A Shitty, Modern Day Love Story | 18+ ONLY | DDLG

Chapter One

Mickey Pierce

You know, when you're a little girl and you're thinking of all the amazingness of high school and growing up, you never really think of how shitty it can turn out to be. You think you're going to be surrounded by friends and loved ones, every day would be a blast and a new adventure.

Unfortunately and despite my childish wishes for a simple life, the world just doesn't quite work that way.

"First day, first day," I remind myself as I quickly dry myself off from the shower. School starts in 45 minutes and I'm just ready to get out of this damn house. The TV screeches from downstairs, probably an action scene playing on the dingy screen. My mother is in the kitchen, banging pots and pans as she cleans the messy room in a drunken stupor - yelling out when she bumps into something and cussing at inanimate objects.

I shake my head at the image of her in my head; halfway nodding off here and there as she leans on the counter for a break to breathe, screaming slurred cusses at the open fridge door as she bumps into it due to leaving it open when she went for the milk half a minute ago.

Finally getting all of my clothes pulled on, I reach for my makeup bag and throw on some simple mascara. The bus will be here soon so I need to hurry the hell up. My phone screen blips on with a text notification - ignoring it, I peek at the time and throw my phone into my back pocket.

7:25, 15 minutes until the bus gets here. Before I leave the bathroom, I do one quick look at myself to make sure I'm good with how I look. My blue eyes stare into themselves, I look like a half-assed grownup today. I decided to go with my black jeans, no holes, and a white sweater with 2-inch boots. Today I start with my business class and I want to look professional, I heard some rumors about a work-based learning internship.

Shaking my head, I open the bathroom door and leave, heading over to my bedroom before I go downstairs. I turn the corner and head down my little hallway and then open the door to my room - the walls are painted a light purple from when I was little and the bed sits in the corner on the floor. Mom stopped worrying about how things looked around the house when Dad's friends stopped coming over, right before he died.

It doesn't take me too long to pack my shit up - making sure I have my laptop, school Chromebook, chargers, and the few books I'll need for this year. Thankfully my senior year is pretty easy; my business class takes half of my day every day, every other day I have a study hall afterward and then Economy, and then my other day has Pre-Calculus and then Spanish 3.

My bag is pretty light on my back and I head downstairs, hoping to find an easy lunch to take with me.

My mom sits silently on a barstool at our island, a cigarette hanging from her fingers as her head dips down for the counter before she catches herself, laughing. I slide into the room, trying to be quiet and not catch too much of her attention.

"Oohh, hi baby," She says gently, her voice rugged and raspy from years of smoking. Her head barely tilts towards me, her eyes stuck on something outside. Her grey nightgown hangs from the barstool, covering her legs.

"Hey, Mom," I respond, taking the moment of her niceties to find something to take.

"What's that bag for, honey?" She questions, tearing her head from the window to take a look at me.

"I have school today, Mom," I remind her, digging around in the fridge. I find a ripe apple, sniffing it before I shove it into the side of my bag.

"Oh, that's right!" She giggles, saying it again to herself as if she'd forget it any second, which she undoubtedly would. I give her the best smile I can before going to head out of the room.