Their Little Princess

Chapter One

MADDIE

"Where were you last night?"

Chase looks at me accusingly, and my other best friend, Jessica follows after him, rolling her eyes. "Good morning to you, too," I say, putting my stuff in my locker.

"Good morning, Maddie. Chase is a pig. But yeah, where were you?"

Getting beat within an inch of my life and then cleaning up after, "My mom wanted us to have a family dinner because my stepdad had a few friends over." Centerpiece? Yours, truly. 

Chase huffs, "Daniel is such a buzzkill." Jessica slaps his arm, "Don't say that, that's her father." I stop her, "Step-dad." I don't know why I bother correcting them when I know I'm not telling them the truth anytime soon. I'm the next victim of Jessica's arm slap, I inhale through my teeth with a hiss as she hits the minor fracture in my arm. She doesn't seem to realize though, "Don't say that. You should be glad you have parents," She scolds sternly. Chase scoffs, "Says the girl with the picture-perfect family." Jessica frowns, "I'm not saying my family is better than anyone."

I start to pity her, I hide an amused smile and put my arm around her shoulders, "You're a sweet soul, Jessica Lawson." Chase squeezes between us and puts an arm around both of our shoulders. I fail at trying to hide my sarcastic grin, "Does it hurt you to know that you're short enough to still do this?"

He rolls his eyes, "Fine, then leave and walk in your loneliness," He goes to move his arm. I pull it back around me, "Don't be so sensitive." 

Jessica grins, seemingly moved on from before, "Yeah, we can't all be sensitive in this friendship." 

I frown, but a teasing grin pulls at my lips as I talk, "So now is a bad time to tell you all I'm in love with Jess?"

Jessica gasps, "I'm in love with you!" 

Chase huffs, "You guys bully me," He pulls his arm away, Jessica and I both complain and pull his arms back, "I feel like I'm being used in this trio." For a moment I forget about Daniel and my mom and the pain in my ribs but as soon as I laugh, the pain returns and I wince in pain, unwittingly yanking away from Chase. He and Jessica both look over, "Cramps," I lie. "Oh we must have synced this month," Jessica says with a sigh, "I was laid out in bed all night last night with cramps. I almost committed a crime when Chase stole my fries."

Chase shakes his head, finally removing his hands to take his backpack off as we walk into our first class, "It was terrifying."

I give a more cautious laugh, being more careful of my ribs this time. 

After school, I walk home and pause at the door. Mom and Daniel aren't busting outside to drag me in and punish me. I open the door and immediately realize it's eerily quiet.

"Mom?" I know I'm taking a risk calling her name. If there's a chance she's asleep, I should just leave it.

She doesn't answer. When I'm not at school and with Chase and Jess, I lose all my confidence and any bravery I think I have. I'm scared of Daniel. It's something I've come to admit and as an extension, my mother.

I walk cautiously into the living room and I go cold. My throat collapses in on itself.

Daniel is laid out on the couch beside my mother. Both of them are dead. A knife is wedged into Daniel's stomach and there's a bullet through my mother's left eye.

I can't let out any sound as my eyes stay glued to the sight in front of me, ensuring the sight is forever etched into my mind. My feet are frozen in place, my hands halfway up to my mouth but they never quite made it.

They're dead.