'Dysfunctional: not operating normally or properly'
That was one way to describe Clara Campbells family. Dysfunctional; not operating properly. That was just what happened when your older siblings leave you.
Or that's what Clara had always believed...
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| Clara Campbell |
Chaos had erupted the moment that I had said that I was my sister's maid of honor. Kaiden had opened his revealing that he was one of the two best mans, before Ethan was revealing that he was the other one. After that, disappointment was filtered through the room, at the fact that we were going to have to face Cameron, as his name had been addressed to the same household.
I had left, hunkering down into my bedroom, before Colton had ended up with me. He had fallen asleep after taking his medication, before I was creeping out from under his arm, replacing it with a pillow, before I was taking a pair of my old dance shoes with me, before I was walking down to a spare room that my brother had not filled.
I knew he had money from the army, but I also knew that he was a big saver, hence why this house was so big, but yet void of anything. He had been living between my brothers for the years that he had long stretches of being away, but I knew deep down, that Greyson had no one to go home to and no one to wake up to.
So, on Christmas Eve, I was walking down to the spare room that I had seen vacant for days now, and chose to close the door, as I put my phone down near the side of the wall, as I put my shoes on, feeling the blisters that had healed over the years, come roaring back to life with just the simplicity of putting on a pair of shoes.
Once they felt like old times, I put on a playlist of music, as I did a quick warm up, prepared for the song to come up. Right as it did, everything fell back into place. My body had grown tired from dance, but I knew that it would never give up on me. For as long as I can remember, people had given up on me, hence why I had never given up on myself, as I knew that if I did, I wouldn't have had a chance at the life that I do now.
I knew, that deep down, there was more to me than just sitting around, sulking about how bad my life is, when there is something more to it. Hence why, the steps that I was doing now, were from a piece that I had been doing since it was just Elias at the head of the house, ordering Colton, Caleb and myself around, but we didn't listen, and he knew that.
He knew that we were passed the age of being told what to do, when that person just leaves. I knew they all had a role in what they did, and that they could have turned around and taken us with, but a deeper part of me thinks, that they also needed a time where they could go away and let themselves have a life, as for so long, they had been living under each other toes, not allowing one another to have enough breathing space.
Over the past few weeks of living with Grayson, I had learnt that I had idolized Auston and Cameron, and most of my siblings had pushed their trauma of not having the same treatment that I had, to the side, so that I could settle into their lives. They had all hung around, even though I am much younger than them, and I was now coming to an understanding, that what I grew up with was bad, yes, but my brothers did the same, and they had me at the forefront, as they had lived through the same, but they had always given themselves to me rather than keeping it to themselves.
