Little Miss Perfect Rebel

This summer has been magical, and with only a week until school starts, I'm determined to make the magic last. Today, my sisters - Honor and Shaunah - and I are taking our cousins - Kree, Kolby and Brielle - out shopping. Tomorrow, we're all going to the beach. As for the rest of the week, I guess we'll just have to see how everything plays out.

While my final summer plans are undecided, one thing is imminent - my parents divorce. We all know it's coming. They argue constantly over everything, and I don't mean the kind of fighting that they would laugh about later. They say things that not only hurt each other, but that hurts us as well. I don't know where they went wrong.

We're all handling the upcoming events differently. Caius is a recent college graduate who's starting his own life with his own family, so we try not to worry him. Although he says that it won't affect him, I know it will. He puts up a tough front, just like Honor and I. We prefer to not talk about it at all, but when we do, we act as if we don't care. I feel like not talking about the issue will make it disappear, even though I know it won't. Quade shuts down when the fighting starts. He locks himself in his room and tries to cope with it. Shaunah is the only one who is being quite vocal about it all. When ever mom and dad start to fight, Shaunah starts to cry. She begs and pleads for them to stop fighting, and sometimes that is enough to stop them. Then there's the other times when one or the other of them yells at her to go up to her room, which makes her cry harder. I don't think they know just how badly their fighting is affecting us all.

I was so lost in my daze, that I didn't realize that we were at the mall. "Earth to Heroe," Honor said, waving her hand in front of my face. I swatted it away and unbuckled my seatbelt. "What's wrong?" she asked. "You were quiet the entire ride."

"Is there a problem with that?"

"No, but usually you're singing along with every song that comes on."

"Sorry, I was just thinking about school," I lied.

"Oh, okay." I knew she didn't believe me, but we would never talk about what was really bothering me. I grabbed my purse and hopped out of Honor's Matrix, hurrying to catch up with Kree and Kolby who were pushing Brielle in the stroller, and Shaunah who was holding Kolby's hand.

We stopped at almost every store in the mall, yet I bought nothing. I was too busy worrying about what would be going on when we got home. Everyone seemed to notice that I was distant, but nobody said anything.

I was waiting in line with Kree and Brielle at Hollister, while the others made their way down to the food court. I had Brielle in my arms, letting her play with my hair as Kree moved up in line. Only one more person to go before Kree could check out and we could leave. I wanted to go home, if only to pack a bag that would last me the rest of the week at Aunt Quellie's house. That's where I had planned on staying until school started. Just to have a little break from all the chaos.

After Kree paid for her items, we headed down to meet the others at the food court. I spotted them sitting at a table on the outskirts of the food court, all of them stuffing their faces with soft pretzels. I rolled my eyes at the sight of this, and walked over to join them. "Hop up," I told Shaunah.

"Why?" she asked.

"If you let me sit there, you can sit on my lap," I said. She sighed and said,

"Fine," as she hopped off of the chair. I sat down and Shaunah jumped up on my lap without any hesitation. I swiped the little bit of pretzel she had left from her hands and took a bite. "Hey!" she whined.

"Get over it, I'm hungry." She took the pretzel back and stuffed the rest in her mouth as if to say go get your own. I laughed at this and kissed her cheek. "You're adorable." She smiled up at me and nodded in agreement. Once she swallowed her mouthful of food, she said,

"I know I am." Everyone laughed at this, and continued eating.

"I'm going to go get some frozen yogurt. Do you want some, Heroe?" Kree asked.

"Sure," I said.

"What kind?"

"Chocolate banana swirl. Oh, and here," I said, pulling a ten dollar bill from my wallet.

"Don't worry about it, I've got you covered."

"Oh, thanks."

"No problem."

After we all ate, Honor dropped Kree, Kolby and Brielle off at Aunt Quellie's house, then drove us home. I was surprised to find that dad's car was not in the driveway. When I walked into the house, I asked mom, "Where's dad?"

"He's going to be staying with your grandparents from now on," she said, coldly. I didn't dare ask why, mostly because I already knew why. They had finally gotten so sick of each other that they couldn't be around one another. It's a hard sight to see - your parents finally calling their marriage quits.

I made my way up to my room to pack a duffel, then went into Honor's room to ask, "Are you ready?" She jumped a little and glanced at me before wiping her eyes. I could tell she had been crying, and it made me angry. Not angry at my sister, but angry at our parents. How could they do this to us?