I raised my head from the cold swing and peered at the unfriendly sky, noticing that the sun had departed and it was starting to get dark outside.

I should really get going and head back towards the house.

I elevated from the swing and initiated walking away from the playground, trudging through the overgrown thick grass to leave.

I perceived a slight crunching noise behind me and turned around, squinting in the dark. My eyes only met piles of leafs spanned out in a bunch of piles.

Ah, probably a deer or a squirrel.

I eventually arrived to the cracked side walk, and began on the path of my usual route home. I took my phone out of my backpack and noticed that I had two missed calls.

I unlocked my phone. One from Amanda and another from an unknown number.

I dialed my aunt's number and called her back. It rung twice before she picked up.

"Where are you Jayden?" She asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"On my way home now." I replied.

"Well, thanks to you we no longer have electricity. I don't know why you spend so much money on clothes and makeup." She snarled, "Not only that, but you left the house a mess. Why would you leave the living room like that? Why didn't you come home right after school????"

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"What do you mean?" I asked, massaging my head with my free hand.

"You left beer cans and bottles everywhere. It's really disgusting. If you want to drink you need to ask me instead of just doing it. It cost money, yanno." She slurred.

I took a deep breath.

"Okay Amanda, I'll clean it when I get home. I'm sorry." I sighed.

"Good." She replied, hanging up directly afterwards.

She pulls this stuff all the time, it isn't new. I don't drink though, that's not for me. My mother died in a car accident from drinking and driving. Her name was Jessica.

I will never let that happen to myself.

Amanda knows how I feel, but she won't take the blame for anything she has done wrong. She hates me. It's just like that. If she didn't get paid kinship care to take care of me, I would be in Foster Care honestly.

I don't have a family. I want out of this town so I won't be like everyone else here. I hate it here.

The air was humid, a thin fog creeping through the streets making it hard to see now as streetlights were my only guide.

I heard a stick let off a slight pop behind me.

Chills ran up and down my arms, causing my arm hair to stick up.

I felt like I was being watched.

I rotated my head slowly and looked over my shoulder, catching a glimpse of a tall figure dressed in black with a hood over his head walking towards me quickly with long strides.

He didn't look like someone I knew. Then again, his face was not visible.

I whipped my head around, my heart beat increasing its speed. I quickened my pace.

Thoughts ran through my head as I panicked. Could I just be paranoid or is he following me?? What do I do??? Should I scream?? Would that be overreacting???

I turned right at the stop sign, getting closer to my house. I jogged forward, glancing behind me again to see if the figure was there.

He was closer than before. Not only that, but he had turned on the same side-walk as me. He is definitely not a neighbor.

I struggled to remain calm as my house came into view.

The footsteps behind me quickened and suddenly his steps shifted into running at a quick pace towards me

Freaking out and losing my self control to stay calm, I ran for the house with everything I had. I sprung up the stairs reaching out for the door knob, terrified of the stranger behind me and what would happen if he caught me.

I grasped the cold door knob and yanked it open, throwing my body inside and slamming the door shut behind me. I panted as I locked it quickly.

"It's about damn time."

I jumped at the unexpected voice and leaned my back against the door for support, sighing in relief as I realized it was just Amanda.

"What is wrong with you??" Amanda slurred as she squinted at me.

"Someone was following me!" I gasped out.

She sauntered to the door and looked out of the peephole.

"Is he out there??" I asked.

She continued looking for a minute then turned to face me, crossing her arms. She glared at me with her glassy bloodshot eyes.

"Are you on something Jayden?" She asked slowly, sniffing and rubbing her nose upwards.

"No, I swear someone just chased me." I replied, still breathing heavily.

I pushed her aside to look out of the peephole for myself. All that was out there was fog. The street was empty. There was nobody.

I turned around and frowned. Taking a deep breath, now doubting myself as well.

"Maybe it was just the fog tricking me." I whispered, furrowing my eyebrows.

She rolled her eyes and started to head upstairs. She paused, while lightly hovering her hand on the stair railing at the bottom of the stairs. She turned her head a little, enough for me to hear her clearly but not enough to make eye contact.

"I don't care what made you think that. As long as you clean up your mess, you can do any drug you want." She muttered, throwing her arms towards the mess as she continued her path up the stairway.

What a great mother figure.

I dropped my backpack to the floor and sighed, allowing myself to steady my heartbeat.

I bit my tongue and slowly strolled into the living room. I began picking up the trash in defeat, cleaning everything. I struggled to see in the dim living room.

I lit candles so I could see what I was doing.

I grabbed a mop and placed it on the spilled liquor and beer, cleaning up the floor, watching it absorb the gross mess.

I started to clean coffee table but then noticed a thin white line that was half done on it. It appeared to be cocaine.

I avoided the cocaine and finished cleaning the area, running into the kitchen afterwards and grabbing left over cold pizza with me to take to my room. I grabbed a water and ran upstairs, slamming the door behind me.

I balanced the pizza on one hand and held the water in the crook of my elbow so I could lock the door.

I then plopped down on the bed, starting to eat the pizza. For the second time today. Maybe I'll actually get to finish it this time.

I placed the pizza back on the paper plate and kicked off my converse, throwing them in the floor along with my wet leggings and soggy socks.

Ew. I scrunched up my nose at the smell and unlatched my window, opening it and placing the pair of soaked cloth converse on the windowsill. I threw the dirty clothes in the hamper in the corner of my tiny closet.

I took out my scented candles and lit them so I could actually see, placing them around my compacted bedroom.

I returned to my bed and plopped down, attacking the pizza once again. After I finished the food, I tossed the paper plate in the trash along with the empty water bottle.

I headed to the bathroom and stripped, stepping into the shower. I turned on the cold water due to there being no electricity. After a few minutes of trying to adjust to the icy water, I washed my hair with the rose scented shampoo and conditioner that was almost empty.

Once I rinsed it out, I lathered on my body wash and then cleaned my body, scrubbing off the mud and other unknown germs from the park. I turned the water off after rinsing myself and dried my hair with a towel, enfolding myself in it afterwords.

I shuddered as the cold crispy air met my damp skin.

I proceeded to the closet and threw on a random pair of red cotton underwear and an oversized white t-shirt. I followed my regular routine and decided against a bra.

I blew my candles out, heading towards the last one. A breeze beat me to it, blowing it out. The icy air hit me unexpectedly, resulting in my teeth chattering. I glanced around the room to find my window wide open, curtains flailing from the rough wind.

Shit. I left it open.

I mentally cursed myself knowing that I just changed in front of an open window. In fact, I was still standing half naked in front of it.

I headed towards the window. I stuck my head out and peered outside, satisfied to see none of the neighbors lights on. A rustling noise distracted me from my thoughts from the neighbors yard.

I squinted in the dark, straining my eyes to find the source of the noise.

There was only a thick overgrown bush.

A large black German shepherd came into view barking loudly, scaring about 20 years off of my life.

I jerked my head up, banging it on the windowsill. I bit my tongue to prevent myself from screaming a string of inappropriate words and massaged the tender spot I had just hit.

I pulled my head inside and slammed the window shut.

Damn dog.

I'm gonna get a concussion if my head keeps getting hit.

I flung myself into my bed, laying my head in the crook of my elbow and placing one leg around the blanket with the other one under it.

Sleep soon introduced itself taking me away from reality.

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