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New Perspectives- Part 1

A/N:
Hello, lovely readers! I'm creating a couple of installments to fully flesh out our main characters as well as getting to know some minor characters. There's going to be some new POV's as well as new time periods! I hope you guys enjoy :)

Cleo.

Dear diary,
Today is my birthday. I got a chocolate cake with 10 candles on it. I got crayons and paint that you have to mix with water to color with. Will and mommy and daddy all smiled a lot today, and I smiled too. Mommy says I'm big enough to take care of myself now. Like a grown up. Daddy is getting me and Will strawberry ice cream now. I think being 10 is the best age.

Cleo set her pen down and smiled at the pages before her. Today was the one day that she was the only person to worry about. There were no bills on birthdays. There were no tears or yelling or bruises. On birthdays, there were only smiling faces and sugar rushes. The phone rang, and Cleo lept from the kitchen table to answer. Another perk of being a grown up; Cleo was allowed to answer the phone.

"Hello, this is the Roberts house," she sung out, just like how Will taught her.

"Hi, pumpkin."

"Daddy," she said. "Why are you calling?"

"Could you go grab your mom? I'm in a bit of trouble."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing. Just put your mom on the phone."

Cleo frowned and set the phone on the table before walking down the creaky hallway to the bedroom. She knocked and her mom opened the door after a few seconds.

"What is it?"

"Daddy's in trouble," she said. "He's on the phone."

"Oh, for fuck's sake." Her mom pulled a half empty wine glass from the table beside the door and gulped it down. "Go into the hiding spot."

"But, I'm a grown up now," Cleo wined.

"Hiding spot. Now."

With a groan, Cleo left down the hallway and began towards the bathroom, her mother in toe.

"Bug, what's going on?" William leaned out of the living room.

"Daddy's in trouble and I have to go into the hiding spot even though I'm a grown up now."

Her brother leaned down and kissed her forehead, the stubble around his lips tickling her skin. "Go. I'll tell you what's wrong in a little."

The hiding spot was the bathtub. Cleo's mom assigned it a short hand after using it almost daily. Any fights meant hiding, any tantrums Cleo threw meant hiding. Now meant hiding, and Cleo stayed tucked in the bathtub as she ran her fingers through the cracks in the tiled walls. There was a lot of yelling. Her mom's voice rose through the air and Cleo continued to trace the cracks. After a little, Will started to yell, too. Cleo felt like maybe she was forgotten and left to rot in the bathtub as she listened. None of the words sounded like words through the bathroom walls. It was just loud thunders of noise. Cleo wasn't scared of the yelling anymore. Today, at least, there weren't any crashes or screams. Still, her legs had fallen asleep from staying in the same place for too long, so Cleo stood and opened the door.

"No, he's a fucking idiot," she heard. This was her mother. "He screwed us over!"

"You're both idiots." Will, now.

"Excuse me, boy? Us 'idiots' gave you this house, the food you eat. You would be dead if it weren't for us. You should be crying right now.

"Crying? Why? Dad's been pedaling drugs since before Cleo was born. I'm glad he got caught."