Why Don't You Want to Get Murdered?

Chapter 8: It Wasn't My Fault

Here's an extra-long chapter to make up for not posting last week. Enjoy!

Talia's POV

Two Weeks Ago

"I'm so sorry I'm late. I had detention from this morning. It won't happen again. I promise," I explain to my advisor. 

"I'll give you a pass this time Taila since this is a rare occurrence. But, in the future, if this happens, you will be suspended from competing. Understood?" Mr. Smith lectures me.

"Understood," I repeat.

"I want you to stay until four since you missed most of the meeting," my advisor tells me. I sigh. I knew that this would probably happen. I figured I would have to stay late because of detention. I'll probably have to stay late for practice too. And then, because of that, I'll be late making Anthony's dinner. Hell, I probably won't even finish. I'll either be late to work or have to get a beating. I can take getting a beating; I can't take being late to work again. 

"I'll stay late," I respond.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

I was right. I had to stay late for soccer practice. Luckily, I have my car. Anthony got it for me last year to help lessen suspicion of the fact that he beats me. Him being the doting father and all. I scoff. Yeah right. 

It would suck if I had to walk or run home. After running for soccer practice, I'm a little worn out. It's to be expected. My coach likes to run us ragged. He made me run extra laps too for being late. Not fun. I guess that'll show me not to sleep in.

Honestly, though, it wasn't my fault. With how little sleep I get, I'm not surprised that I overslept. If Anthony didn't have me cooking dinner every day and cleaning the house, I wouldn't be so tired. On top of that, I work and have soccer. Plus, I have to take care of my little sister because God knows Anthony won't. Someone has to look out for her.

Her powers make things a little... difficult. She has the ability to fly, has ice powers, and can control water. She's basically the opposite of me. I don't know how we're siblings considering I have the complete opposite powers from her.

The first time she used her powers she was eight. Sally McAllister was picking on her at a pool party. They called her a stick figure. Suddenly, the water started making huge waves. Mind you, we were in a backyard pool so the waves shouldn't have been that big. Then, the water shot up into the air. I started looking around to see what was going on. I thought that if I could control fire then maybe someone else could control water. I saw my sister standing there in a trance with extreme amounts of anger coming off of her. So, I swam over and shook her. Next thing you know she was shaking her head and giving me a confused look. And then I heard a scream. Sally was soaked to the bone and giving Scarlett the evil eye. Somehow she knew that my sister had caused the mishap. After that, they became enemies.

We talked about it afterward. She told me she didn't mean to do it. She had just gotten so angry and couldn't control what she was doing. Scarlett may have ice and water abilities, but she's a total hot head. Every time she gets really upset, her powers go out of whack. It's kind of my job to keep her cooled down. To make sure she doesn't get into too much trouble. Especially with Avery. Once she found out about Scarlett's powers, all hell broke loose. Those two were always icing the sidewalk so people would trip and fall or making the sprinklers go off at random times. Honestly, Avery was a bad influence on Scarlett. But what was I supposed to do? Ban my best friend from hanging out with my little sister? They would give me the silent treatment for weeks. 

I finally make it home at 7:30. I was supposed to start dinner no later than 6:20. I'm going to have to differ from my original plan. Anthony is going to be pissed.