I groan and hesitantly reached my hand out of the heaven of my blanket and blindly searched for my phone on my nightstand to shut the dreading sound of the alarm clock. I sighed in relief when the sound turned off and my ears were once again graced with the silence of the room.

With another groan, I sat up and pulled the covers around myself. Finally, I opened my eyes and glanced at the window of the room. I could see the gray world outside from the space between the window and the curtain and almost sobbed when I saw it was twilight. I tiredly grabbed my phone and checked the time.

Half past five in the fudging morning.

With a long tired sigh, I swang my feet off of the bed and stood up. Sleepily I opened the drawer and pulled out a button-up white shirt and dark jeans and some undergarments from inside and headed to the bathroom that was thankfully connected to my room, well, my room for the meanwhile.

Once inside I stripped and turned on the water keeping it at a cool temperature. I shivered and wrapped my hands around my body once I forced myself to stand under the water. It was needed to keep the sleep away.

Well, while I'm taking a shower, let me introduce myself to you guys.

I'm Eleanor James and I turned 18 a week ago. I'm a shy, introverted and very quiet girl. I was not this shy and quiet, but life forced me more into my shell once my dad decided to leave us suddenly almost a year and a half ago.

We were a family of five. I have a 13 years old brother, Liam, and a 7 years old baby sister, Daisy. Everything was great. My parents loved each other and we were a happy family, not rich nor even near it, but we were happy living in our town somewhere around Ohio.

But everything changed for the worse when my dad lost his job one day. He slowly became distant from us and began to argue with my mother more and more. First, it was small hidden arguments that slowly turned into intense and loud fighting in the living room.

I could still remember those days when I would take Daisy and Liam into my room and we would cuddle until the fight would end. But then one day they stopped when my father left suddenly.

Yes. It was as simple as it sounds. One morning we woke up and he wasn't in the house anymore, along with a duffle bag and half of his clothes. We thought he will come back but he never did. He simply left us with stack upon stack of loans and no money at all. No letters, no phone calls, nothing.

So my mother filled his place. You can say that my mother is an angel on earth. She worked double shifts in the diner she was working but still would smile at us and shower us with love even when we could see the exhaustion in her eyes. She was helpless. Even with that amount of work, we were still struggling financially so bad.

That is when I fell more into my shell. As a shy girl at the tender age of sixteen, it was so hard for me to face all of that misfortune at once. The chaos in the house, my father sudden leaving, and financial problems to the point we even couldn't buy clothes for long. All of them affected me slowly and that was when the bullying also started at school when some other teenagers decided to see me in misery to forget about how miserable they and their lives truly are.

But we lived. I helped my mother by working part-time jobs after school and that caused me to stay out of teenage life more than ever. Instead of spending time with friends, parting and working for limited hours if you wanted, I would work for long hours every day.

Slowly we paid the debts my father had caused and once we thought our lives are taking turns for good, a disaster happened, drowning us even more. A tumor was found in my mother's head a month before school starts. That one news was enough to make us crumble down again.

My mother was admitted to the hospital and I was left to take care of my young two siblings, expenses of life, bills to be paid, and the cherry on top, the hospital expenses. Luckily, I managed to take my mother's place in the diner she worked. I work there from 4 to 11 on weekdays, two shifts from 8 in the morning till 11 on Saturdays, and one shift from 8 in the morning till 8 in the afternoon on Sundays.

And here I am, tired to my core after two long days of working my ass off in the filthy diner, readying myself to start another day of my miserable life, full of fear. I sighed and turned off the shower and walked out after drying myself and brushing my teeth.

I walked into the room that once belonged to my parents, but after my mother was admitted to the hospital and I had to wake up early in the morning, and because Daisy and I were sharing a room, I moved into this room to not disturb Daisy every day.

I put on my clothes quickly and walked downstairs to the kitchen. I smiled at the smell of coffee and toast and blessed my jewel of a brother in my mind. I walked into the kitchen and saw him standing behind the oven, making french toast.

When mom was admitted to the hospital, Liam matured up suddenly. He tried his best to help me out by doing the chores of the house and taking care of Daisy as much as he could. I didn't need to worry much about the laundry or picking Daisy up from school or being worried about their school work. Liam was a smart and responsible boy, taking a lot of burdens off my shoulders.

"Good morning." I chirped and walked to the coffee maker.

Liam turned to me and grinned widely, although I could see how sleepy he was. See? He is a jewel.

"Morning, El." he greeted back and turned to flip the toast around. "Did you sleep well? You passed out the moment you reached home last night."

"I slept like a rock." I answered while sipping my coffee, welcoming the bitter taste.

Liam hummed under his breath and put the toasts into a plate before placing them on the table. "Sorry, we have run out of eggs today. Only had one." he said like it was his fault and scratched the back of his head.

"Oh, I'm sorry." I face palmed myself. "I was supposed to do grocery shopping yesterday."

"It's okay, El." he said reassuringly while filling his plate. "We have other things still."

I smiled at him appreciating his lie to comfort me. "Thank you for supporting me, Liam." I said softly. "I would have been so much in trouble if it was not because of you."

"I'm happy to hear that." mumbled Liam with a sad smile while staring down at his plate. "I feel like a burden because I can't help you."

"Don't you dare." I scolded quickly and put my hand on top of his. I smiled when he looked up. "You are still too young and you should live a happy life. You are already doing great. Just focus on your studies and leave the rest to me."

"But you are working too much, Ellie. You need to live too." he said concerned. "Have you seen the dark bags under your eyes? It kills me that you return home like a zombie."

"We have no other choice, L." I sighed. "I should work hard so we can make ends meet. We need money."

Liam took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "You are so brave, Eleanor. Just like mom." he said and his fist turned to a ball and his jaw ticked. "You are so much braver than that coward piece of shit we once called dad."

"Liam!" I gasped surprised. I mean, he has every right to be angry with dad, but cursing him like this ... It's just bad.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not regretting what I said." he said stiffly and stood up. "I'm going to take a shower and wake up Daisy. I will finish my breakfast later."

I watched him leave the kitchen in two long strides. I sighed and stared at my breakfast. We just needed a miracle. We were all tired. Tired of this messy life. We needed some relief, something to remind us that we are passing this horrible time and good times are waiting for us.

I sighed again and finished my breakfast. After washing the dishes, I prepared three lunch boxes and then roamed around the house and did the laundry that Liam had not done. It was 6:45 when I went upstairs and to Daisy's room. I stood in the doorway and smiled at her.

She was still in her pink pajamas and was jumping around singing and dancing for herself while trying to get ready for school, completely unaware of me. Her slightly wet golden curls were bouncing as she danced around and her chubby cheeks were pink.

You see, we all had blue eyes, but Liam and I had inherited my father's dark brown hair, and Daisy had inherited the golden hair of my mother, looking like an angel.

She was the sweetest little girl you could find in the whole universe. She was an obedient child and had not made any problems for me at all. It seemed that although 7, she could understand the situation we were in and was helping us in her innocent ways.

She twirled around and stopped suddenly. Her blue eyes widened and she grinned widely when she saw me standing there. "Ellie!" she squealed and ran toward me happily.

I got on my knees and hugged her tightly to my chest, peppering her face with kisses, making an adorable giggle leave her mouth.

"Good morning, sunshine." I greeted her and smoothes her messy curls by running my fingers through her hair. "Are you ready for school?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed and grinned toothily. "I took a shower and brushed my teeth."

"Good job, baby." I said and picked her up and put her in front of the vanity in the room. "Let me quickly brush your hair and help you change so you can have your breakfast soon."

"Thank you." she said happily, enjoying the attention she was receiving from me and she began to talk about her school and friends for me.

I was pretending to listen, but deep down my heart was breaking for my little sister. She was at a tender age that needed to be showered with love by her parents. Unfortunately for her, her dad had left without a word and her mother was fighting a horrible disease in the hospital, leaving her in the care of her siblings, one who was young himself and needed to be cared for and the other was so busy making money to give her the needed attention.

But the brave and strong little girl she is, she is not complaining about anything and instead helps us the best she can.

"Ellie?" she asked as I helped her in her uniform and fidgeted with the hem of her skirt.

"Yes, baby?" I hummed under my breath and waited patiently for her to talk.

"Did you buy that pack of pencil colors for me?" she asked shyly and my heart sank.

This month, we were a bit struggling because I had to pay the hospital a bit more, so I didn't have even an extra penny to spend on something else. But how could I disappoint her? She was asking for that pack of pencils for two months now. Even Liam wanted a football ball. Although he wouldn't say a word, I could see it in his eyes whenever he would stare at them from the shop windows.

I opened my mouth to answer but no words came out and I closed it again like fish. Seeing the answer in my eyes, her eyes saddened for a second before she smiled again and grabbed my face with both of her small hands.

"It's okay." she said cheerfully. "You will buy it for me when you can. There is no rush."

I wanted to cry right then and there but I held my tears back and smiled at her. I grabbed both of her hands and planted kisses on her palms.

"I'm so sorry, Daisy." I answered. "But you are right. I will buy them for you as soon as I have the money. Just give me a bit of time. Okay?"

She nodded eagerly and hugged me around the neck. I kissed her cheek and stood up. I glanced at my watch and saw it was five minutes passed seven. Time to leave for me.

"Daisy, come down and eat your breakfast." I said. "I should leave now. See you tomorrow, sweety. Be a good girl at school."

"Will you come home late again?" she asked sadly and her face dropped again.

"I'm sorry, sweety." I said softly. "But I have no choice."

"Okay." she answered shortly and then hugged my legs tightly.

I kissed her head one more time before prying myself from her hold and leaving to my room. I quickly applied a bit of lip balm, threw on a cardigan, grabbed my bag, phone, and jacket, and rushed outside. I never would waste my time on makeup. I always considered myself an average-looking girl who didn't have any problems with her looks. And besides, I didn't need anyone's attention or admire. I didn't have time for it.

I ran downstairs and saw Liam eating the remaining of his breakfast. I pulled out my wallet and pulled out my credit card and 15$. I handed them to him.

"Will you be a sweetheart and do the grocery shopping after school?" I asked as I grabbed my lunch box and shoved it in my bag. "You know what to buy."

"Of course." he answered confidently, happy to be able to do something. "I will take Daisy with me. We will go and meet mom too."

"That's good. Tell her I will visit tomorrow." I smiled. "And that money is your pocket money for this week. 10$ for you and 5 for Daisy."

"Ellie, I can't." he said and tried to hand the money back, but I pushed his hand away sternly.

"You are a young man and you need this." I said. "Sorry that it's not much."

"It's more than enough, thank you." he mumbled embarrassed and his cheeks tinted pink.

"Thank you, Liam." I said, kissing his forehead. "I should go now. Bye."

I waved to him who returned the gesture and then I ran out of the home, starting my 10-minute walk to my school, ready for another struggling day.

---------------------------------------------------

A/N: Okay, I'm excited :)) Hello, guys. Tell me what you think about the start of the story. I would like to know. Please vote and comment if you liked the chapter. I will update soon.

Thank you

Ela :)