As I walked outside I saw the black BMW and ran towards it but all of a sudden I was falling and I hit the ground. Instantly pain shot through my hands. My face got red and it took me a couple of seconds to process what just happened. I slowly got up and saw at least 20 kids looking at me. My hands hurt badly but I didn’t care about that right now. Before I knew it tears were streaming down my face and I ran into the car without looking back. wait, hold on, let me backup to when the story begins. 

Hi my name is Ariana Martinez and throughout the past 2 years my life has had a lot of ups and downs. Here’s my story.

Chapter 1

 I was born in Los Angeles CA and when I was born my mom just left me there. At least that’s what my sister told me. My sister had lived with my mom for a couple years of her life but when I was born she left. My sisters name is Tess and she is 22 years old so we are 7 years apart. Yep you guessed it I am fifteen years old. “Ariana? Hello?” Sasha said. “Sorry I was just thinking” I said. Sasha is my best friend and she has been with me since day one. “What were you thinking about?” She asked. “Nothing”I muttered. It was hard to hear myself over the roar of the cafeteria. We were in the lunchroom and only had a couple more minutes before he had to go to our next period. “Come on please tell me” she begged. “Fine.” I said “I was thinking  about my biological mom, I really want to meet her”. “So my moms not good enough!” she joked. Her mom was like the mom never had. I always came over for sleep overs and she knew me really well. “No, your mom is awesome! Oh and can I come over tonight? My sister has to work late and its boring being home alone”. “Sure anytime” she replies. Not only is Sasha really nice but she’s also really pretty. She has long blonde hair that she usually wears in a messy bun, and she is tall and skinny with blue eyes and heart shaped lips. She usually wears a cropped sweatshirt and stylish sweatpants. But I look a lot different. I have dark brown hair that goes down to my waist and boring brown eyes.

I’m not that short but it’s not like I’m tall either. Me and Sasha usually wear something very similar and today we went with white acrylic nails, skinny jeans, and a black crop top.

But there’s one thing that I wear that she doesn’t. I always wear the same small gold necklace around my neck. My sister gave it to me for my tenth birthday and somehow it still fits. Anyways me and Sasha picked up our lunch trays and headed to our next class. It was history class and me and Sasha both hate it but we still go and try and learn something although we almost never do. After we heard the bell that dismissed us we walked outside to find Sasha’s mom waiting for us in her black BMW and honked the horn when she saw us. As we were running to the car I felt myself trip over something and fall to the ground. I didn’t hit the ground that hard but it still hurt. “Omg are you okay?” Sasha asked. I was too embarrassed to answer as I slowly got up from the ground and saw almost half the school looking at me. That’s when I realized that someone had tripped me on purpose and I knew exactly who. “What was that for?!” I yelled angrily at Steve Burke. Steve is the worst and picks on everyone in my school for no reason. “For being weird!” He replied. The whole school was watching and some were even videotaping it. “I’m not weird!” I yelled loudly. “C’mon let’s go Ari” Sasha said. “You don’t even have parents! Last time I checked that was weird!” He said. Those words hit hard. I got up and ran into the car and Sasha got in right after me and her mom drove away. “Hi Jessica” I mumbled. That’s Sashas mom’s name and she turned her head to look at me. “Are you okay?” She asked. “No but thanks”. 

Chapter 2

Once we got to Sasha’s house I took of my shoes and went straight to her room. I flopped down onto the bed and just lay there thinking about what Steve had said until I heard a knock and Sasha came in with a plate of sugar cookies shaped like Christmas trees. Christmas was still a couple months away but I was hungry so I didn’t really care. “Hey” she said,”you okay?”. “Not really but those cookies look really good”. She laughed and set the plate down on her bed and we ate them without saying anything. Eventually I said “what If he’s right?”. “What if who’s right?” She asked. “Steve” I replied. “There’s no way you can believe him! You are not weird, you are special and amazing!” She said. “Thanks, you’re awesome” I said. A couple hours went by and me and Sasha went to the dinner table and sat down in our seats. I had been there so many times her mom had to arrange a chair that was just for me. “This looks delicious Jessica!” I said. Her mom is a great cook and is very pretty. She has long straight blond hair, green eyes, and a beautiful smile. She and Sasha looked a lot alike. After dinner me and Shasha went to her room and watched TV until we fell asleep. Luckily for us we didn’t have school tomorrow but that also meant I had to go to my real home. Don’t get me wrong I love my home and seeing my sister but I was going to miss Sasha even though I would see her at school and maybe even sooner. When I woke up she and her mom were already awake and had made me the most delicious breakfast of waffles with delicious sweet maple syrup and powdered sugar dotted the waffles making it look almost like snow. I sat down and started eating and as soon as the fluffy waffles touched the roof of my mouth I let out a groan of relief. It was so delicious. After I finished my breakfast, I packed up my stuff, and said goodbye to Sasha and her mom. I left and grabbed my skateboard. I usually skate home after sleeping over because it’s fun and only takes 15 minutes. When I arrived at the big apartment complex I picked up my skateboard and opened the door to enter the lobby of the big building. I walked past Cara, the girl who works at the front desk and asked her how her day was going and asked her about her dog, Kittle. Me and her weren’t exactly friends but she was always really nice and I saw her a lot because I had lived in that building for almost all my life. I walked to the elevator and pressed the button to go up. I heard a ding and the elevator came down. I stepped on and luckily there was no one else in the elevator with me so I pressed the button to go up to the 14th floor. Yea I know pretty high up huh. There were 25 floors so it was a pretty big apartment complex. When I got up to my level I stepped off the elevator and rushed through the hall until I saw a familiar door and stepped inside. I didn’t see my sister so I set down my skateboard and walked through the small but cozy apartment. I walked past our living room that had an amazing view of  downtown LA and walked into my room which was decorated with LED lights, pillows, and a loft bed. It was exactly my style. All of a sudden someone opened my door. It was my sister. She has black hair which she wears in a messy bun. Her hair color matches perfectly with her light brown skin and her brown eyes that glimmer in the sunlight. She is very pretty and usually wears a tight black sweatshirt with shoulder cutouts and cute black leggings. “Hi can we talk?” I asked. “Yea sure” she replied. I took a deep breath and blurted out “ I’m going to look for her“,“For who?” She asked. “Mom”

Chapter 3

  All of a sudden she went quiet. I know she didn’t want to talk about this but I didn’t care. I was tired of being called weird because my mom didn’t stick around. “Why though? She can’t do anything for you, she left and she’s not going to come back”. I knew she was right but I was set on looking for her and no one was going to change my mind. “I don’t want her to come back” I said, “I want to ask her why. Why she left, why she didn’t take care of us”. “Come on it’s not worth it!” She said. “Look, I know you have her address written down. Please give it to me. I need to find her! I need answers!” I know how desperate I sounded but I didn’t care. All of a sudden her phone rang. It was her boyfriend. “Go ahead, take the call” I said. “I’m sorry” she said right before she answered the phone. I didn’t really have anything else to do so I called Sasha and we talked for three hours and I told her about my idea to find my biological mom and she encouraged me and even said she would come with me if I wanted. I said yes because she is my best friend and I would need her for moral support. Before I knew it it was lunch time and I got dressed to go meet Sasha at our favorite cafe in LA. It was called “delicioso” meaning delicious in Spanish. Once we met up there we sat down outside because it was a beautiful day and I ordered tacos and some lemonade and she ordered a bean and cheese burrito and a diet soda. “Look,” I said “if we are going to find my mom we need my sister to let us”. “What do you mean?” Sasha asked. “My sister has my mom’s address because apparently before my mom left she wrote down her address so we could find her if we really needed to” I replied. “Ok so did she say we could look at the paper?” Sasha asked. “I don’t know but I don’t think she will, so that means we’re gonna have to get it ourselves” I answered. “Wait, are you thinking…” “Yep” I replied, “were gonna have to steal it

Chapter 4

     It wasn’t as bad as it sounded. We were just going to grab it when she wasn’t home and return it as soon as we were done. When we started to walk back home after lunch, I texted my sister and asked if she was gonna be home when we got back and she said no so that gave us the perfect opportunity to quickly grab the paper and sneak back to Sasha’s house. Once we got to the big apartment complex we went up to my floor and walked into my small apartment space. “Do you know where it is?” Sasha asked. “It’s somewhere in her room I think” I replied. So we walked through my small kitchen that had marble walls and countertops to the hallway that had two rooms on either side of it. We walked into the door on the right which was my sister’s room. When we walked inside I saw the full bed on one side of the room and it was pushed up against the wall so she had hung pictures of her with her friends and pictures of me and her. On the other side of the room was a vanity with a mirror illuminated by balls of light on either side of it. She also had LED lights that changed colors with a remote. I hadn’t been in her room often so I got a little too focused on all her decorations. “Umm, are you forgetting why we’re here?” Sasha asked jokingly. “Right, sorry” I said. “I think she keeps it in one of her drawers” I said pointing to her dresser. Me and Sasha walked over to her dresser and stared opening her drawers and found nothing until we got to the last one. I walked over and pulled it open and all I saw were clothes and my heart sank but then, until I decided not to give up so I dug through all of the clothes and felt something that felt exactly like a piece of paper. As soon as I felt it I yanked it out. It is was small and looked old with ink smudges on the writing and rips in the paper, but it was still readable. When I peered at the paper I saw in neat printed writing :421 Amare st. “Amare street!” I yelled “She’s at Amare street!” I had heard of the street before but I was a little surprised because that neighborhood was run down and kind of abandon. But I didn’t care. As me and Sasha stared walking out of my sisters room we heard keys jingling and the door to my apartment opening. “She’s home!” I whispered. My sister was home and me and Sasha didn’t have time to get out of her room so that meant we had to hide.

Chapter 5

  “Where do we go?!” Sasha whispered frantically. “Quick! Get under her bed!” I said. It definitely was not an ideal hiding place but we were desperate. We squeezed under the bed and prayed that my sister wouldn’t come in. But of course she walked in and sat on her bed. The weight made the bed go down a bit and at this point the underside of the bed was like an inch away from my nose. We stayed under their for what seemed like forever until my sister finally walked out of her room and went into the bathroom. As soon as she went we bolted out of  her room and ran to the door. We opened it and we didn’t even take the elevator. We wanted to make sure my sister wouldn’t catch us waiting for the elevator. As soon as we got outside we panted and caught our breath. But I realized that I didn’t know if I had brought the piece of paper with the address on it until I looted around in mini purse and found it. “We are gonna need to take my sisters car if we’re gonna go to 421 Amare street” I said. “But we don’t know how to drive” Sasha replied. “No but I know someone who does”. We ran all the way to the cafe we had just had lunch at and I walked to the back of the restaurant and asked for a girl named Angelica. Angelica was our closest friend who worked at the cafe.”yea, she’s in the back” the manager replied pointing to the two doors that led to the employees only bathroom. We walked through the doors and found Angelica sitting on a step stool eating chips. “Hey guys!” She said looking a bit startled “what are you doing here?” “ We need you to help us with something” Sasha replied. “Well what do you need?” She asked. “Well… we uhh… need your uh…” Sasha started. “We need you to drive us somewhere” I said bluntly.

Chapter 6

 “Ariana!” Sasha said under her breath. “What?” I whispered “we need her help so we might as well tell her quickly”. “You need me to drive you somewhere?” She asked “YES!” We both yelled desperately. “Whoa, calm down, I’ll drive you but you have to tell me where we’re going” she said. “We’re going to 421 Amare street and I would really like to go now so come on!” I said.  “Ok ok, fine” she replied. So we walked outside and saw her silver Toyota SUV sitting on the edge of the sidewalk. We ran over and me and Sasha hopped in back while Angelica got in the front seat and started the car and before we knew it we were off. “So tell me why we’re going to 421 Amare street? It’s kind of random and you guys seem like your in a rush to be there” Angelica said. “Well… I want to find my mom and my sister wrote down her address so that’s why” I replied. “Oh, uh sorry for asking” Angelica said. She knew I hated talking about my mom. We sat the rest of the car ride in silence. It took about 30 minutes to get there and once we pulled up into the driveway of the dusty, old, haunted house-looking structure I felt my heart sink. I didn’t want to feel bad for my mom but if she was living in this dump then she probably didn’t have enough money to take care of me. “Well we’re here” Angelica said, taking her keys out of the car and opening the door to the front seat and stepped out. Me and sasha got out too and walked onto the small rickety porch that looked like it had survived a tornado. I didn’t want to knock on the door but I knew I had to do this. I took a deep breath and slowly knocked on the falling-apart paint chipped door and then quickly stepped back to catch my breath. I waited for what seemed like an eternity but nothing happened. It felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. She didn’t answer the door. It shouldn’t have been that big a deal but I wanted answers. My sister was right but I didn’t want to give up just yet. I slowly walked back to the rusty door and knocked again. And again and again and again until I decided it wasn’t worth it and I had wasted my time. Now I was mad but I couldn’t do anything so we started walking back to the car. Sasha asked if I was ok and I nodded not wanting to explain how upset I was. But just as I was about to get into the car I heard an unsettling creek of a door. I spun around and without thinking I sprinted up the driveway to the run down house. I had heard a creak of a door so that meant someone had to be home. When I got to the porch I expected to see someone who looked like my mom but instead I saw an old frail woman with long crazy gray hair and eyes so dark they looked black. My first instinct was to run but I didn’t. I was terrified but I was also curious on why this old lady was in the house my mom was supposed to be in. “What are you doing here young girl?” The old lady said in a raspy voice. “I… uh I” my voice seemed to be lost and my throat was dry as a bone. “I’m looking for Audrey Martinez” I said once I finally found my voice. Suddenly the old woman’s eyes got wide and she looked like she had seen a ghost. “ You better come inside” the old woman said. I wasn’t so sure because Angelica and Sasha were still waiting in the car. But I knew if I wanted answers I was gonna have to go inside even though I had only known this woman for 5 minutes. When I walked inside I instantly smelled an order that was like sewer water. I looked around and saw an old beat up couch that looked like it had been picked up off the street.  There was a tiny kitchen that had ugly orange stools and a tiny stove. “Have a seat” the old woman said. I didn’t want to be rude but the couch didn’t look clean so I politely declined and told her I would just stand. “Well I don’t know how you know Audrey Martinez” the old woman started, “she used to live here but rumor has it she was trying to stay under the radar because she had been caught for doing something and was supposed to go to jail but instead she hid here in this house for about 3 years”.

Chapter 7

 I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to believe it. My mother had been a criminal. I didn’t want to hear anymore as I raced out of the house and down the driveway into the car. Sasha knew I wasn’t ok and hugged me before we drove off. I didn’t say anything in the car. I was too tired and just too upset. Once we finally got back to my apartment me and Sasha said goodbye to Angelica and we walked to the elevators. Once we got up to my floor I asked Sasha If she could stay the night and she said of course so we walked to my room. My sister wasn’t home again because she had to work. She has been working a lot since we don’t have a lot of money and I try to help out as best I can but she still needs to work a lot. Once we got settled under covers we watched our favorite horror movie called Halloween. I was trying to take my mind off the fact that my own mother had to hide away because the police were after her. Sasha must’ve known I was upset and said that even if what the old lady said was true it didn’t define who I was and that it shouldn’t affect me. I knew she was right but it still didn’t make me feel any better. Halfway through the movie I ordered some food and it ended up being a pretty good night and we fell asleep at around 11:30. When I woke up as usual Sasha was in the kitchen making some kind of amazing delicious breakfast. I got dressed and walked into the kitchen and found a tall stack of fluffy heavenly pancakes waiting for me. “Thank you so much! This looks so good!” I said as I sat down. “Thanks! She said. “You better eat those fast because we have school in less then an hour”. I had forgotten about having to go to school and my mood changed instantly. Normally I wouldn’t care but I didn’t want to go back after what happened with Steave. After I finished eating me and Sasha got in our outfits for the day and did our hair. Today we went with a black tank top and grey sweatpants. After we got ready we went to the first floor and I texted my sister to come pick us up and drop us off at school. Once we saw the black Infinity car pull up at the sidewalk we rushed outside and got into the car. When we got in I heard her familiar song “Seven Rings” by Ariana Grande. It was Tess’s favorite song which meant I heard it all the time. “Come on really? This song again?” I asked annoyed. “What? She replied. “It’s a good song!”. Once we finally pulled up to the school me and Sasha got out. I was nervous because I didn’t know if people would remember what happened on Friday but my question was answered when I looked up and saw almost everyone looking at me. 

Chapter 8

I tried to keep my head down and just keep walking but I couldn’t bear to keep my head down any longer and when I looked up it felt like 30,000 eyes were looking at me even though only 40 people were. Sasha must’ve noticed that so many people were looking at me so she grabbed my hand and we walked faster and faster until we finally made it to our lockers. Luckily our lockers were right next to each other and we put our books away and I walked to English class while Sasha walked to Math class. Afterward we met up at recess and as normal we walked over to a spot on the grass field where nobody sat and talked about my mom, new games that were coming out, horror movies, makeup, and lots of other stuff best friends talk about. We were talking about Instagram when suddenly we heard commotion on the football field and we rushed over to see if anyone was hurt but it turns out they just needed two other players to play the game and people were arguing over it. I had always loved football and so did Sasha so we volunteered and they accepted right away. We had been playing for twenty minutes when we switched teams and I was threw quarterback. I didn’t love the position because you always got tackled but I decided to do it anyway. I was still getting ready when I looked up and saw five huge boys coming over to tackle me. As soon as they hit me instant pain shot through my left leg and I yelled in pain. I knew something was wrong.

Chapter 9

As soon as everyone had figured out what was going on they rushed over and I saw Sasha running over with a worried look on her face. People were crouched down beside me asking what hurt and if I was ok. “My leg!” I yelled out. Sasha rushed down beside me to look at my leg and soon she got a scared look on her face. The pain was increasing and I couldn’t bear it any longer. Just then a boy who I had never seen before crouched down beside me and held my hand telling me it was gonna be ok. We had skin the color of milk chocolate with short black hair. He was wearing a white T shirt and black shorts. He seemed caring even though I had never met him before. Soon a teacher came hurrying out and after the teacher shouted instructions a couple of people carried me inside to the nurses office. I looked for the kind eyes of the boy who had helped me and held my hand but I couldn’t see him. 

……………………………

After an hour or so of icing my leg in the nurse’s office I decided it was useless to just sit here for the rest of the day. It turned out that I had sprained my knee. It still hurt but it was getting better. I told the nurse I would just grab the crutches she had given me and walk to class. I went out to the hallway, and walked to my science class. Sasha was in this class and when I hobbled in she glanced up and quickly but quietly she got up and stood next to me. “Are you ok?” She asked. “Yea but it still hurts. Turns out I have a sprained knee” I replied. “Omg really?” She said. “It’s all my fault!” “No, trust me it’s not! It was my idea anyway”. Science was our last class of the day so we walked outside as soon as it ended . As we waited in the big parking lot of our school I saw him again. The boy who had helped me. I ran over to him, he was on the other side of the parking lot and it was not easy to get over there with crutches. He noticed me coming over to him. “Hey! I said. “I’m Ariana!” “Oh hey! How’s your knee?” He asked. I guess word had gotten out that I had sprained my knee. “Oh it’s doing better, I just wanted to thank you for helping me” I replied. “Oh yea no problem!” “Sorry what’s your name again?” I asked awkwardly. “Oh it’s Joshua” he said. “Oh ok! I guess I’ll see you around” I said before I wobbled back to where 

Sasha was still standing. “Who was that?” She asked. “No one” I replied. “C’mon please tell me!” “Fine. It’s the kid who helped me when I hurt my knee” I said. “Ohhhhhhh” she said annoyingly. I knew she was trying to make it like there was something going on between us. “Stop it!” I said playfully. Soon Sasha’s mom pulled into the parking lot in her black BMW. “Hey girls!” She said as we got into the car. “Hey Jessica!” I replied. “Oh no, what happened to your leg!” She asked as she looked down at my braced-knee. “Oh well… it’s kind of a long story. Basically we were playing football and I ended up spraining my knee. “Oh you should tell your sister” Jessica said. “Yea actually I’ll call her when we get to your house” I replied. I had forgotten to tell my sister when it happened so I figured I would just call her. “Can

I go into your room for one sec” I said once we got to Sasha’s house. “Oh yea of course” Sasha replied. I went into her room and closed the door. I called my sister and she picked up on the second ring as usual. “Hey” I said. “Oh hey! I was just about to call you! I have huge news!” She replied. “Oh I have news too but mine isn’t great news” I said. “Ok you first!”my sister responded. “I sprained my knee today at school” I said. “Omg are you ok!?” She replied concerned. “Yea I’m ok. Anyway, what was your big news?” I said trying to change the subject. “Well… your gonna be an aunt!!” She replied.

Chapter 10

 “Omg! Omg! Really?” I couldn’t believe it! I was going to be an aunt at 15! “Ok, I have to go tell Sasha the news but I’m so happy! I’ll talk to you at home ok?” I said. “Yea of course! Bye sis!” She replied. I rushed into the kitchen where Sasha and her mom were making something delicious. “I’m gonna be an aunt!” I yelled. “What!? Really! Omg I’m so happy for you!!” Sasha squealed. She rushed over and hugged me and we just stood there squealing together. “Do you know if it’s a boy or girl?” She asked. “No not yet but I hope it’s a girl!” I said. “Omg same! I could come over and we could take care of her and dress her up in little outfits!” Sasha squealed. In that moment everything felt better. I felt like I was flying through the air on a beautiful day. I suddenly snapped back to reality when Sasha’s mom told us that our snack was ready. Me and Sasha came to her kitchen island and sat down. In front of us we’re delicious mini homemade brownies. “Wow these look amazing!” I gushed as I put my nose to the little treat. It smelled like heaven! Besides my sprained knee today wasn’t such a terrible day. After dinner I skated home as usual. Once I got home I raced to my sisters room and when I saw her sitting on her bed I practically tackled her with a hug. “I still can’t believe it! I’m so happy!” I yelled as I sank into her shoulder. “I can’t believe it either! And I know that you’re going to make an amazing aunt!” My sister replied. “How many months until I can meet the baby?” I asked. “Only 3 months and 9 days!” She said. She was already 6 months along? I hadn’t noticed her stomach at all but now that I looked at it I realized that she had put on some weight. Even though it was only three months away I couldn’t wait! “Do you know the gender of the baby yet?” I asked. “No but I’m going to have a gender reveal party in two weeks!” She said. I was so excited! I was going to a gender reveal party! And better yet it was for my baby niece or nephew. After I finished hugging my sister and asking her about the baby I checked her clock and it read 10:15 so I walked across the hall to my room and got ready for bed. But I soon found out that I couldn’t go to sleep. I was so excited! I finally fell asleep around 12:15. When I woke up I called Sasha and told her what I now knew about the baby. She was so excited for the gender reveal when I told her that she was invited. We talked for an hour then I went to go eat breakfast. When I went to the kitchen I saw my sister sitting on the kitchen island looking on her phone. “Good morning!” I said as I walked behind her to reach for my cereal. “Oh hey!” She replied. “What are you doing?” I asked. “Oh I’m planning the gender reveal!” She replied. “Really!?” I said. “Can I help?”. “Yea of course!” She replied. “I was thinking we could go to a botanical garden”. “Wow that would be beautiful!” I said. “Well I should really get going to school but good luck with the planning!”. After I finished my breakfast I grabbed my backpack and headed down to the lobby. Once I got to the lobby I saw Sasha and her mom waiting for me in front of the building. In the car I told Sasha about the baby shower and how we were going to help my sister plan it. Soon we pulled up in front of the school building and we hopped out of the car. We got inside we started walking to our lockers when my stomach twisted into a knot. I looked up and saw Steave Burke looking at me. Yep, that’s right, the guy who tripped me and made fun of me. But I wasn’t going to let him make a fool out of me again so when we opened his mouth and said “What are you doing freak? Looking for your parents?” I was ready with a clap back. “No actually I was just looking for my math book which I need but instead I found you and your definitely not something I need in my life”. The people who had gathered in the hallway made “ohhhhhhh” sounds. “What did you just say?” He asked angrily. “You know what I said” I replied calmly. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sasha smiling and silently mouthing “you go girl!”. I felt my confidence rise and I felt like I truly could do anything. That feeling quickly melted away when I saw Steve’s brown beady eyes fill with anger and saw his hands clenched into fists. And then… he charged at me. 

Chapter 11

I saw him run towards me and felt the fear rise up in my chest. All of a sudden Joshua ran in front of me and stood right in front of Steave, making it so Steave couldn’t touch me. Joshua towered over Steave and Steave slowly shrank away. Just then Principle Janet came out of her office and walked into the hallway. “What’s going on here?” She asked suspiciously. Principal Janet had always scared me with her tight black buns and her stiff red heels. “Oh nothings going on I was just  stopping by Steave’s locker to say hi” Joshua said with a smile plastered on his face. Principal Janet lingered for a moment longer before going back into her office. After that Joshua quickly walked away and Steave glared at me one more time before he left to go to his class. I was still a bit shaken up and Sasha grabbed my books for me and walked to class with me. I didn’t feel scared. But I didn’t feel happy either. I felt brave. I felt in control. And it was in that moment that I realized I didn’t need parents. All i needed was confidence and kind people to help me through the tough times. I was proud of myself. 

2 years later

I sat there with my cup of hot cocoa on Christmas Eve. There was a beautifully decorated Christmas tree with gold lights and silver ornaments. Next to me sat Sasha who was also drinking hot cocoa. Me and Sasha had decided to wear matching Christmas outfits. We wore red cropped sweatshirts and green leggings paired with silver hoop earrings. In my lap I held my baby niece, Katrina. She was only 2 years old but she was so adorable with her dark hair, and Christmas PJs. Her eyes were hazel just like her mom’s eyes. My sister was sitting across from me in her chair staring at the fireplace. My sister had started her own company and it had taken off so we decided to move to a big apartment in New York City and Sasha had actually moved in with us! She had begged her mom for weeks and her mom had finally let her go on the condition that she would come visit her every 3 months. A lot had changed since we moved. I had become a makeup artist and Sasha and I started a makeup company and it went better than we expected. We now we’re getting invites left and right from celebrities and big YouTubers asking if they could collaborate with us. And I had started dating Joshua. He too moved to New York and only lives a couple blocks away from us in Manhattan. I was so incredibly happy. I became truly happy that day that I stood up to Steave Burke. The day I had realized I didn’t need parents and I was strong with and without them. Now I’m 25 and I’m so happy with all the decisions I made. And I am writing about all of this to prove that you don’t need anything but yourself and confidence. 

The end