Zoë

Zoë heard arguing, screaming, crying, crashing, and the front door slamming hard as she pocketed her phone into the pocket of her jeans.

She sighed, shouldering her black leather backpack and stared into the mirror at the broken girl who looked back. Her caramel hair was tied up in a high ponytail with a cheetah print scrunchie and matching shirt. A black jacket and jeans matched with the animal tones perfectly.

She looked normal. Looked happy. But her eyes...

They told the truth, an entirely different story. They were broken, cracks of sky blue seemed to run through her cornea's and darkness seeped out of the depths of her iris's. The shadows that had been underneath her eyes, the same ones that had been there for seven months, didn't help her appearance one bit.

She couldn't hide from reality, no matter how hard she had tried. The truth of what had happened to her life in less than a year was to much to process, it weighed down on her. Her life had been thrown into a blender, poured out sloppily, mixed with a wooden spoon, and tossed right back into the blender.

Time to face the truths I wish weren't real.

Downstairs, nothing was different except for a thrown over chair and a shattered piece of china on the wood floor.

"Mom?"

Amelia Flynn held a broom shakily in her hands as she cleaned up the glass shards of a china plate Alec, Zoë's father, must've thrown when he stormed into their house this morning.

Seven months ago, Zoë and her mother found that Alec had gotten an addiction to drinking and had been wasting their money on things he thought he needed the entire time. He'd then left their little family, after a divorce was filed, and moved in with his drunken best friend across town.

After Alec had first broke into their house two weeks after he left, Zoë had called the cops and he was arrested for breaking and entering. Three months ago he was released and immediately went back to his old ways. Smoking, drinking, demanding money from his ex-wife.

No matter how many times Zoë had begged her mother to not listen to him, she kept giving in and giving him large amounts of money she earned from working at the salon she owned. That money could be used for bills or something useful but instead it was used to fuel Alec's addiction.

And Zoë hated it.

Yes, she knew her mom had been backstabbed and tossed aside multiple times in her life. From being kicked out of her family home at sixteen, to being declined to attending her dream college, and now, her ex-husband being a complete and total jerk.

She didn't have to give in to his every command, but she did.

She was an adult and she was supposed to think with her brain but her heart kept winning. She was still madly in love with Alec and wanted him to come home so they could be a normal family, like what had been going on had never happened. Zoë wished her mother could see that clearly instead of through cracked lenses.

"Here, let me help," Zoë said as she rushed to the pantry to grab another broom.

Mom sniffled, keeping her gaze glued to the ground. A bruise was starting to form on her cheek, her eyes wet and haunted. Mom was usually a pretty woman, her long blonde hair always up in a fancy updo or down in long braids. She was smart, she had a Master's degree in Cosmetology, and was the most caring mother in the entire world. She didn't deserve the crap Alec kept dishing out.

"Mom?" she asked again.

"Hmm?" She looked up slowly.

Zoë gently reached out to touch her forearm. "Are you okay? Do you want me to call the police again? He knows he shouldn't be coming around this place, especially if he's breaking and entering."

"No, no. Everything's perfectly fine baby girl."

"Mom-"

"Zoë, can you get me the dustpan please?"

She sighed. Mom clearly didn't want to talk about Alec and frankly, neither did Zoë. But it was hard to ignore him when he yelled through the front door or banged on the glass one in the back or showed up at random times, half drunk and pleading for a place to stay since he couldn't pay his rent.

"Why was he here?" Zoë attempted quietly. She was tiptoeing on very thin ice right now.

Mom tossed the glass shards into the garbage and made her way to the fallen chair. "No reason. Just a little hungover from last night."

Zoë bit down on her tongue. She wanted to scream and yell at her mother to get her head out of the clouds but she knew better. It would make things ten times worse.

She knew Mom was going to go in her room and cry once Zoë had left for school. Mom was then going to get one hundred, maybe two hundred dollars, and then drive to Barrington's park to give him the money and tell him he should come home with her.

He never did and he never would.

A plate of waffles was slid across the table to Zoë as she sat down. "Eat baby, you have to leave for school soon."

"Thanks Mom."

Zoë chewed quietly while her thoughts went a million miles an hour. "Are you sure that was the only reason?"

"What other reason could there be?" Mom asked, cutting apples like nothing ever happened this morning. Like he hadn't just come into their house and yelled and broke a precious family heirloom.

"You know what I mean," Zoë said bitterly.

"I'm afraid I don't."

"Mom."

Mom narrowed her blue eyes, the same shade as Zoë's, hard at her. "Zoë, there is no other reason he would be here."

Zoë shoved a forkful of waffles into her mouth. "You sure about that? Cause you always seem to give him money when he shows up."

Mom's eyes misted over and finally after a long moment, she muttered,"He bought a new apartment maybe twenty minutes from here. He's got a new girlfriend too." Her voice caught and she had to clear it to get it again. "Just wanted a financial pillow."

Zoë folded her arms on the counter. "Mom," she paused to think how to word her next sentence, "you can't keep doing this. He knows he can manipulate you and get money from us. You need to stop, please."

"NO!" Mom yelled and slammed the knife in her hand on the counter. She burst out coughing and as Zoë went to help, she was shoved away.

"HE WILL COME BACK TO US, ALRIGHT ZO?!" Mom continued ranting after she'd regained her composure. "HE WILL! HE LOVES US!" The tears broke free and she stormed off into her room, slamming the door and locking it.

Zoë sighed and put her dirty dishes into the sink. Today was already off to such a great start.

*****

Zoë's phone was vibrating like crazy when she pulled her old yellow slug bug into the school's parking lot.

She pulled out her phone as she grabbed her things and started toward the massive high school or in other words, the source of her stress. School was a good distraction to keep her mind off of things going on in her personal life even if it wasn't that much fun.

The Clarkston Nerds

Cal: omg did y'all hear?!

Andy: hear wht?

Cal: carden ash has a gf!!! ANYONE KNOW WHO SHE IS?!

Ambi: oh great, she's fangirling. she won't stop for awhile

Zo: i feel bad for the poor girl. Carden is a world class jerk

Ambi: u know u luv him tho Zo :)

Zo: -_-

Andy: why im friends with y'all I still dunno

Cal: cause we're great!

Andy: ambi and zo maybe

Cal: ima slap you when I see you boyo

Andy: that is if you can catch me!

Cal: I hate u

Andy: Aww love u too cal

Zoë rolled her eyes as she put her phone into the outside pocket of her backpack. Her friends had unhealthy habits and were crazy but she loved them all the same. She had met Amber her first day of school in California and they instantly clicked. Since then, they had become unbiological sisters and were practically bined at the hip.

Andrew had come into their lives last December by practically running Amber over as he sprinted away from Carden and his clan. She could remember it like it was yesterday.

He'd come sprinting down the main hall and ran right into Amber as she leaned down to grab her Goldfish she'd dropped.

"Hey!" Amber had yelled as she pushed herself up off the floor. "What's your deal man!"

"Sorry, ma'am," he'd said in his deep southern accent. "There's some sir's who a chasin' me an I really need to get away from em. Help a fellow out?"

The two girls stood in front of Andrew chatting as he knelt down to the floor. Carden came down the hall with two of his henchmen behind him. They looked around the commons frantically before rushing off towards the locker rooms.

Cal had been crying in the bathroom when Zoë first found her. Chloe had just dumped her for a stupid reason. Apparently, her clothes not being "fancy enough" and she wasn't "as mean as she should be" was a reason for not being friends. Cal had a heart of gold and it was one of Zoë's favorite things about her.

She headed up towards the track where they started meeting in the morning the start of their Junior year. Only Amber stood leaning against the railing, her eyes on her phone.

Amber was a gorgeous girl. She had long white blonde hair that was usually styled in two braids and a red flannel was always apart of her outfit one way or another. Today's style was tied around the waist.

"Hey Ambi," Zoë said as she made her way over to her best friend.

Amber looked up at her with skeptical eyes. "When were you gonna tell me? I'm your best friend after all."

"Huh?"

She opened her mouth to respond when Cal and Andrew came sprinting up the stairs, both out of breath as they stepped onto the blue track.

Andrew had a deep Texan tan and he usually wore cowboy boots with his hat. The school dress code said no hats but Andrew had stopped listening to that rule a long time ago. His accent was thick as he exclaimed, "Zoë Alina Flynn!" His eyes were filled with hurt.

Cal leaned against the handrail with a pointed look. "It's you?" Her dark braid was flipped over her shoulder, her Hispanic accent slurred a bit as she cleared her throat.

Zoë looked at all of her friends with a confused expression. "What are you talking about?"

Cal rolled her eyes. "You're the girl Carden is dating."