Alive and Shattered

Alive and Shattered: Chapter Sixteen {Adena's POV}

 

Adena’s POV

 

Red, blue, and silver balloons hung all around the living and dining room area. Purple balloons were attached to the banister that led up the stairs to the second floor. My mother was trying to keep her balance on the step stool as she taped the side of the ‘Welcome Home’ banner to the double door of the living room.

As soon as that one was up, she placed one over the fireplace located in the living room on the right. A couple more went up as she hurried herself along, making sure everything was perfect. My dad rushed past with toilet bowl cleaner; heading straight for the bathroom. You could hear one of the vacuums running upstairs in the hallway. Brooklyn and Ryan were cleaning the upstairs for our ‘special’ guest.

My older half sister, Charlotte, was coming home. Everyone was putting double the effort into making the house perfect, even though Charlotte could care less about this family. Standing in the living room corner, mom hadn’t even noticed me waiting for her to acknowledge me and give me a task.

“Honey! Did you make the reservations for Char’s favorite restaurant? I don’t want her to have to wait too long to be seated,” she yelled through the house. Dad answered her with a yes even though I was sure he hadn’t. I could hear him rush for the kitchen phone to make the reservations before mom found out he hadn’t.

I jumped slightly when I heard the front door open and Quinton walked into the living room, right in time to get a lashing from mom.

“Where have you been, young man? Charlotte will be here in less than an hour!”

“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I had to get something from my locker at school,” Mom yelled in frustration and stormed off to straighten another part of the house. Quinton rolled his eyes and turned to me.

“Were you really at school?” I questioned. He shook his head with a laugh.

“I was helping Grady finish a pizza,” he shrugged. I giggled as he sighed, watching my mother speed walk by. “Why do they make such a big deal about her coming home?”

“I don’t know. It’s not like she even stays here anyway. She just goes to every party in town and see's old friends who were hoping she wouldn’t show up.” Quinton snorted at my comment.

“It’s not like she’s exactly a sweetheart either. I personally think she’s the spawn of Satan.” I laughed and Quinton joined in. Mom must have heard his comment because she stormed around the corner.

“Don’t talk about her like that!” She stomped.

“Mom-”

“Shut up!” She interrupted me. “Go into my room and vacuum! Quinton, you dust!” She demanded. We made our way over to my parent’s room. The vacuum had been left in the room, waiting for me. I sighed, grabbing it and turning it on.

I began mindlessly moving the vacuum around the room. Quinton, instead of dusting, was messing around with something. I only started paying attention to him when music blasted from the stereo.

“Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past. You must fight just to keep them alive,” the radio sung and I instantly knew the song. it was ‘Eye Of The Tiger’ by Survivor.

“It’s the eye of the tiger, it’s the thrill of the fight,” Quinton belched, pretending to fight his reflection in the mirror. He jumped over towards me and stole the vacuum from my hands. He then began to move it around in time with the beat. I laughed at his silliness and spotted the duster. Grabbing it, I used it as a microphone and began singing along with Quinton.