B.A.D Read Free Page A

in the doorway. I freeze and
look at her. Her blond hair is disheveled in a bun on the top of
her head and her brown eyes are dull. She has looked like this for
a while. Layla doesn't like my mom that much; she says she creeps
her out.
    "Elaina?" Her face shows confusion and
anger. "Where have you been... and what the HELL ARE YOU
WEARING!?!" She's basically screaming at the end and Shane runs up
the stairs, scared.
    My face hardens. "Not like it matters
to you." My mother and have been on the outs for a couple of days.
I had started to notice small changes with her and when I asked
about it, she dismissed it with a wave of her hand. She would grow
distant sometimes and be off somewhere in her head, she got angry
easier, and when she would smack Shane on the hand, it would be
harder than usual. It scared me.
    I just turned around and went up to my
room. I didn't want to start a screaming war with her today; I had
enough on my plate.
    "Don't you walk away from me?" She
yelled while following after me. I ran into my room and locked the
door. She pounded on it for a little while before giving a short
scream and a huff. Something was definitely wrong with her. I heard
the door slam and then decided to check on Shane.
    Unlocking my door, I crept to his room.
I pushed open his door to see him in his corner, crying. I
sighed.
    "Come on, Shane. Lets get you ready for
a nap." I lifted him into my arms. After helping start his bath,
feeding him, and doing all those things, I tucked him in. "Get some
rest," I whispered with a kiss on his forehead. I stayed to watch
him fall asleep then went to my own room.
    I went to my closet and pulled a
floorboard up. I picked up the picture and lightly traced the plain
brown frame. My head hit the back of the closet as I sit there,
looking at the beautiful girl next to me in the picture.
    Madella... You're supposed
to be here. Helping me...
    Sighing, I close my eyes and thought of
the last day I saw her.

Chapter 4: Elaina's
POV
    The picture sat in my hands, light in
weight. A lone tear ran down my face. Madella was my older sister.
She was older by two years.
    I look at her laughing gray-blue eyes
in the picture. Her eyes remind me of Shane's, they must get their
eye color from our father's side. We sit side by side, me seven and
her nine. I remember the day...
    "Girls, girls!" I hear the
deep baritone voice of our babysitter say. Our babysitter was the
nicest person in the world- at least to all of the kids she
babysat. She always gave cookies to us right before we went home.
She told us it was a secret that she gave us cookies; she didn't
want the parents to find out how all of their kids were so hyped
up.
    Today she only babysits my
sister and I. Mother was at the hospital giving birth to her last
child. I don't know who the father was but when I first saw the
baby, with the same gray-blue eyes as Madella, I knew it was the
same man who had gave momma Madella and I. We stay with Mrs.
Springs, our babysitter, for the next three days as Mother is in
the hospital.
    I see her gray hair sway
softly against her back as she approaches us. We look at her to see
her with a camera and a plate of cookies.
    "Stay right there! I will
bring the goodies to you," she finally makes it to us as she says
these things. Setting the plate on the dock, she snaps a picture of
us with her camera. I can see it now, the water lapping at our
feet, the trees of in the distance, and the ducks in the background
who glide over the water with their soft feather covered
tummies.
    The picture was a reminder of a great
memory. My sister’s dark brown hair is in a braid down her back
while mine is stuck up in pigtails. Our eyes dance in amusement and
we smile real big, having just sung a song about ponies and
macaroni on heads. Mrs. Springs gave us cookies and we had a great
time with her that week.
    When Madella was 14 and I was 12, she
started to date this boy. His name was Jason. They had been dating
for about a year when they