Just An Act

Chapter 1: Beginning Of It All

I flung my backpack over my shoulder and slammed my locker door shut as I groaned mentally. Another test due and it wasn't even done.

  Dad is gonna kill me! I thought. I roughly pushed aside a girl who was standing in my way and glared at her like she did something wrong.

  "Oh I'm so sorry!" She apologized frantically. I wasn't the least taken back. Meet Laurel Jenson. The most popular girl in school. No boy can resist her long blonde hair and striking green eyes. Look into them, and it's like she put a spell on you. Her smile is so bright she can light a room. Literally. And to say the least, I resented her. Mostly because she is my polar opposite. I'm not exactly known as the "good girl."

  I plunked down at my desk and shoved my backpack under my seat. The teacher looked up and sighed.

  "Welcome Miss Patterson." He said wearily. I smirked and said nothing in return. So, he turned around to his desk and opened his textbook. "Okay guys, time to turn in your tests." I heard paper rustling around me, but I didn't budge. I just tapped my desk with my black fingernails and chewed on my gum. He didn't bother telling me to do anything. He lost hope of that a long time ago.

  "And I'm guessing yours isn't finished, as usual. Am I right Miss Patterson?" He asked me. I scoffed, and he nodded and started gathering the other kids papers up. Teachers. Always getting their hopes up.

Finally the bell rang after what seemed hours. I stood up, pulled my backpack out from underneath my seat and stalked out of the room as I pushed past kids, trying to get to the bathroom I thought about how much I couldn't stand all these kids. They were stifling, hot, rude, and they took up so much space.

Just as I walked into the bathroom, I saw two of the more high end girls come out. I smiled to myself. Hopefully I got another post. I half ran in, and went straight to the last stall and shut the door. Pulling out my phone, I opened facebook and waited for it to load before looking at the new posts on my wall.

- She's such a whore. Did you see her outfit today?

- I know right? Such a slut!

I literally laughed out loud. My outfit wasn't half as bad as theirs were today. I picked up my backpack and walked out to the parking lot. Ugh. Kent was already waiting. I waved at him as he drove over.

I opened the passenger door, threw my quite heavy backpack into the back seat, and plunked down on the seat, slamming the door in the process.

"Hey sis. How was school?" He asked, putting the car into drive.

"Terrible as usual." I sighed. "But, I got more writing on my wall!" I laughed. He rubbed his forehead with his free hand.

"I still don't understand why you do it. Why do you do it?" He asked. I sighed and proceeded to pull my backpack up and dig around it to try and find a makeup wipe.

"Cause it's fun." I said, chuckling. He rolled his eyes. I took my choker off and put it in my backpack. "Is dad going to be home tonight?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "I don't think so. He has to work. Again." He looked kind of sad. I reached over and patted his shoulder. Then I glared at myself in the mirror and scrunched up my face. "I think you look more beautiful like that!" He said mockingly.

I frowned and punched him in the shoulder. But he just laughed. My struggles ended when I finally found a makeup remover wipe in the depths of my portable cavern. I looked in the mirror and wiped off the black eyeliner and eye shadow. Suddenly I realized Kurt was silently watching me. I rolled my eyes.

"Seriously?" I asked, proceeding to wipe off the dark lipstick. This stuff stuck like hell. He looked away again, looking thoughtful. I rolled my eyes again.

The rest of the ten minute drive, we rode in silence. It was kind of awkward, but I just pulled out my iPod and put my earbuds in, leaned my head back, and closed my eyes.

___

I jolted awake terrified. "What the- Oh." I rubbed my head groggily. I must have fallen asleep. I sighed and opened the door, swinging my legs out. I stumbled towards the house, when I suddenly remembered half way there, that I left my backpack in the car. "Screw this." I groaned. I shuffled back to the car and pulled my backpack out of the backseat slowly.

"Jade! I left an envelope for you on the counter!" Kent called to me from the living room. My only response was a grunt, which was responded with, "Who's the pig in the house?" He laughed at his terrible joke while I proceeded up the steps and sarcastically laughed. "Ha ha. Very funny Kurt."

I trudged down the hall and turned into my bedroom. I was to tired to even notice the bright colored bag resting on my desk, as I flopped face down on my bed. Hearing my phone make some unearthly noise, I rolled over and tried to find it. It was probably somewhere in the depths of my portable cavern again so, I dug through my backpack and finally found it after frantically digging for awhile. I pressed the home button to illuminate the screen.

"Oh. It's just dad." I said disgustingly to myself as I flopped back on to the bed again. I pressed the "recall" button and put it to my ear.

"Hi! You have reached Matthew. I'm sorry I'm not available at this time, but if you would leave me a name and number I can call you back later." I sighed, frustrated with him. He was always calling at odd hours just to check up on me and Kent. Not that I hated him, but sometimes he was just a little overprotective. Ever since mom died, he's been more careful with us kids.

I sat on the edge of my bed, and looked around my room. A large green day poster was plastered on the light gray wall beside my door. Above my bed were several photos of me at various concerts over the years. I looked so happy then. But the one picture, I kept safe. I stood up and walked over to my desk, opening the top drawer. I pulled the picture out and went back to sitting on my bed.

It was a picture of my mom. She was so beautiful. Her smile was so bright, her blonde hair was long and it felt as if you could reach through the picture and feel the smooth silkiness. Her blue eyes seemed to see straight through you, but they were kind. They had a certain sparkle about them that made everyone feel loved. My vision blurred as a tear slowly rolled down my cheek. I reached up and brushed it away, scared someone would see me crying. But for the time being, I had to get ready to go watch the kids. So I put the picture back in my desk, and went to take a shower.

___

"Hey guys!" I greeted all the little kids in the nursery.

"Jaaadde!" They all screamed. They all ran towards me like a herd of elephants. Or, baby elephants. They squashed me in a group hug.

"Hey! How are you all?" I asked when they stepped back. Jamie was the first one to answer. She was had sparkling brown eyes that shone and she had the cutest little dimples that complimented her perfectly round face surrounded by tight brown curls.

"I loft a toof! Fee?" She asked excitedly as she opened her mouth wide, pointing to the gap for me to see.

I smiled brightly. "Good job Jamie! Soon you're going to be my little toothless pumpkin!" I said grabbing her as she squealed in excitement.

"I got a new truck!" yelled Ben. His real name was Bennett, but some of the other kids couldn't say it, so they just called him Ben. He jumped up and down excitedly his blue eyes shining with excitement. He held out a toy truck for me to see.

"Aww! That's so cool bud! Soon you're gonna be a big boy, and you can drive real trucks!" I said laughing. He smiled and sat down beside me. As the other kids proceeded to tell me about their week, I watched them. Their reactions, their smiles. Their joy. Some of these kids went through bad things. But somehow, they always came out on top. I wish I had the spunk of one of these kids. I smiled mentally at the thought, and turned my attention back to the children.