ʜ ɪ s ᴛ ᴏ ʀ ʏ ᴍ ᴀ ᴋ ᴇ ʀ s

ᴏ ɴ ᴇ

TW// cussing, poverty, talk of family death, self harm scars/cuts

Raven's POV

I opened my eyes, squinting at the bright light leaking through my window. I rubbed my eyes and blinked a few times, adjusting to the sun's beauty. I stood up from my mattress on the floor, cracking my back.

I grabbed a short sleeved, black shirt, grey sweats, and a baggy, white hoodie. I opened my bedroom door that I shared with my younger sibling, and quietly crept to the bathroom to change into my clothes.

After changing said clothes, I crept back to my room and grabbed my shitty phone from beside of my bed. I was very lucky to even have a phone, and half the things I own, at that. I've always lived in a very poor family. We don't own much of anything. Me and my mom are the only two people who have phones. My parents let me have one so I could feel "more like the other kids my age" as they said, and my mom and dad share her phone for work and stuff.

There's been many times where I offered to seep my phone, but they won't let me. They say it's good for me to have access to things kids my age do. They also think it's so I can keep in touch with friends, but I don't have any friends. My parents don't know that though.

Our house is small. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, a small kitchen, and an even smaller sitting room. Not even a dining room. The sitting room basically is our dining room, unless we eat outside in the soft grass, which I do quite often.

Our house gets really cold at night, plus we all have just a mattress on the floor, making us even colder. I'll wake up sometimes to see my little sibling cuddled next to me on my mattress. They are fourteen. Her name is Sashi.
(named after sb3st3v3r , one of my bffs)

Sashi is genderfluid, and I'm the only person he's out to. Nobody else knows, not even her friends. We trust each other with those things. They're the only person who knows that I'm gay too.

Oh no, plot twist. The main character in your gay story is full on homosexual gay! Not to break the fourth wall or anything, though.
(:D)

I looked at my small phone screen, seeing that I had a few Twitter notifications, and a YouTube notification from the person who I've been learning how to skate from these past years.

I was gifted a pair of skates for my thirteenth birthday three years ago. I had been asking for them for years, so my parents got together just enough money from their multiple jobs to buy me some.

I've always wanted to compete in something, anything to get my family some money, but apparently, I don't "qualify" to anyones standards. That's bullshit, if you ask me. Personally, I think I'm pretty good to be learning from low-quality YouTube videos.

I turned around and went to quietly creep out of the bedroom, unintentionally waking my sister.

"Ray?" She tiredly asked. 'Ray' is a nickname for Raven. "Go back to sleep, Sashi. It's early." I whispered. "What- What time is it?" She asked. I looked at my phone. "Three thirty in the morning." I said. She tiredly sat up. "Why're you up? It's so early." "I have practice." I said.

"Practice for what?" She asked. "Skating?" I chuckled. "Oh, yeah." She's always a bit out of it when she first wakes up.

"Why so early though? It's still dark out." She asked. "So I can spend time there before the crowd gets there." I said. She nodded. "Bye, Sashi." I said. She tiredly held up a peace sign and flopped back down onto the mattress.

I grabbed my bag that held my skating outfit in it, threw in a bottle of water, and a bag of chips for later. I got my skates from where they hung next to the door, and tied their laces to my bags strap. I grabbed my house key, and quietly crept out of the house.

As I walked down the street, phones flashlight showing my path, I had that feeling of being watched. You know the feeling. The feeling of eyes burning into you, sometimes even when nobody is watching.

My grandma, before she passed, used that as the excuse of "god is always watching." She was really religious, and turned everything into a lecture about the gospel. When something good happened, it was gods doing. If something bad happened, it was the devils fault. Shit like that that caused me to not be religious.

The whole time I knew her, the only time she wasn't like that, was just the few weeks before her death, when she could barely even remember me.

I was young when she passed, as was Sashi. Sashi doesn't remember her much at all, but I sure as hell do.

I turned the corner, bumping into someone. The blade of my skates poked my side, hurting me. I hissed through my teeth in slight pain.

"Shit. Sorry, sir!" I said when I saw that the person was indeed a man. He shot me a nasty look. I nervously smiled at him. He pushed past me and kept walking. I scoffed. "Psh. Dickhead." I mumbled to myself.

I continued to walk a little further to the rink. When I entered, I was greeted by Uneva, the lady who owns the rink. Her and my mom are friends, so I'm allowed in her whenever I feel like it. I don't have to have a membership or anything like that.
(Not me giving her my moms name. It's pronounced "you-knee-vuh" by the way)

"Hey, Raven!" She happily greeted. I smiled and waved to her. "You're always here so early! Glad I open at three!" She giggled. I nodded. "Not very talkative today?" She asked. "No, sorry." I apologized for doing nothing. "For what? I get it. It's early. You're probably tired."

I then headed into the large doors, that led into the locker room, that then led into the rink area.

I sat my bag down, getting out my outfit. I quickly put it on, glancing at the just day old cuts in my arms. I cleared my throat and looked away, pulling the long sleeve back over my arm. I sat down and tied my skates tightly.

Where my skates had poked me when I bumped into that random man, luckily, there wasn't any injury. The blade wasn't able to make it through my thick hoodie.

I grabbed my phone and my shitty wireless earbuds, pulled up a playlist on YouTube that I practice to, and left the locker room.

I sat my phone down on the short wall that divided the ice from the floor, pressed play, and started skating.

Words: 1,160