TWINSANITY

Chapter 1: The Move

KALISIA

"Are you coming inside?" I ignored him standing outside the car by my window. All I wanted was for him to go away and leave me alone.

I had no clue who this man was standing over me, the man who stood by me at my mother's funeral, the one who flew next to me all the way to Alaska, and the one who drove me two hours to 'his' home from the airport.

I was deep in thought pretending to not hear him. He finally decided to walk off and into the house. Even though, I'd felt horrible for being so rude to him, my mother just died, and he never broke a tear.

I hated him so much just for that.

That hurt more than anything. How can you be with someone for a decade and not cry at their funeral? Was she really that awful to him?

Did he not want me that much? He acted like me coming to live with him was the end of the world.

I wanted to jump out of the car and run away until I couldn't run anymore. Part of me felt like living on the streets would be less devastating than this.

I was alone, in a new place, and to top it off, he was making me go to school. The school he worked at as an Algebra teacher.

He was going to give me a week, but I asked to start tomorrow. The sooner, the better. I would not be able to stand being around him all of the time and stuck at home with him.

Our entire car ride was arguing over me going to school. Not, 'hey how's life been all of these years' or trying getting to know each other better.

Before mom had died, I wished more than anything that she would back off, let me be a normal kid, and go to school. Now look where it got her.

I blamed myself. I'm the reason she died. If I hadn't begged to go to the prom, she would have never gotten so worked up and that crash may have never happened. I looked down at the back of my hands, gazing over each scrape and bruise caused from the crash. If only I had not been so mad, I could have noticed she wasn't wearing her seat belt. She got ejected from the vehicle and ran over, and all I have are a couple bruises on my right elbow, upper right arm, back, and a few on my hands.

I felt hollow, completely hollow. How would I come back from this? How would I move on without the woman I have never been away from for even a day?

She would space out when writing her novels and disappear mentally for hours, days even, but she was still always there.

I slowly inched my head around and looked at the gorgeous, extremely large house before me. Mom and I had only lived in a tiny two bedroom apartment. This one had to have at least 5 bedrooms minimum.

It was a perfect two-story square shaped brick home with red shutters and had more than 8 extravagant windows engulfing the house.

What in the world would you need all of those windows for anyways? Why not just live in your yard so everyone can see your business?

Mom and I had only one tiny window in our living room leading out to the fire escape and that was it. I was happy with only that.

The neighbors were only feet apart on both sides of the house and that was too close for my liking. Not much of a backyard, but I would never go back there anyways. But then I saw it...

Really?

On both sides of the home, ever so gracefully, stood a white picket fence. This was literally the most perfect home you could imagine living in as a child.

It was a dream home, almost sickeningly perfect, but it was not my dream home.

I sank down into my seat, hiding my face from any onlookers walking down the road past my dad's driveway. I pulled myself up just a bit to look in the rear-view mirror where two ladies in what looked like their 40's were trying very hard to look into my dad's car. Both were dressed like they had recently played in a tennis tournament with their strange looking sun-visors, white khaki's, and beige polo's.

After a couple of minutes, they were still standing there gawking and chatting about who knows what, while their dogs continued on down the street minding their own business. Lovely, nosy neighbors.

I'll never step foot outside while I'm here. I didn't want anyone to see me, that's all I needed was for everyone to start showing up and giving me their pity.

I sank back into my seat and back into my thoughts, hoping the ladies would disappear soon.

After what I assumed was hours, I finally gave in to the demands of my hunger pains and pulled myself out the car. I walked slowly and pathetically up to the front door, took a deep breath, and inched it open.

Good, I didn't see him anywhere. I headed into the kitchen, and of course he was sitting there munching away on a tuna fish sandwich.

"Want me to make you one?" He startlingly asked as I stood at the door staring at him, wishing I had powers to change the world.

...silence. I couldn't muster one word.

"Let me show you to your room." He stood up from his chair and walked towards me cautiously like I was a predator that could attack at any moment.

"It's just up the hall and the first door on the left, this way." He walked past me standing in the doorway partially blocking it and into the living room making sure not to touch me and gestured for me to follow him. After much hesitation, I obliged.

He showed me to my room first, but then continued to show me around the house once he noticed I was no longer completely hostile. He showed me where his room was, the bathroom, my room, his game room where he had a pool table and a bar set up.

I was living with a stranger.

Just being around him made me sick. I was supposed to know him, he's my father.

Yet the more he showed me and talked, the more I realized I knew nothing about him. I suddenly felt overwhelmed and more depressed than I had felt in my entire life.