Mirrors | J•HS FF

~Chapter 1~

I woke up to the smell of pancakes and my blaring alarm at 6:30 a.m. Today was going to be a great day. I could feel it in the air. After climbing out of bed, I put on my favorite outfit and headed downstairs. Unfortunately, I got stopped by my annoying older brother, Daejung, on my way.

"Why are you all dressed up?" he asks.

"Why do you care?" I say, rolling my eyes.

"I don't know, maybe because you never dress up?"

"Well, maybe I wanted a change and honestly, so should you. You've been wearing the same pair of socks for 3 days."

"I'm saving water. Do you have a problem with that?"

"I have a problem with stinky, irritating older brothers."

"Yeah yeah, ok," he pouts.

"Now go shower. I'm sure you haven't for a week."

"Ok, but only for you," Daejung winks.

My brother is actually one of the cleanest men I've ever come across. I just like teasing him. Heading downstairs into the kitchen, I find my mom making pancakes.

"Good morning honey," she greets me with a warm smile.

"Good morning! Hey, where's dad?"

My dad and I always sat at the table together in the morning and looked at the daily newspaper to see what was going on and laugh about it all. That all changed, however, after my dad got fired from his job.

He was never the same after that day and would always come home late drunk, only to sleep till noon. Lately my mom hasn't been letting my dad go out and he's mad about that because he said it's the only way he can clear his head.

My mom was able to talk some sense into dad and made him start applying for jobs. I think this helped him out a lot because he hasn't been going out as much lately. One thing hasn't changed though. He's still very strict.

If we got a B on any of our assignments, he would make us do extra homework and we wouldn't be able to go anywhere for a week. A week! Mom always tried to change his strict B policy to a D policy, but dad always wins and mom never has her say.

"Your dad's at a job interview right now. He should be home around 9 this morning," she explains.

"Isn't 6:45 a little too early for an interview? I bet it's some sort of big company where they have tons of people wanting the job, right?"

"Yup."

"Wait really? What company is it?" I didn't know I was a psychic.

"Web Corporation. It's pretty well known in America. Luckily the job that was posted is right up your dad's alley."

"Wow that's amazing! You think he's gonna get it?"

"There are many people applying for the job who are very experienced, but I think your dad has a shot. If he gets it, this could change our life. We could even get rich!"

"What do you mean change our life?" I ask.

"Well, we would have to move to America. They said that they would pay for the flight over there and I think it would be a new start for all of us. We'd get better education for you guys too."