Chapter 4
I just ignored them and headed for the door.
Dad was furious and grabbed a vase off the
table, smashing it by my feet.
“You ungrateful brat! You’re running away?” He
screamed. “Fine! You owe us for all those
IOUS! Pay us back next week, or else I will have
the lawyer send you to jail!”
The broken vase had out my calf and blood
<
The broken vase had cut my calf, and blood
was dripping down my leg but I didn’t care. My
dad’s words didn’t even surprise me.
I looked at them. My parents thought they
scared me into begging them.
Instead, I didn’t feel anything for them anymore.
I turned my head away and before slamming the
door I said one word: “Okay“.
I was going to pay it back. Then, I wouldn’t have
to deal with this pathetic mess of a family
anymore.
Outside, I could still hear my dad yelling, but I
just blocked him out.
Hobbling down the street, I realized that the
world was so big. So big, that I was completely
lost.
I saw a single star shining in the sky, and I felt
just as lonely.
I crouched down, wrapped my arms around
myself, trying to get warm. It hadn’t always
been like this with them.
<
My parents used to be totally into each other.
And as their only daughter, I used to get spoiled
rotten.
But everything changed the second Piper
arrived.
She was my parents‘ best friend’s daughter,
and after they died in a car crash, no one
wanted her.
So my parents took her in.
At first, I was excited to have a sister.
But she turned out to be a viper.
We were in elementary school when it
happened.
My parents were always working so they gave
me the money and told me to take care of
Piper.
Piper asked if she could spend the money with
her friends.
So, I gave her most of my allowance.
When Mom and Dad came back, Piper was
unconscious and was rushed to the hospital.
TI
1
1-1-
They diagnosed her with low blood sugar and a
stomach issue.
Then, in my room, they found this expensive
designer purse.
“We asked you to take care of your sister! And you’re buying designer bags?”
“How could you, Riley?!” I was confused and
told them I didn’t know what was going on.
Mom and Dad were mad, but they believed me
for a second.
They said that once Piper woke up, they’d ask
her about it.
When she woke up, she said these sweet words
“Mom and Dad, don’t get mad at Riley, it’s my
fault for skipping lunch“.
And just like that, I became a villain and Piper
was the sweet angel.
From that day on, I was no longer the apple of
my parents‘ eyes.
Eight years and three hundred IOUS.
That was everything my parents gave me.
<
I pulled those IOUS out of my pocket, flipping through them.
Five thousand dollars. I’m a recent high–school
grad.
How am I going to get that kind of cash in a
week?
