It had been less than twenty four hours since... well, Reese wasn't exactly in the mood to refer to it at all, but let's call it "the incident".
Reese had rushed home the night before for the first time before six in more than five years. She had been a cheerleader since in middle school, back when she was still stuffing her bra. Having her home at four 'o' clock in the evening was alarming even for her mother, who was incapable of consoling her crying daughter. Reese had locked herself in her room and had refused to come out, even for dinner, for the rest of the night.
Eventually her mother worked up the courage to go knocking on Reese's door. They talked, Reese told her what had happened.
"Oh, sweetie..." her mother said softly as she rubbed her daughter's heaving back, "Being a cheerleader isn't everything."
But it was! Oh my God, she wanted to scream, yes it was!
All of her friends were cheerleaders. She had gotten all of her boyfriends because she was a cheerleader. Now she was just... a nobody. And during the most important year of her life—Senior year of high school. How was she ever going to come back from this?
***
"There she is!" Reese heard her mother call from down the steps, "Come on down sweetie, your breakfast is getting cold."
Reese was a pretty girl; like most of the women in her family. She had had long blonde hair throughout the Summer, but had cut it short right before school started. She was tall, but only slightly, and had a modest but noticeably bust line. As she came down the stairs, dressed down in a pair of simple jeggings and a halter top, it should have been obvious to everyone that she was in no mood for small talk.
Unfortunately, it wasn't.
"Feeling better, pumpkin?" Her dad asked from behind the newsfeed on his phone, not even looking up to acknowledge his suffering daughter, "Your mother and I were worried after last night's little episode."
Reese and her dad had never really gotten along. He wasn't exactly the most open, caring, touchy-feely type of person. It probably stemmed from being the Quarterback-turned-CEO. He was a lucky guy who kept win, win, winning. Up until the accident, Reese had very much been his favorite daughter. After, though, she may as well have been chopped liver when compared to the previously shitty daughter Bailey, or even to the too-young-to-fuck-up Abby. You'd think that with a daughter full of women he'd be more approachable.
You'd be wrong.
"I'm fine." Reese said curtly, "Can I just have some pancakes?"
Her mother smiled and placed a plate in front of her. Three pancakes with whipped cream and chocolate syrup. The Mom Chin-Up Special. Normally it worked. But after all that had happened, Reese honestly didn't know if she'd ever be able to feel anything other than misery ever again.
That being said, it did make her feel a little better. Her Mom had been her rock through this whole ordeal. She drove her to those stupid AA-Youth meetings, ran damage control with the other cheer moms; she even had her car repaired, which was more than anyone could say about her Dad, who's response to everything lately just seemed to be "suck it up."
For her mother's sake, Reese choked down some of her pancakes. Even if she wasn't really all that hungry.
"Headed out!" came the voice of her oldest sister, Bailey, as she sashayed through the dining room and grabbed her keys off of the corkboard in the kitchen, "Staying out late tonight, don't wait up!"
Bailey was three years older than Reese, and a Sophomore at Valentine Community College. Like Reese, she was sort've tall with blonde hair. Like her mother, Bailey had a pretty prominent chest and a tight waist. And like her Dad, she was a complete asshole. She had spent Reese's entire life tormenting her, and that car accident taking the shine off of her pants had put Bailey right back into the spotlight—something that she was more than ready to bask in gloriously.
"Have fun, sweetheart." their dad looked up from his phone to flash a smile beneath his beard, "Be safe."
"How come Bailey gets to stay out late but Reese doesn't anymore?" Abby, the youngest, asked from behind her mushed-up pile of pancakes
"Because I don't get drunk and wreck cars." Bailey said with a smirk, sticking her tongue out at her middle sister.
"Anymore." Reese quietly added.
With that, her older sister was off. Sometimes it seemed like her mother was the only person on her side. Her Dad had turned so hard against her that she might as well not be his daughter anymore, Bailey was acting like a bigger bitch than ever, and Abby was just too young to understand what was going on. Her squad had all slowly turned against her, and she was a pariah in school. She wasn't Reese the cheerleader anymore—now she was just the alky who had totaled her Dad's car.
It wasn't even totaled.
"I'm headed out too." Reese pushed her plate away, "I'm not hungry."
Reese stood from her chair and grabbed her backpack, the rest of the table seemingly unaffected by her world ending around her.
"Have a good day, sweetie." Her mother said with a smile, "Try not to let... all this... get you down, okay?"
"Yeah." Reese rolled her eyes and got her keys off of the corkboard, "I'll try."  | Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
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