Blinded by their betrayal

Chapter 1

I woke up with commotion coming from the apartment somewhere. Ever since I can remember, my parents were always fighting. My dad was an alcoholic. I have a little brother, Steven who is four years younger than me. I love hearing my mom tell me the story of how I prayed to have a baby brother for Christmas when I was 3 years old. When she got pregnant everyone said it would be another girl, but she was certain it was going to be a boy. She says there is power in a child's faith, and she knew God wouldn't deny a little girl her Christmas wish. He is the best little brother a big sister could ever ask for.

My mom became a housewife after she had me but decided to go back to work when we were older. She got a job as a bartender and then worked her way up the ladder ending up as the manager, meaning longer shifts. This meant I had to take on more responsibility, taking care of my brother, making dinner when mom would work later and so on. Dad being an alcoholic made it difficult for her, he would come home from work, get dressed and leave for the bar mom worked at. They would come home well after mom's shift and the fighting would start; well actually continue. I made Steven get use to sleeping with the television on, so he would not hear them when they got back. I had to beg them to stop, it was hectic. I would end up super tired, not being able to focus on anything at school. Until one day I decided screw this, if they are going to kill each other let them. I was fed up of losing sleep.

When I turned twelve, my parents finally decided to call off their marriage. I was glad they made the decision. Here's the thing, people saying stick it through for the children's sake; do not know what they're talking about. It's the children that suffer, they have to live in an unstable environment. Mom got a small bachelor's apartment and dad ended up getting a bigger apartment in the same building, go figure. We moved in with dad, which meant even more responsibilities.

Mom got a restraining order against dad, so he found another drinking spot. She worked more hours, and we didn't really see much of her. The apartment building we lived at was pretty huge, there are more than one hundred apartments and she lived way on the other side of the building thankfully. She made a friend and it felt like all of her free time was spent with said friend. She influenced mom in more ways than one. It felt like she neglected me and Steven in a way, it's like she didn't give a shit anymore. I could see it was harder on Steven, he used to be her little brat. Dad on the other hand didn't make it easy for us, he paid his debts and spent the rest on booze. I had to fight with him to leave money for household stuff. I ended up babysitting for an extra income, which helped a lot.

When the apartment next to ours opened up, my dad's half-brother and his family moved in. My cousin Jessica and I grew very close over time and I started calling her Jess, she is one year older than me and we went to the same schools. A year later I met Chase Smith, who ended up being my boyfriend. He is two years older than me. Him and Jess are both in the 11th grade. He should be a senior, but he got held back a year in primary school.

We have been dating for three years. In the mess I call life I don't really feel alone, I have a handful of people I can count on. Chase is my number one person he is my knight in shining armour, he knows everything about my life and still loves and supports me. He doesn't go to our school; he goes to an all-boys high school. He knows my parents and all of their baggage. We met through a mutual friend, Miguel who lives in a house across from our apartment building, he and Chase attended the same schools since preschool they are best friends. Miguel and Jessica have an on - off again relationship. I met Chase when he had a sleepover at Miguel's house and boys being boys, they wanted us to play hide and seek with them. Me and Chase become instant buddies, he always made me laugh. At first when Chase asked me out, our relationship was sweet. He only kissed me after we dated for 5 months I was 13 at the time and as the years progressed our relationship just got stronger.

While we were making out on a blanket under a tree at Chase's house, he pulls back and looks at me with an unread emotion. "Babe, you know I love you right?"

"Yeah of course I do, why?" I ask.

"You know I don't ever want to force anything on you, and I'm okay with waiting until you are ready. It's just that, well maybe you can give me an estimate time as to when the time will be right?"

Before I can say anything, he goes on: "Don't get me wrong babe, I just think we should start talking about it."

This gets me thinking about what Jess said the other day about boys, that she thinks they need reassurance in everything these days. It is not like I wanted to wait until marriage, but I always thought that it would be something that would come naturally with us, that we would not plan when it happens. But I do love him, and I cannot imagine giving myself away to anyone else other than my best friend and we would end up going further in the future anyway. I inhale... "Okay..."

"Are you sure?" He asks with an uncertain look on his face. "I don't want you to feel obligated babe, you know that - "

I cut him off by kissing him, trying to make sure he felt what I felt. I loved him so much and if I had to show him in this way I would gladly do so. I pulled away from our kiss and looked at him, "I'm sure Chase, I am ready."

"Okay babe, let's go grab something to drink and talk about the details then. It will be just as perfect as our love is." He said and got up, helping me up in the process.

How could I not love this guy?