel on the other hand looked a bit panicked when Brandan pulled her off in another direction.

I smiled, walking into the classroom. A tall, dark skinned lady walked towards me. She was smiling really big and she looked extremely nice.

"Well, hello there, dear." She leaned down, hugging me. "I'm Mrs. Taylor, your teacher. What might your name be?"

"I'm Elaina."

"Aw," Her smile grew bigger. "I was waiting for you to get here. Your mother and I used to be best friends in high school, then she met your father and we grew apart, but..." This lady loved to ramble on and on about my mother and the past. I didn't really want to listen to it so I smiled, pretending to be listening the whole time when really, I was blocking her out with my super powers. Brandan taught me how to do it. "Uh, I think I assigned you to the red table. Let's go over there, shall we." I nodded, letting her take my hand and lead me across the classroom. Two girls and a boy were sitting at the table she stopped us in front of. "Asher, Kayla, Theo, this is Elaina. She is going to be sitting with you guys."

Asher smiled, patting the seat between her and that Theo guy.

"I've been waiting for someone to separate me from weirdo over there. Have a seat right here, Elaina."

Kayla smiled and waved at me as I walked around the table to sit down. The teacher walked away, leaving me with these people I didn't know. Asher and Kayla were both staring at me, smiling. I laughed a little.

"Um, hello. I'm Elaina."

"We already knew that, silly. The teacher just told us." Kayla said, shaking her head. "So, do you like the school so far?"

"I- I don't really know. It's different. I'm used to having Angel by my side at all times. We never spend this much time alone unless we are sleeping or taking bubble baths."

Asher laughed. "She must be your little sister."

"My twin actually. Brandan said she was in Mr. Garrison's class, which is down the hall. I'm sure she's freaking out a little bit. Angel isn't used to big changes."

"Neither am I." Kayla said, making a face. "I was scared to come in here this morning, but mommy is just down the hall and my big brother is somewhere in the school, too. That makes me feel betters."

Asher laughed, poking Kayla's cheek. I figured out quickly that these two girls had been best friends since the day they were born pretty much. I thought it was pretty cool.

"Alright, class," Mrs. Taylor walked up to the front of the classroom. She was still wearing that some big smile on her face. "We are going to start today off with something really simple before I pass out these color sheets and some snacks. I would like for each on of you to stand up and tell us a little bit about yourselves."

Oh, this wasn't going to be fun.

*****

"Elaina, sweetie, you are the last one up." Mrs. Taylor said, walking over to me. I wasn't so egar to tell the class anything about me. First off, I didn't really know what to say. Second, what I knew to say wasn't something they really needed to know. I stood up, looking around. "You can start whenever you feel comfortable, sweetie. Remember, none of us here are going to judge you."

Right, that's what most people said when they were about to judge you. Or that's what Sheep has told me.

"Well, I'm Elaina. I have a twin sister and a older brother. My parents don't live together. I'm from Newport, but we moved here when I was two years old. Uh, my best friends are my brother and sister. I- I don't really know what else to say."

Mrs. Taylor smiled, patting my shoulder.

"You can take your seat, Elaina." I quickly sat down, not having to be told twice. "I'm going to pass around some color sheets and snacks. Kayla, how about you and Theo be my helpers for today."

Kayla jumped up, running over to Mrs. Taylor. Theo walked slowly. It was obvious he didn't want to be doing anything. Maybe he just wasn't a people person.

After everything was passed around, Kayla sat back down, popping a cookie in her mouth. She smiled at me and Asher, then began coloring.

It didn't take me long to realize I was going to fit in perfect with Kayla and Asher. They took me in like they had known me for a long time. We talked about everything. We told stories from the summer, embarrassing stories about our relatives. We just talked about absolutely everything.

"Is everyone almost finished coloring?" Mrs. Taylor asked, smiling, looking around at the tables. "I was thinking we could all used a little sunshine and some fresh air. How does recess sound to you guys?"

Everyone cheered, jumping around. Kayla went as far as jumping in her chair and dancing around. Asher laughed, pulling her down. Mrs. Taylor led us outside. Two girls ran up to us as we sat down in the shade. The dark brown haired girl smiled at me.

"You must be Angel's sister." I nodded. She wrapped her arms around me for a hug. "I'm Vienna and this is Stormy." She pointed at the girl next to her in big white glasses. "Are you as quiet as your sister?"

I shook my head. "I love talking."

"Oh, good." Stormy said, sitting down as Angel joined us, sitting right next to me. "We don't need quiet kid over here. Now, I have a joke my brother told me. Who wants to hear it?"

Everyone raised their hands. I wasn't really into jokes. Trevor ruined that for me. He was always telling me, Angel, and Sheep the dumbest things. I blocked Stormy out as I looked around, taking in the trees from the woods behind the school. I jumped, quickly doing a double take.

There was a man. He was standing not to far back from the opening of the woods. He was tall, long dark hair. And he was staring at me.